I know this question sounds very basic but I just installed new speakers and aftermarket deck is saying check wiring. I know generally the wire with a black stripe is negative and that's how I hooked it up, however on the driver side both wires are gray with a stripe, one yellow and one red. I read somewhere else that the yellow striped is the positve so that's the way I hooked it up.

anyone have any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

thanks

 

At least in early cars, the left front (+) wire is green/yellow, and the (-) wire is gray/red (from MacGyver's page).
However, the headunit doesn't know or care whether you have the + and - switched, so if it's telling you
there is a problem with the wiring, it's something else, like a short or disconnected wire.

 

You dont want the speakers out of phase but OTH is correct that the deck will make sound fine. Either one of your speakers are damaged and shorting or you have bare wire touching ground somewhere. Check your speaker terminals first. One at a time remove a speaker from the door and hold it in your hand with it wired up still. Reset your headunit and track which side is your problem.

 

yes, I didn't mean to imply that it doesn't matter if you switch + and - (it will cause
some sound waves to cancel each other out, and will thus sound lousy), just that there
is no way the headunit itself can tell if you've done it or not.