Violet wire with yellow stripe

[Matt42]

I replaced the OEM radio in my 2001 Touring today with a Sony. The OEM radio had a single wire, violet with yellow tracer, going to the back of the radio from within the bowels of the dashboard. The new radio has no facility for anything like that. The factory service manual says that this wire is a "data wire." Is that what sends codes to the PCM?

Most important question: If that wire isn't hooked to anything, will it throw an error code?

Thanks!

Edit: I need to get my glasses changed. I thought the thumbs down icon was a question mark.

[chris15]

The only time I've heard of such a cable is when a car comes with a factory installed sound system (Bose, Boston Acoustics, etc.) and the wire is present because the headunit possesses the ability to control (fade) the factory installed amplifier.

Outside of stereo applications, I've heard of them being used in alarms and keyless entry systems as well.

If you can't find an answer, my best advice (sadly) is to go ahead and wire what you've got, leave the wire disconnected, and turn the key to see if everything turns on.. :/

[Matt42]

That's what I did. Car starts and runs just fine. Have not driven out of driveway, so can't say if it will throw a code. I'll report back when I get back late next month.

[chris15]

Well, to my knowledge, there aren't any codes that would be tossed to the PCM from your stereo, so I'm fairly certain you'll be alright. Does your alarm/keyless entry still work?

[Matt42]

So far, so good. Took it to work today. All worked fine,including remote. The TSM calls it a data wire. I've never seen anything like it.