where is the factory amplifier?

Hello everyone! I have a 1991 eddie bauer explorer. Getting ready to put in a new stereo. I was looking for the factory amplifier so i could by pass it. I found a black box behind the rear quater trim pannel on the drivers side with 3 wire harnesses attatched. Anyone know what this is? It is black plastic with metal heat dissipating fins. It says united technologies automotive on it and motor craft. Also it has a red light on the outside of the black plastic housing. I unhooked the wiring from it and took it out. there is a rattle inside so something sounds broken inside it. The truck seems to run fin with this unhooked. WHAT IS IT? any suggestion appreciated. I am guessing the factory amp is under the trim on the passenger side?

I am guessing since you have an EB you also have the upgraded JBL systems in it. But that location, behind the rear passenger quater panel is where I remember the factory amp was located..

thanks

well i am gonna look on the passernger side when i get time. Still wondering what this black plastic box is thats mounted on the driver side.

Sounds like what you removed was the 4x4 control module. If you have 4x4, and took that out, it won't be working anymore. The only other thing I think is usually back there may be the keyless entry module, but I don't have factory keyless so I could be wrong, thought I read somewhere the module is back there as well.

Mine has the rear window ****er and jack on the driver's side. Don't know whats behind that. The factory amp is on pass side and is silver.

Was it by the rear washer bottle? If so its the 4x4 module, which you definitly need.

Yes, the box on the driver's side is the 4X4 control module. The amplifier is behind the cargo bay trim panel on the passenger's side.

I found an easier way to bypass the amp on my 92 XLT, which has the premium sound system, but not the JBL system.

Remove the plastic door sill plate on the passenger side. It covers a cable duct that runs from the front to the rear. Removing the sill plate will also expose the lower part of the "B" pillar. There is an 8-pin connector attached to the "B" pillar. This connector has all of the speaker outputs from the amp. Unplug the connectors. If I recall correctly, the connector with the male Molex pins is the speaker side. I buzzed the whole thing out and I can look up the color codes for you. I ran new speaker wires up to the dashboard via the cable duct. I soldered some female Molex pins to the wires, insulated them with shrink sleeving, then plugged each wire into the 8-pin connector, resulting in a neat and reliable installation.

Run the new speaker wires up to the new radio, and don't wire the amp power switching lead to the new radio, and you amp will be bypassed.

Bob

Driver side rear panel is the 4x4 control modual and passanger side rear panel has the amp. I had mine done in about 10 mins with the aid of someone just pulling the panel out just enough to disconnect and reconnect the harness !

hey bwana bob can you post the color code for the wires from the amp that would help me out alot thanks

can you post that color cade bwana bob that would really help me

Hi Guys,

I'm from Brazil and new user here. I have a '98 Explorer and I would like to replace my factory amp ( it has problems in 3 of the 4 channels ).

Does anyone have the eletric schema ?

I saw the pilot signal ( to power on the amp ) is 5V and my new module needs a 12V signal. Does anyone know how I can solve it ? Remember that here in Brazil we don't have access to "miraculous" part like you in USA :^D.

Regards

My 94 Limited Ed. has JBL factory amp behind cargo trim/cover in rear on passenger side. I replaced OEM radio/CD player with a Pioneer & hooked it up to factory amp instead of bypassing it- sounds pretty dang strong to me, although I am not an expert audiophile by any means. If interested, I will check color codes & hookup & post on this thread- it was very simple to do, and I went the "extra mile" & did the heat shrink sleeves over my solder joints.

Just adding some pictures to clarify things. both pics are 1st gen

Left side (drivers)


Right Side (passenger) Factory amp location

94pcofscheise said:

My 94 Limited Ed. has JBL factory amp behind cargo trim/cover in rear on passenger side. I replaced OEM radio/CD player with a Pioneer & hooked it up to factory amp instead of bypassing it- sounds pretty dang strong to me, although I am not an expert audiophile by any means. If interested, I will check color codes & hookup & post on this thread- it was very simple to do, and I went the "extra mile" & did the heat shrink sleeves over my solder joints.

Click to expand...

Did you send the line level outs from the Pioneer head unit to the factory amp, and it worked fine? Or did you use some sort of converter to convert speaker level out to line level out?

I honestly can't remember the hookup, but I will check & advise. Incidentally, my 94 Limited has a factory sub which is also wired to the amp. Not a bad sounding system at all. Will get back with you.

Where is the sub located ? Do you have pics ?