Factory HU wont power on?

[showtz]

My 1994 Ford/JBL stock CD wont power on (Audiophile System). The Illumination works when I turn on the headlights but nothing else.

I Check the fuses under the dash for the Headunit and factory amplifier.

I removed the HU and verified 12V power with a test light.

Does anyone know if I need a new headunit or factory amp? Any more testing suggestions? The cd player stopped working years ago but now I have no radio and I started singing to myself on the way to work. Please help before I go crazy!

 

[aldive]

Look at it this way, now is the perfect time to junk that HU/amp and get a nice aftermarket HU.

Good luck.....

 

[rusty3335]

Yeah, I agree, just get something new....but have fun bypassing the factory amp. You have one and if you want to install something new, then you have to either
a. run new wires to each speaker.... or
b. run wires to the back/amp.

It will cost you about 90 bucks, or you can do it yourself. I did mine all myself and it took me about 8 hours. I have been told that there is an adaptor though that just snaps into place...look it up.
good luck.

 

[aldive]

There are bypass adaptors.

 

[showtz]

I guess thats an option but we just want a radio. If I get a aftermarket deck with appropriate wiring harness should I get the wiring harness for the amp or just splice the wires together? Will my factory sub still work if I get an aftermarket deck and bypass the factory amp? (There are two amps right? One for sub. Another for the rest of the speakers)

 

[showtz]

Will my factory sub still work if I get an aftermarket deck and bypass the factory amp? There are two amps right? One for sub. Another for the rest of the speakers?

 

[showtz]

Explorer motor has a nice sound but I need my radio! Can someone help a newbie out?

 

[Blrob5]

You can pull off the rear trim yourself and install the amp bypass wire on the amp. You can get this from circuit city or best buy or any car audio shop. Or you could just go to an audio shop and let them do it. May cost you a few bucks. Not sure about the sub having a seperate amp and how it is wired up.

 

[EBInterceptor]

I used the factory sub with an aftermarket head unit. Just had to bypass the factory amp. $15-20 for the harness. I'm just sure if it was just plug and play. The aftermarket head unit also needs a harness to connect it to the factory wiring. It can be very expensive to have a place put it in for you. Most places will run about $80 just for the installation including harnesses. I got mine put in for $60 when my CD player wasn't working. Same thing though, I couldn't get anything to work except for the clock. Turned out that I had 2 fuses blown also. I checked my fuses too but they didn't appear to be blown. But in the end it all worked out.

It seems like I rambled a lot, I hope there was some information in there that was useful.

 

[showtz]

Finally put a new pioneer 1600 in over the weekend and it works great! I just used the standard wiring harness to make the deck plug and play. No amp rewiring necessary. The sound is better than before. I know thats hard to believe since I am using the same factory amp but I think its getting a clearer signal now.

$100.24 - deck
$8 - wiring harness and connectors
$2 - DIN tools
____________________
$110.24 - for everyting!

Thanks for your help everyone.

 

[CQ7String]

Glad to hear it man.

Pics pics pics!