Is it possible to replace my broken 1985 GL radio with a 1988 GLL radio. The plug into the radio is different but the I replaced the wires from my car with the 1988 wires and it didn't turn on. There is always the possibility that the radio doesn't work either, although i hope thats not the case. I did notice that there were two plugs in the back of the GLL radio that don't seem to go with my car. I know one was attached to the amp not sure where the other one plugged in it went somewhere in the back of the car. Do I need to have the radio plugged in to an amp to have it work? Any help is appreciated.

 

Welcome to ZDriver! Anything is possible. Any head unit with its own amp should turn on if it works and is powered right. Definitely sounds like somebody has rewired your car for their own 'custom' set up. You get to deal with that now.

You can DL both factory service manuals from XenonZ31 Reference and compare the electrical diagrams for the original '85/'88 head units.

You must be looking for appearance because better performance is readily available and cheap. A company like Crutchfield will even include a custom plug-in harness to connect the hook-ups you have in the car with whatever new head unit you buy - and a custom cover plate for the dash hole.

Good luck and report back!

 

why would you replace one antiquated piece of junk with another of unknown provenance. call Crutchfield and get their advice or go to Car Toys. Stereos made in this century have neat stuff like they play CDs, MP3s, you can get built in Bluetooth. A jack you can plug your phone into unless you are still using a flip phone of course.