Wiring '98 HU into '96 harness

[Brooksie1]

Soooo... the good wife wants to play CDs and the external deck in our '96 XLT has packed it in. I try to talk her into an iPod but no go. So I find a '98 HU on eBay for a good price that has AM/FM/Cass/CD/MP3 and it fits the dash pod. Trouble is, the existing harness has two plugs - 1 is a black 16-pin and the other is 8-pins. Only 5 wires are actually connected to the 8-pin plug and of those, one is ground, one is constant 12v power and the other is 12v switched power. No power is detected in any contact in the 16-pin plug.

Both radios are Ford manufacture, not the MACH or JBL units.

The '98 HU has 2 plug-in ports - one is 14-pin and the other is 20-pin. The eBay vendor is kind enough to send along the 14-pin plug and each wire is imprinted with the connection details but...

The existing dash harness colours do not match the specs I've been able to find on the 'Net. I'm only guessing at the colour combinations for each speaker but I'm fairly sure I must have gotten at least one connection right! Since they're all speaker wires I go ahead and hook up the wires as best as possible including the two power leads and ground. The HU display comes on and all the selectors work just fine but there isn't a single squawk out of any speaker whatsoever.

I am thinking the 20-pin plug might need a power and ground connection as perhaps it supports the amplifier & CD? Do I need to connect some of those pins to the 8 speaker wires? Where can I purchase a 20-pin plug to fit that 2nd port?

I can post photos of the existing wiring harness, plugs and the two head units if that would help?

Many thanks for any help you can provide!

Brooksie

 

[617ricky]

I'm trying to figure out if you have the system with the external amp - if you post the pics I'd be able to tell.. Anyways if you do have the external amp, on that 2nd plug that has the speaker connections, there is an amp ground wire that you must ground, and if it's not connected you would have this problem (no sound).. On the main plug there would also be an amp turn-on wire.. The pics would definitely be helpful though

 

[Brooksie1]

Thank you for the quick response!

The existing '96 HU has a double DIN face but only a single DIN chassis. The '98 is a full double DIN format from the face plate to the back of the unit.

I can't upload photos with my basic registration... I could email them to you if that's possible?

Thanks again!

Brooksie

I'm trying to figure out if you have the system with the external amp - if you post the pics I'd be able to tell.. Anyways if you do have the external amp, on that 2nd plug that has the speaker connections, there is an amp ground wire that you must ground, and if it's not connected you would have this problem (no sound).. On the main plug there would also be an amp turn-on wire.. The pics would definitely be helpful though

 

[PandorasCustoms]

In order to post the pictures, just use Photobucket.
Sign up, host the images there and then link them in your posts.

 

[617ricky]

The existing '96 HU has a double DIN face but only a single DIN chassis. The '98 is a full double DIN format from the face plate to the back of the unit.

This sounds to me like the original system HAS the external amp.. I have a '97 and the stock deck is just like that.. But it sounds like the '98 deck you have has a built-in amp, which is gonna make this kind of a pain.. If I am right about the external amp, you have a couple options.. You can find the amp ground and turn on wires, and connect them (amp ground to the main stereo ground, and amp turn on to the power antenna wire), and see how it sounds.. Or you can get the stock amp bypass cable, at which point you'd be using just the new deck.. That's another pain though, getting to the stock amp that's buried under the rear pass. quarter panel.

 

[Brooksie1]

This sounds to me like the original system HAS the external amp.. I have a '97 and the stock deck is just like that.. But it sounds like the '98 deck you have has a built-in amp, which is gonna make this kind of a pain.. If I am right about the external amp, you have a couple options.. You can find the amp ground and turn on wires, and connect them (amp ground to the main stereo ground, and amp turn on to the power antenna wire), and see how it sounds.. Or you can get the stock amp bypass cable, at which point you'd be using just the new deck.. That's another pain though, getting to the stock amp that's buried under the rear pass. quarter panel.

I routed the existing ground, constant and switched power from the 8-pin plug of the existing harnesses to the same wires on the '98 14-pin plug. I have no idea what the connections are on the 20-pin plug of the '98 HU.

There is no power antenna on my XLT. It is a black 1-piece antenna that is fixed in position.

I just checked behind the left 1/4 panel inside cover and there are 2 electronic boxes there - the original external 6-CD deck was mounted back there and no doubt one of those is an external amp for the radio while the other handles sound to the CD output. So it is probable that this '98 double DIN chassis has an internal amp that needs to be powered - constant, switched and grounded. But which pins?

I will see if I can post the photos to Photobucket...

Thank you so much for the help!

 

[617ricky]

There is no power antenna on my XLT. It is a black 1-piece antenna that is fixed in position.

Well that amp turn on wire can get power somewhere else, I'm not sure if from the 12v constant, switched, or somewhere else.

Is this what your OEM harness looks like?

http://tinyurl.com/ygm4sj3

 

[Brooksie1]

This sounds to me like the original system HAS the external amp.. I have a '97 and the stock deck is just like that.. But it sounds like the '98 deck you have has a built-in amp, which is gonna make this kind of a pain.. If I am right about the external amp, you have a couple options.. You can find the amp ground and turn on wires, and connect them (amp ground to the main stereo ground, and amp turn on to the power antenna wire), and see how it sounds.. Or you can get the stock amp bypass cable, at which point you'd be using just the new deck.. That's another pain though, getting to the stock amp that's buried under the rear pass. quarter panel.

Here is the Photobucket link:

http://pbckt.com/sx.dd4c

 

[Brooksie1]

Well that amp turn on wire can get power somewhere else, I'm not sure if from the 12v constant, switched, or somewhere else.

Is this what your OEM harness looks like?

http://tinyurl.com/ygm4sj3

Yep, looks the same plugs but there were not that many wires connected to the gray 8-pin plug. I think I need to provide power & ground to three of the pins in the 20-pin port on the back of the '98 HU. That should power the integral amp? Do you have any schematic for that 20-pin plug?

 

[617ricky]

OK so you do have the external amp... How are you connecting the wires from the 98 harness to the OEM harness though? Cutting, Soldering? I actually have an aftermarket harness for that year right here, I could tell you which plugs correspond to which wires if you need.

 

[Brooksie1]

OK so you do have the external amp... How are you connecting the wires from the 98 harness to the OEM harness though? Cutting, Soldering? I actually have an aftermarket harness for that year right here, I could tell you which plugs correspond to which wires if you need.

I cut off the existing plugs (and retained it) then used male/female wire connectors so that if I had to reorganize the wire connections it would be easy to do. If you have a looksee at the photos I posted you'll see that I have the 14-pin plug already and the wires to it are already labeled for their connections. Just not sure I have the speaker wires connected to the right colours in the existing harness.

 

[natepow1]

Similar Problem Here!!

Hey all, I am trying something similar. In my case (97 Explorer XLT) I am trying to replace the 6 disc that was located in the middle console with a JVC in dash CD, AM/FM Radio. I bought the wairing harness adapters to go from the OEM wiring harness to the JVC harness. Everything seems to have power, but I cannot get any sound from the speakers. I have connected the Amp ground wire to the other ground wires. If I disconnect the purple wires from the group of speaker wires and hold them to the input jack of a set of headphones I can get sound.....not sure where to go from here. I was curious if the fact that I removed the old cd player has anything to do with my problems. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to all!!

 

[617ricky]

This is the harness I have here right now - http://tinyurl.com/ygzq4cu
Now if you picture how this would plug into the OEM harness, you can tell which wire is which.. Do you need to me list every wire?

 

[natepow1]

You are obviously an expert!!

Ricky,

I have been checking different threads and have seen lots of your posts regarding the audio stuff. You seem to be very knowledgable about this. I have those exact harnesses in mine. I still dont have sound. On another post you said you needed to tie the factory amp power wire to the antanea power wire. Which one is that? Sorry for my ignorance......obviously not my area of expertise.

 

[617ricky]

Ricky,

I have been checking different threads and have seen lots of your posts regarding the audio stuff. You seem to be very knowledgable about this. I have those exact harnesses in mine. I still dont have sound. On another post you said you needed to tie the factory amp power wire to the antanea power wire. Which one is that? Sorry for my ignorance......obviously not my area of expertise.

Did you put an aftermarket deck in? The amp turn-on wire is the blue/white wire all the way on the right on the rectangular plug. You can connect it to the power antenna wire on the stereo side, or a remote turn on wire if you have one. Then on the square plug there's a black/white amp ground wire, you gotta twist this up with the stereo ground connection, so 3 wires together.. That's what's necessary to get the factory amp running - but depending on what you think of the sound, you may want to get a stock amp bypass cable.. They're cheap, but it's another pain to install.

 

[Brooksie1]

This is the harness I have here right now - http://tinyurl.com/ygzq4cu
Now if you picture how this would plug into the OEM harness, you can tell which wire is which.. Do you need to me list every wire?

My '96 plugs were a 16-pin female plug and an 8-pin male plug. The '98 plugs need to be female 14-pin and 20-pin plugs.

I may have the speaker connections wrong because the OEM wiring harness colours don't match the guides I've been able to find on the internet. Some are solid colours with no stripe yet all the wiring schematics I have show striped wires, so it is difficult to guess which connection on the '98 plug goes to which wire on the '96 harness.

 

[natepow1]

Ricky is the man!

Thanks!! I put the blue/white amp wire with the remote power antenae and majically I got sound!! I really appreciate all of your helpful advice and insight....I've been working on that since about 1pm today!

 

[617ricky]

My '96 plugs were a 16-pin female plug and an 8-pin male plug. The '98 plugs need to be female 14-pin and 20-pin plugs.

I may have the speaker connections wrong because the OEM wiring harness colours don't match the guides I've been able to find on the internet. Some are solid colours with no stripe yet all the wiring schematics I have show striped wires, so it is difficult to guess which connection on the '98 plug goes to which wire on the '96 harness.

For some reason, I think all the wires you need are on that single '98 harness plug you have. But you gotta find out exactly what each wire is for on that 1 plug you have.

In that link I posted of the 97 harness I have, I'm gonna list what the wires are, exactly as it looks. You gotta take this into account when you try and figure out what the corresponding wires are on the OEM side.
Square "16" plug only has 9 wires. The top 4 wires are RF+ RF- RR+ RR- then the bottom 5 are Amp Ground LF+ LF- LR+ LR-
The rectangular plug with 8 wires - 12v constant, dimmer ground (not used), 12v switched, dimmer (not used), illumination (not used), chassis ground, power antenna, amp turn-on

 

[617ricky]

Thanks!! I put the blue/white amp wire with the remote power antenae and majically I got sound!! I really appreciate all of your helpful advice and insight....I've been working on that since about 1pm today!

glad you got everything going, it took me 2 days to figure it out haha.

 

[Brooksie1]

For some reason, I think all the wires you need are on that single '98 harness plug you have. But you gotta find out exactly what each wire is for on that 1 plug you have.

In that link I posted of the 97 harness I have, I'm gonna list what the wires are, exactly as it looks. You gotta take this into account when you try and figure out what the corresponding wires are on the OEM side.
Square "16" plug only has 9 wires. The top 4 wires are RF+ RF- RR+ RR- then the bottom 5 are Amp Ground LF+ LF- LR+ LR-
The rectangular plug with 8 wires - 12v constant, dimmer ground (not used), 12v switched, dimmer (not used), illumination (not used), chassis ground, power antenna, amp turn-on

If there is no "power antenna" then that wire will be missing from the 8-pin plug, right? If I take the "amp turn-on" wire from that plug and connect it to the '98 blue/white wire on the HU that may power the internal amp on the '98 HU?

Thanks for the speaker connect info but I still don't know which wire in the OEM harness goes to which speaker because the colours don't match any schematic I've seen...