Help with 2000 Explorer XLS

[runninwild]

I purchased a Pioneer DEH2100IB from Crutchfield, who sent me a few wiring adapters for Explorers equipped with an amplifier, but cannot determine whether or not I have an amp in my sound system. I removed my headunit with the supplied DIN tools and saw two separate connectors plugged into the stereo. One, a smaller, square-like plug had a single grey wire with a black stripe (any ideas on that wire?), while another has a series of 14 wires of various colors coming from it. The supplied adapters don't fit any of the connectors behind the factory stereo, so I know I will have to solder my connections, but need help in determining which stereo system I have, and also what the specific color-coded wires go to.

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

welcome

 

[Przybysz]

If you cant pinpoint the factory amp, dont worry about it. I think its almost a hoax personally.

Check to make sure you have all of your speaker wires (color coded) and there should be 8 wires all together (front right, front left, rear right, rear left)

There are 2 different harnesses in your explorer (not the deck) correct?

 

[chris1215]

Hey guys. I'm the one helping the original poster with his installation in his Explorer. It isn't particularly that we can't pinpoint the amp. We know where it would be if he has one.

We were under the impression that his Explorer didn't have a 'premium' sound system, and we're definitely sure he doesn't have the Mach system, as there's no sub. We ordered his headunit from Crutchfield with those parameters in mind, but received a harness to bypass an amplifier. We removed the factory headunit and, like I said, the headunit has two connectors plugged into it. One has a single wire coming out from it, (the black/gray stripe) and the other has a bunch of wires coming from it.

My conclusion is that we're going to have to solder all of our connections, but what the hell is that black/gray stripe wire for on the separate connector?

Crutchfield did provide us with the adapter that plugs into the aftermarket headunit which has all of the wires to do the installation (power, ground, remote, speakers, etc.) so I'm just going to remove the factory plug and use the wires directly. Even if there was an amplifier installed, hypothetically, the system should still work when wired directly to the headunit-- correct?

I realize that the definitive way to determine whether or not he has an amp is to remove that passenger's side rear panel in the cargo area, but it appears to be quite a hassle to remove, and we'd like to save that as a last resort.