What are the Stereo wire color codes for a Buick Century 2004 and what are some tips when wiring an aftermarket stereo without purchasing a Wire Harness?

Answer 1

I only asked this question because I have literally spent all day searching for this information and litteraly spent 12 hours research and attempting installation. There are 16 wires and an addition input clip that plug into the back your stereo from the Buick. You would think since there is two wires for each speaker that the wires that have two of the same color would connect to the same speaker, I mean why else would that do that? Well I have no Idea but it sure was a pain. The larger gauge orange wire is your Constant. The smaller Orange is an addition constant used for accessories, such as amplifiers and subs. If you have this touching any of the wires that are connected to and from the stereo, the gauges in your car will short out for as long as they are connected and your car will not even attempt to turn over to start. I spent 2 hours switching fuses to figure that one out. The larger gauge Black is obviously the ground wire (the one they they didn't make confusing).

Speaker wires are as follows(Make sure you connect Negative wires to Negative wires or you will sacrifice much quality from your system. The Negative is ALWAYS, slightly smaller then the negative wire for that port they both are designated for. The difference is minimal, you can tell them apart with less difficulty by the stiffness of the wire and its resistance to move compared to the supplementary wire. The negative wire, if both the wires for that single speaker are same color the negative wire is usually marked by a stripe down the middle of the wire, or they may even tell you on the wire it self or a hidden tage if you haven't looked. And remember, just be cause there are 4 sets of identical colored wires that it doesn't nessecarilly mean that they have ANYTHING to do with eachother.

Right Rear Speaker + Dark Blue

Right Rear Speaker - Light Blue

Left Rear Speaker +Solid Dark Brown(no stripe, and a small gauge)

Left Rear Speaker - Yellow

Right Front Speaker + Light Green

Right Front Speaker - Dark Green

Left Front Speaker + Tan

Left Front Speaker - Grey

Larger gauged orange- primary Constant for your stereo.

Smaller gauged orange- Secondary Constant, only connect if you using accessories. If not cap off wire. Like I said, if it touches any of the wires from the stereo the car will not start and by that time you may not be able to recall that it may be a possibilty.

Other Yellow- Which is virtually identical to the other(have to guess and check, no harm will be done unless you if they are mix up just don't touch to Black or Orange Wires to avoid damage to your system. (Should advice you to disconnect battery as well since you have somwhat of a guide. I went through 30 fuses today, guessing and checking. Connect and Cap off the wires that you know where they belong and work from there.

Other Dark Blue- Power antenna (very similary to other dark blue, sturdiness and Gauge size can be used to differentiate them.

Larger Black Gauge(possibly has a stripe, not quite sure, will edit tomorrow, but youcan tell by the size, it is the largest gauage wire you will be working with besides the Antenna.

I am going to be honest, I haven't completely finished the task yet. I have to reset my prefennces for my stereo every time I turn off the key. I don't know where to connect, or which one is the memory aswell as my car used to continue playing the radio, even after I took the keys out, and continued until 10 minutes later or I opened the door. There is another Dark Green and Black wire, both smaller gauges then others that differ in size. One of them is Memory, that save your presets and such. One is a wire that allows you to run your stereo while the battery is not on(like when you turn back the key and can listen to the radio but not roll down the window, sorry don't know the name for it)

I will let you know...

* Disconnect Battery During Installilation, unless Guess and check, then do at your own risk.

* Connect What you know forsure. The Speaker Wires are less difficult then the rest. More of the wires are compatiable with othe wires regards if your - and - or + and +, but you will be sacrificing sound quality.

* Cap off all wires your are forsure so if you end up guessing and checking your not contact of unnessicary lose wires and end up blowing fuses all day eventually leading you to believe that a fuse maybe the possibly of your difficulties. If you are having difficulty and certain things are not working in your are. Disconnect wires and Start over, you either have a blown fuse or two wires that are connected that shouldn't be and could be a hazard.

*All Stereo Wire Color Codes Differ, I recommend, the easiest way to obtain this information, unless you have the 4 random car diagram that are availbe online, is to call the manufactuer of your stereo. This will Save lot time, lots of doubt, and Frustration.

I learned alot and Wished I would of had this to go by, it would been much easier. I did spent atleast 2 hours lookiing for the information I needed and never found exactly what I needed to be confident in completing this job. So I posted this in hopes that there is atleast one other person that is pimping out their grannymobile Buick