The previous owner had the plugs cut off the plugs for the stereo and had them taped to the wires coming from the radio itself. Now that i want to get a different radio this seems to be a bit of an issue since theres no way to plug any kind of adapter in. If theres anyway I can fix this without having to pay for professional work the advice would be greatly appreciated

 

Hop on Google and look up "(what year your jeep is) Cherokee stereo wiring). You can find a diagram telling you what color wire is for what function.

Then you simply cross reference that diagram to the wires coming out of tour new stereo and connect the two.

Easy peasy.

 

I would get a Metra wiring harness adapter and use some GOOD QUALITY crimp connectors and a quality crimper to repair the harness. The adapter comes with the wiring diagram so it's easy to match the wires and crimp the connections.

Solder is good too, but you don't have much clearance unless you remove the radio bezel and everything, crimping will be easier.

 

I would advise you to spend the $50 to $80 on a proper wire crimping kit. Like this one.
The kit I listed is what I have. And is intended for vintage motorcycle wiring. So don't get it..lol. It's just an example.
The point is, Get yourself a crimp tool that will crimp the wiring connections like the factory did it. Believe me. It's absolutely worth the money to invest in the proper tool. Don't even CONSIDER those craptastic, cheapo wire crimpers you get at Wall-mart or your local auto parts store. All they do is simply mash the connector down onto the wire. YOU want a crimper that will curl the connectors tab smoothly into place for a solid, clean, secure, factory spec connection.

And adding a touch of solder wont hurt nothen. And use shrink tubing. That stuff is glorious.

Do this. And you will get cleaner sound from your radio.. without pops and hisses and crackling in your music.

 

get a test light, find the constant 12v, the ignition switch operated 12v, and ground. go from there. the 8 paired colors are for the speakers. you might have one or two wires that operate the dimmer and other functions that you wont need on an aftermarket radio.

 

And to figure out the speaker wires... look at a diagram and then use a aaa battery to confirm. Touching wires to battery will cause the speaker to emit a skissh skiss sound.

 

Head to the junkyard, find one like yours, and take it apart and see how it's connected. Bring a pen and pad of paper and maybe a cell phone to take a picture. You're welcome.

 

never said to use the test light on the speaker wires,