I am installing a deck in a dodge, and i bought the wiring harness to connect the new deck to the factory harness, but it does not work....any thoughts? i checked the deck, and the deck is 100%

 

Can you be a little bit more specific as to "it does not work" ?

Are the plugs not the same? The wires aren't the same? ect...

 

I agree, we need more info.
Are you getting constant power, ignition power, good ground, thru the harness adapter to the back of the head unit?

 

you might have a factory amp and have the wrong harness, checkbehind your glove box door up under the top of the dash to know if you do have an amp.

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also double check your red and yellow wires make sur they both have power, sometime while messing around in there its possible to short the power wires to ground and pop a fuse, especially if you were hardwiring.

 

I just ordered a head unit for my 04 and crutchfield told me that if i want to put an aftermarket headunit in my truck, i have to buy this little interface to get it to work. I thought it was just for the alpine H/U but he said for ANY brand H/U to work i would have to buy one..

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This is what i had to buy. Metra CHTO-02 Interface Allows you to install a new stereo in 2004-up Chrysler Pacifica vehicles at Crutchfield.com And i asked the guy when i was ordering it, well it only says that it is needed for the Pacifica.. and he said that it is needed for all chyrsler vehicles now... idk maybe it isnt necessary, maybe it is.. i will find out today

 

This is a low level interface unit that changes the high output (18watts) to a low level output to interface with the input of the factory amplifier.

http://cgi.ebay.com/METRA-AXXESS-CHT...item20aeddb7c1

Reason:
To prevent high output from the aftermarket head unit from damaging the factory amp.
This keeps the installation less complex for an average installer.

The other option for any aftermarket head unit install into a late model Dodge / Chrysler is to do what is called an amp bypass. This is dependant upon the speaker resistance (ohm).
If the vehicle's speakers are a nonstandard resistance say, 15.2 ohms, bypassing the amp would cause high power from the head unit to go directly to the speakers and sound output will be lower due to a higher resistance at the speaker vs a 8 ohm or 4 ohm speaker. The factory amp usually has a higher output that most aftermarket headunits anyway, but some of my customers refused to purchase the interfaces thinking it was just a price gouging part. ha ha but then they questioned a factory amp bypass and extra labor charged to do that, it was always cheaper in their minds. Without sitting each customer down and giving a "how electronics work" semminar, they usually choose the cheapest way.

I am not familiar with the speaker ohm load that are in a 2004 Dodge 3500 with factory style amplifier. Another way is to replace the factory speakers with aftermarket speakers and to run your own speaker wires directly from the head unit to the aftermarket speakers. Here again the factory amp should have a higher output than the aftermarket headunit.

I did this raw wire system on my Ford pickup because it has no factory amp and I am using an Alpine MRP-F450 four channel amp and Alpine S507 speakers, the Ford factory speaker wires are a small gauge that lead to the factory speaker locations. The smaller wire could carry the 50 watts to each speaker location, but having installed car audio (MECP certification) at a nationwide big box store, I know that bigger wire is better to carry the power to speakers.

This may or may not be an option for your application depending upon your level of installation expertise, or how much time and $$ you want to spend.

Hope this info helps in making your decision.

Respectfully,
PSD Interceptor