Plugs???

Topic: Plugs??? (Read 2093 times) previous topic - next topic

Plugs???

October 12, 2011, 04:00:15 PM

I am installing a new radio my wife got me for my birthday...

Now I'm pretty good at this sorta stuff but some plugs I found after removing the one in there I am not sure what they go to

The previous owner seemed to run new speaker wires for some reason?

Any ideas??

Plugs???

Reply #1 – October 12, 2011, 10:03:57 PM

Red wire is ground on my 88 crownvic. I want to say the grey is for stock speaker wires. Can't remember. These is usually a wire for interior dim, yellow generally ignition, a couple grounds, and a ton of for premium sound.

Plugs???

Reply #2 – October 12, 2011, 10:05:32 PM

If you don't jump the right wire, the premium sound amp will not fuction, and you will only get power to one or two speakers. Probably why they ran their own wires.

Plugs???

Reply #3 – October 14, 2011, 03:39:06 PM

I can help you with this one...first, I am assuming that this is your 88 cougar. The plugs in your pictures won't be used in this installation, so don't worry about them. Second, I am assuming that since somebody already changed the wiring, the install should be pretty simple. For those removing the stock system, I will post a different procedure using the existing plugs and a set of adapters that cost about $20. Back to your aftermarket wiring: in your last pic, I see the added wires were spliced to some colored wires. In a perfect world, these would have labels identifying left, right, front, rear, + and -. If not, it's simple to find out. Take a C, D or 9v battery and touch the gold and silvery wires from each pair to each post of the battery (you can use the ends of the colored wires, or cut off the splice connectors and strip the ends first). You will hear a noise like static come from the speaker at the other end. You can label each wire pair as you go, or just hook them up to the new Kenwood wiring as you go. Make sure you use the same color from each pair for + and -. I typically used gold as + and silver as - during my installer days. It won't really matter unless you are adding amps and/or subwoofers in the future. The Kenwood has a decent amp built in, so I am guessing that this will be it for now. Back to the wiring: once you have the speakers identified and hooked up, you can take on power connections. The colored wires laying loose in the bottom of your console (in the last pic., cougar1car) look like they are what you are looking for. These should pretty much match the new radio harness. Typically, red is the acc/ignition wire (on with the key), yellow is constant hot/battery for your memory presets and clock, blue wires are for remote amp turn-on and automatic power antenna, orange is for the dimmer (there are two types, check your manual for more info. If you have problems with this, PM me and I will research it for you). Black is ground, but sometimes does not come through the harness. Usually when u plug in the antenna, the ground comes through the antenna jack. That's it. Oh, and that red wire with they round eye connector used to provide a connection to the premium sound amp. It may have power to it, so wrap it (and any other unused wires) up with electrical tape to be safe. If the last installer knew what he was doing, the premium sound amp is no longer in the system and shouldn't be a worry. Good luck!

Plugs???

Reply #4 – October 14, 2011, 03:41:06 PM

PS, make sure you tape up any blue or orange wires when you are done, too they are usually hot at some point.

Plugs???

Reply #5 – October 14, 2011, 04:05:23 PM

Now, for those installing an aftermarket stereo with the premium sound and factory eq.: The eq can be used in some instances, but it's easier to just remove it from the system. There is a Ford/Mercury cubby accessory that fills this hole and comes on most cars without the eq. Back to the aftermarket stereo install: There are a few Ford/Lincoln/Mercury wiring harness adapters available. I used SCOSCHE BBFD02AB adapter for 1986-UP FORD. It says on the package it's for non-premium sound/JBL, but was perfect for my premium sound with eq. BEFORE YOU HOOK UP THE NEW WIRING, DISCONNECT THE FACTORY AMP SO YOU DON'T SHORT OUT THE NEW STEREO!!!! SMOKE IS BAD!!! This is sometimes under the passenger seat, but my 88 XR-7 had it in the trunk, on the frame of the back seat, behind the liner panels. You have to remove the rear panel and take out the clips at the top of the metal panel on the driver side of the seat. It just folds down, then. Back there, you will find a green plug and a grey plug attached to a metal box with some heat sink fins just visible at the edges of the cover plate. Just unplug these connectors and the amp is out of the system, but wiring (somehow) still goes through to the speakers. Back to the new adapter harness: there are sometimes three plugs, one for all speakers (black) one for power (gray), and another black one with three wires. Don't use the three wire one. The factory plugs have grey and black male parts that stick into the new adapters, use grey to grey and black to black. All wires are labeled and color coded to the new industry standard colors and the instructions with the adapter list what each color is for, so it should be a no-brainer from there. The only curve ball may be which orange wire to use for illumination, which depends on the stereo you are installing. A test light (looks like a pointy screwdriver with a wire and an alligator clip at the other end) can be used to check which wires are hot with the key on, and which wires are hot when the lights are on/off. If you have the manual antenna control next to the steering wheel, you won't need the blue wires. Hopefully this will help, because trying to cut and splice into the existing wiring can be done, but is a real pain, plus if you want to reinstall the factory system someday, you will have to reverse the procedure of cutting and splicing the factory wires. Good luck! If you have any problems post a reply or PM me and I hopefully will be able to answer quickly.