97 gle. Ever since I put my cheap aftermarket pioneer in, the power antenna doesn't work anymore. I even wired it up to the designated wire that comes with the harness for the head unit. Feels like it's not getting power judging by the fact that I don't even hear anything coming from it. Not sure where I should start my diagnosis. Any ideas?

 

Start by confirming you have voltage at the designated wire coming out of the harness when turning on your radio. If so, then do the same at the electrical connector at the antenna's power unit. Continuity to the power antenna should be on an internal timer within the radio maybe 10 seconds. So if you first have continuity and then you don't, don't freak out. It only sends voltage for a short period of time to extend and then retract the antenna.

 

I would start by checking the wire connections. I believe that on the wire harness that comes with the Pioneer radio, it is the blue wire that is for raising the antenna. This wire has to connect to the black with red stripe wire in the Maxima's wire harness, pin 5 of the larger connector (M88).

I hope that you bought a harness adaptor such as the Metra # 70-7550 and didn't cut up the Nissan wire harness. The blue wire of the pioneer harness would connect to the blue wire of the Metra adaptor.

But really, you need to supply more information. With the tiny bit of information that you supplied, I have to make guesses and assumptions.

How about telling us/me what model Pioneer radio you have so I can look up the wire colors of the Pioneer harness. Also tell us if you used a wiring adaptor between the radio and the Nissan wire harness. If you did, what is the brand and part number? Then, to really get into troubleshooting, I hope you have a volt- ohmmeter.

 

There's a blue wire and a blue wire with white line. One only triggers the antenna when the radio is selected. The other is to trigger the amplifiers (there's one on each speaker). To your speakers. Or an aftermarket amp

 

Besides the antenna issue how is your Pioneer? Would you recommend it?

Sorry for being off topic. Maybe you or somebody else can help me. I'm searching for a new stereo. I've been reading reviews about Pioneer decks but they are useless hype. All the positives are covered and they rarely mention the drawbacks.
The AVH-210EX head unit landed on my short list. From all the blogs that I've read one stood out. The blogger was hyper critical about all brands and put me on the fence. Well this Pioneer stereo review was OK until I've reached the shortcomings section.

How hard is to install these units anyways? Can I use my iPod classic with it?

Any tips?

 

Biggest thing is if you have the Bose system, make sure you get the module that lets the head unit work with the nose speakers

 

I'm not a paid spokesperson for Crutchfield and this is not an advert for them just my experiences. Crutchfield's website and tech services are extremely helpful. I installed a JVC KW-R930BTS from Crutchfield over the Thanksgiving Holiday. I got everything that I needed for the install. Took all of 30 minutes. Crutchfield provides vehicle specific head unit and speaker replacement instructions. As Jason mentioned above the key regarding replacement head units is if you are replacing a Bose or non-Bose system. I bucked up and had Crutchfield pre-wire the Bose adapter that I needed to the JVC harness for my application and it was a simply plug and play. Crutchfield has all their head unit specs listed with each head unit, so pick your poison.

 

That's exactly what I'm intending to do with my son's car - though I don't think his power antenna works now (radio still works lol). Love that Crutchfield will tell you exactly what you need, give you the installation instructions, and offers the service to pre-wire the harnesses/adapters for you so that you don't have to worry about the splice connections.