Question on aftermarket radio with the prenium sound installed

p38wannabe

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I went through a fiasco at the local Best Buy store for the installation of an aftermarket radio. They basicly came to realize afterwards that my 87' had the prenium option (dah, not that the radio says it on the front) and told me that had to rewire my car because of the factory amp installed. Common sense tells me that if the amp is the problem just take the in and out going wires for the speakers from the amp and connect them to take the amp out of the loop. Needless to say I got my money refunded and are back at the drawing board.

Any input would be appreciated.
 
Just bypass the amp when installing an aftermarket stereo.
 
David Richelieu

Tahoma

I had an '89 LSC Mark VII with the JBL Sound System and went through a nightmare trying to hook up a Sony 6-CD Juke Box to the spectacular sounding JBL amps and speakers. The first place I went to gave up, saying they had no idea what the 20 different prongs were for in the main plug into the radio from the amplifier (under the rear window shelf). Two other places also gave up, saying the same thing.
I took it to the high-end stereo place (McIntosh, Klipsch, Yamaha etc.)
and they worked on it for hours testing connections by trial and error and burning out about seven fuses in the process. The problem was neither Ford nor JBL was willing to give people the schematics for the system (even the local JBL outlet couldn't get them) JBL said if something was broken with teh system they would replace the entire amplifier, speakers or whatever.
Anyway, reading the owner's manual we discovered that if we wanted to install a mobile phone that used the car's speakers to contact Ford and they would send us the needed information. And what do you think they faxed us?
Drawings on how the phone collar fit between the plug and the input on the back of the radio. And on the same sheet were the SCHEMATICS showing the routing and coding of the wiring connections in the plug.
Hooking it up after that was simple. And the system sounded spectacular
and was extremely well-balanced. IT was probably the best factory stereo
around. It had separate bass speakers for the left and right sides and the
low-end sound was split into two channels, just as it is on CDs (I listen mostly to Classical music).
Anyway, you might try getting the mobile phone instructions from Ford and see if your installers can follow that. Otherwise, all new everything might be an option. It wasn't an option for me after the extra billions I paid for the JBL system (only a 1 cd dash player was available). I really liked the sound and was determined to make it work with the Sony CD- changer. Hope that helps.
 
thanks for the reply's ... I know what I am up against now, now I just need to see which way to go ... :mad:
 
After going thru 3 JBL radios in my '91 LSC, I replaced it with a $200 Pioneer about 4 years ago. All that was need for the install was a different wire harness, and it fits in perfectly. It took about 1 hour to install and it sounds better that the JBL. No other components in the system were touched, including the amp.
 
alm450 said:
I don't know if this helps but I found it at crutchfield...
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-iBgaLJGp5iT/cgi-bin/ProdGroup.asp?g=751&avf=Y
They also have an amp bypass harness.

I agree here. Go to Crutchfield they will match the unit with you car. They will give you a list varying form about $100 per unit to high end units. These units will fit using basic wiring harnesses that you can purchase at Wal-Mart.

I had a 85 Mark VII and tried a few aftermarket players that I purchased on eBay. They were very good units in excellent working order but non would work correctly in my Mark VII. Then I followed a fellow LvC members advice and went to Crutchfield. The unit went in in 5 minutes and worked like it should. They will offer you everything you may need and even some things you don't need (which I purchased just because I wanted to make sure it worked) so I think I still have some of the parts. One is a conversion unit that Crutchfield claimed I needed for the amp but I ended up not needing it. I cost about $30. If you need it, it is yours.

PM me if you have any questions. You don't have to go through hell to put a good after market unit into you Mark VII.
 
i tried to put a cd player i got from wal-mart, can't remember the brand. hooked it up with the plug that plugs into the factory harness got it mounted and the front speakers didn't work, the rear did. messed with for a couple of hours and desided to put the factory tape deck back in. works fine with the factory unit.
 
David Richelieu said:
Tahoma

...
And what do you think they faxed us?
Drawings on how the phone collar fit between the plug and the input on the back of the radio. And on the same sheet were the SCHEMATICS showing the routing and coding of the wiring connections in the plug.
...
Thank you.
Did you contact Dearborn for this information or a local dealer or a printer or whom? I'd like the same information.
 

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