How do replace the stock stereo with a new headunit?

itchymorris · 10-04-2003

I just got my 1998 v6 Mustang. It was used of course, and I would like to put the stereo I used in my previous car into this one. There's a tape player/reciever, and a seperate cd player. I want to remove them both, and place my headunit in the dash.

I got in there today, and took the dash pieces off, and pulled it all out, and found it it's not like my other car. I had an '96 Oldsmobile Achieva. It had a bunch of wires that plugged into the back of the stock radio, just like the Pioneer headunit I have. This one, however, is not.. there's 2 plugs that are connected to the CD player, and 3 that connect to the radio/tape player. I hooked everything up to my headunit, and it turned on just fine. But I could not find the "power connector even with the ignition off" wire. So it wouldn't save any settings. And it wouldn't play through any of the speakers. I wired them all into the connector for the speakers. (I think it was the connector. I found a wiring diagram on the net and printed it out) It was the only connector with 8 pins (2 for each speaker) I don't know what stock system I have.. there are two plugs inside the dash labled "Amp" I don't think they were connected to anything when I pulled everything out. But I could be wrong. I gave up, and put my stock stuff back in until I can figure this thing out. And it works fine with those "Amp" plugs left unconnected.

Any help would REALLy be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

chris99232 · 10-04-2003

OKay... You are getting yourself into probably the worst designed and thought out parts of the car. The first thing to know is that the "speaker" leads that come out of the backside of the headunit are not really "Speaker" leads. They are about half way between speaker level and preamp level. The leads that come out of the headunit do goto a factory amp that is in the car. It is in one of two locations. If it is a "Mach" series stereo the amps will be in the trunk. If it is any other model the amp is at the very bottom of the center console bolted onto the top of the driveline tunnel. Yeah I know, not a very easy spot to get to. The other plug that goes into the back of the factory headunit is all of your power, ground, and lighting wires. Using a test light you can locate each individual wire. Or, if you want to do it the easy way, goto your local car stereo store and buy a wiring kit for your factory set up. It will show you all the right wires to splice into. Then all you do is plug in both ends of it, one end into the factory wiring the other end into you aftermarket deck. It's that easy. Now if you are wanting to hard wire in your deck, yeah, that's a whole different story... and I'd rather not go there, and neither should you. It's a major hassel. Been there, done that!

excalibur · 10-04-2003

Yeah, like chris said, go get yourself a wiring harness. It will take about 10 minutes to install, and save you fuses and headaches. It comes free if you get your head unit at Crutchfield, but it sounds like you already have a head unit. I would never try to bypass the factory harness if you are using the factory speakers.

itchymorris · 10-04-2003

I DO plan to replace the factory speakers with my own at a future date... would it be sensible to use the factor amp or just yank it out of there and wire the speakers directly to my headunit? I was thinking of just running new speaker wire to the factory speakers, so then I could just replace all the speakers later, without having to worry about the wiring... I plan to add two 10s to the back shortly after I get everything else finished.

What do you all suggest I do?

chris99232 · 10-05-2003

Yet again you are wanting to do something that isn't too easy. All of the factory speakers and wiring are all direct connects. In other words they are all specific plugs and connectors. So if you want to bypass the factory wiring and wire in your own you will have to cut the plugs off of the factory wire so that you will be able to connect to the factory speakers. In my recommendation, I would just leave all the factory wiring alone until you have all your new speakers and cable. Do it all in one shot, instead of rewiring the car every single time you want to change one thing.

http://community.webshots.com/album/72798696rUUTQs

itchymorris · 10-05-2003

Thanks for all your help. I went to Curcuit City today and talked to some people there, they gave me a kit to wire it, and bypass the amp. The guy said the amp was crap, and my Pioneer head unit is much better.