ok, yes i've searched.. no i didn't find anything... last night i was installing my radio in the 2006 kit, swapping out my 2005 kit.. thought ok, great radio's dead... couldn't get it to pop on.. couldn't measure voltage off teh harness unless my meter probe touched the car chassis, hooking to the black ground wire in the harness didn't work.. low and behold, i hook up the antenna, it worked, seems it's grounding through the antenna, now im an EE, and this doesn't sound right to me, and i confirmed this with another guy i know... is the Z really designed this way, or did i lose my radio ground somewhere within the car's wiring?...

thanks

 

Bad thing.

The radio antenna is on the wrong corner from the battery - you want the power running the other way around. There is a dash ground behind the left of the three gauges in the triple gauge cluster in the dash. CAUTION - do not block the square opening on the far right corner as that's where the central dash assembly locks into. There was also a ground wire as part of the factory harness.

 

As far as I remember, Nissan's really never have had a true ground. They are usually grounded with the iso mount brackets or the antenna. If you look at the factory side of the harness were the black wire is on the aftermarket harness there might not even be a wire there. You might want to check. This is one of the most common reasons alot of 350Z owners get ground loop noise because they basically are not getting a true ground at the radio. The answer to your question is the Z most likely is designed this way.

 

Alot of radios wont work without the antenna plugged in. Its not necessarily a grounding or lack of grounding issue, its by design, dont sweat it.

 

^he's right, Nissan doesn't have a true gound wire in the factory wire harness. If you trace the black ground wire on the smartharness, turbowires, Metra or whatever harness your using you'll see that it dead ends at the factory wiring. Your radio grounds through the antenna, plug it in and the radio will come on unless you've blown a fuse or have another prob besides ground. I recommend taking the ground wire from your aftermarket HU and sammiching it between your radio and the isomount brackets that mount it in the car (to the frame). I've got a solution for the ground loop noise too, but that's another post for another question.