Head Unit Swap / General Audio q's?

[mikeyg03ls]

Hey guys, new to the forum but I've already learned a ton. I'd like to replace my THX nav system in my 03 with the Pioneer DEH80PRS head unit. I'm not sure but I've read that some of the 03s have the 04 wiring? I think that's what I have, I took a couple pics for reference. Also I have the 4 component speakers in the doors with the 6x9s in the back deck, all powered by two amps. I know the question has been asked already but does anyone know the RMS wattage of these amps. I'd like to keep the amps and speakers but I want to know if it's worth it/ if it's easier to do a bypass or keep them. I've done a lot of searching on the forum and google but I cant find much info on this exact system and how to replace the stereo without the harness (since I've concluded there is no harness). Also if it makes it easier I already have a sub setup I was thinking about installing but I'd ratherrr hold off. Any info on my system/ help with the install would be GREATLY appreciated. Its asinine there's no plug and play harnesses after 10 years.

 

[LS4me]

Hey guys, new to the forum but I've already learned a ton. I'd like to replace my THX nav system in my 03 with the Pioneer DEH80PRS head unit. I'm not sure but I've read that some of the 03s have the 04 wiring? I think that's what I have, I took a couple pics for reference. Also I have the 4 component speakers in the doors with the 6x9s in the back deck, all powered by two amps. I know the question has been asked already but does anyone know the RMS wattage of these amps. I'd like to keep the amps and speakers but I want to know if it's worth it/ if it's easier to do a bypass or keep them. I've done a lot of searching on the forum and google but I cant find much info on this exact system and how to replace the stereo without the harness (since I've concluded there is no harness). Also if it makes it easier I already have a sub setup I was thinking about installing but I'd ratherrr hold off. Any info on my system/ help with the install would be GREATLY appreciated. Its asinine there's no plug and play harnesses after 10 years.

Not for an orphan car. The speakers in the rear deck are subs. What's wrong with the THX system?????

 

[mikeyg03ls]

What's wrong with the THX system?????

Its funny you say that because tons of other people ask that as well. I think its a great system which is why id like to keep the speakers and amps but I start to go crazy when I can't listen to my Iphone. The other reasons are bluetooth, mayyybe an aftermarket sub, and sound quality. I got the best pioneer HU so hopefully it will bring out the best in the stock speakers.

 

[scjmc]

When I replaced my THX system (head unit died) I ran into these challenges. There was no compatible harness, so some of the wires are cut in the dash. I bypassed the factory THX amp in the trunk by cutting connector and bypass wiring it. I don't ever like to cut the factory harness, but bypassing the THX components made it necessary. There is a write up on here somewhere that explains the process to bypass the THX amp. My head unit is powering the speakers now, and they sound great. If you want to use the factory THX amp I can't imagine how much trouble that is going to be. Whatever happens I believe that you will lose the rear deck subs when going aftermarket.

I simply wired in my Sony XAV70BT and are powering the speakers with it. I bypassed and removed the THX amp, removed the rear deck speakers and amp, and put in my own subs and sub amp. The THX speakers still sound very good being powered by the HU.

My experience is with an 06.

 

[joegr]

... Whatever happens I believe that you will lose the rear deck subs when going aftermarket....

This part is certainly not true. It's very easy to use the factory subs and factory sub amp. The amp is a normal (although it is mono) line level input. The turn on signal from an aftermarket deck works just fine for it too, as long as you put a 1 to 2 K resistor in series.
I believe that the four channel door speaker amp would be just about as easy to reuse. You'd just have to solder some RCAs onto the ends of the factory wires.

 

[mikeyg03ls]

I bypassed the factory THX amp in the trunk by cutting connector and bypass wiring it. I don't ever like to cut the factory harness, but bypassing the THX components made it necessary.

I simply wired in my Sony XAV70BT and are powering the speakers with it. I bypassed and removed the THX amp, removed the rear deck speakers and amp, and put in my own subs and sub amp.

My experience is with an 06.

When you say you bypass wired it do you mean you ran new wires or put in completely new ones for the door speakers? With the sub did you: 1. Same question as with the door speakers? and 2. did you put in new subs in the existing spots or a whole different setup? Last do you remember if the connectors look the same as in my pictures? I'm trying to find the color code for all the wires but I'm having a hard time with the premium system and trying to figure out what year the harnesses really are. I took out the carpeting to look at the amps in my trunk but honestly I'm having a hard time figuring out where to begin. I have never dealt with anyything like this system. Thanks for the info so far guys, without it I'd be taking it straight to an audio shop.

 

[scjmc]

First off make sure that you read whatever joegr says. He corrected me on the rear deck subs. I did not run new wiring for the door speakers, you can basically cut the connector at the factory amp and loop the wires there. I installed a whole new setup for subs. I put in 2 Infinity Kappa 12s. To help offset the weight gain I removed all of the factory THX stuff from the trunk (amps and rear deck subs/hardware). I honestly don't know what my connectors looked like because when I bought the car the dealership had installed an aftermarket radio using a single RCA for mono output and hacked the entire harness. Sounds weird I know, the car was being sold with the NAV but it apparently "broke right before I looked at it". This will help a lot:

http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/fo...X-NAV-to-AVIC-X920BT-install-hackstall-w-pics

 

[mikeyg03ls]

Alright hopefully the speaker wires are the same colors on either side of the amp. Ive decided i dont want the factory subs after seeing the quality of them lol, considering i have a pretty good setup already. I guess I will start by cutting out the speaker amp and go from there. does anyone happen to know if any of this install affects my backup sensors?

 

[mikeyg03ls]

Okay so after analyzing the pictures from andrizzles post id most likely say i have the 03 harness (if there was any real question of that at all). I've written down all the wire colors coming in and out of each amp as well as the dvd rom reader. In addition to that I've written down all the colors coming out of each harness. Im going to try to match up what I can(i know theres a lot of the same colored wires) and ill see what i come up with then. If anyone can recommend my next move or do anything with all the wire colors that would definitely help. At this point ive decided to keep the speakers but bypass both amps.

 

[mikeyg03ls]

At this point im going crazy trying to figure out which wires go to what, all i need now is a wiring diagram for the 03 if anyone has it. Andrizzles is an 04 and is different. It would pretty much solve my problems guys

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[1LoudLS]

Okay so after analyzing the pictures from andrizzles post id most likely say i have the 03 harness (if there was any real question of that at all).

from your first post, you would have what you consider the 04 harness.

all first gen have a different harness than you do, its the harness that fords started widely using in 98 (and is called by most people installing the "98 and up" or "98+" harness)

originally the cars built 03 used this same harness, but in the middle of the production run they switched to a totally new connector, this connector was widely started to be used on a lot of 04-06 cars. this is often refereed to as the 04 harness or the "04 and up".


i wonder if for all 03's if they did change the wire colors but just didn't change the harness connectors until the mid year?

 

[mikeyg03ls]

originally the cars built 03 used this same harness, but in the middle of the production run they switched to a totally new connector, this connector was widely started to be used on a lot of 04-06 cars. this is often refereed to as the 04 harness or the "04 and up".


i wonder if for all 03's if they did change the wire colors but just didn't change the harness connectors until the mid year?

Not too sure but all my audio equipment was manufactured in dec 02 and the car was manufactured in 03/03 according to the door jamb sticker. Perhaps its possible they used the same wires in the 02 but changed the connectors to the 04s? I do have the same shape connectors as Andrizzle but i have less wires going into them, maybe about 5 at least for the 28 pin connector. Which makes it unfortunate i cant use most info from his post. Ive located the speaker wires (not on the 28 pin but on the 22 pin) if they match up with the door amp input, which i dont see why they wouldnt. Ive also unhooked the sub amp. Might see how they sound unpowered before i toss em. Also i thought i found the constant with multimeter (orange with black stripe) but then i snipped a few other wires and its not reading anything now...

 

[mikeyg03ls]

Okay guys got the radio in finally. Tested it before i put it in and it worked fine. Then i put the unit into the dash, buttoned everything up and now the message tells me to apply parking break and the settings menues on the radio dont work. When i pull up on the parking break the message goes away but immediately returns once i let go. Any thoughts?

 

[joegr]

How exactly did you tie the parking brake signal into the electronic parking brake. As far as I know, there is no parking brake applied signal available on the gen II LS. Did you just connect it to the switch? That's not going to work.

One work around would be to just add a switch to ground the parking brake signal. You'd have to set the switch when you wanted to add a destination or change settings. You'd also have to remember to turn the switch off when you started moving. When I put an AVIC in my 04, I applied one of the AVIC bypasses. Not because I wanted to add addresses while moving, but because it was the easiest way around not having a parking brake applied signal in the car.

 

[mikeyg03ls]

How exactly did you tie the parking brake signal into the electronic parking brake. As far as I know, there is no parking brake applied signal available on the gen II LS. Did you just connect it to the switch? That's not going to work.

One work around would be to just add a switch to ground the parking brake signal. You'd have to set the switch when you wanted to add a destination or change settings. You'd also have to remember to turn the switch off when you started moving. When I put an AVIC in my 04, I applied one of the AVIC bypasses. Not because I wanted to add addresses while moving, but because it was the easiest way around not having a parking brake applied signal in the car.

I actually didnt do anything with it now that you mention it. I didnt even think about that since im using a single DIN radio without nav. Would that have 12 volts running through it? Ill check it out later today. Its still weird that it was working fine before i put it in the dash though.

 

[Andrizzle]

So you got it all working minus the parking brake bypass?

I am not sure what HU you have, but I had to move a pin over in the harness and ground that pin to fool the headunit to being in "parking brake" mode all the time.

 

[mikeyg03ls]

So you got it all working minus the parking brake bypass?

I am not sure what HU you have, but I had to move a pin over in the harness and ground that pin to fool the headunit to being in "parking brake" mode all the time.

Yep, everything is all hooked up. I didnt bother doing anything with the parking break since its not a nav unit. I got in the car the next day and the parking brake message was gone so i guess its fine. I called crutchfield today, turns out i had an auto eq mic plugged into the steering wheel adapter, causing problems with the menus.
So bottom line, everythings all set and it sounds great! Still gotta put in the sub tho. Thanks everyone for your help! Maybe ill do a write up for my year since it seems to be an odd one.