A note about Bypassing the Factory Amp

[Mbrooks420]

If your going to bypass the amp yourself, which you don't HAVE to, it can be powered and run door speakers, make sure you use the right wire diagram. These are the colors for the base level sound system, with no cd player, or factory sub. I'm going to post all the colors I had with an easy to follow diagram. Another way to figure it out is to use a battery. I used a AA but I think a 9volt would be fine also. You hold 1 wire to the + and one to the -. When you find a matching +,- one of the speakers will fuzz and pop. Those are the 2 wires for that channel. Yopu can also tell the wires polarity like this. You have to be able to see the speaker. If you connect it right the speaker should move forward, if it is out of phase it should go backwards.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Here is how the wiring broke down in my 1996 Xlt
I used Bullet connectors, Butt conectors would work also.
The left column is the input connector to the amp. It has 11 leads. It has the Power, Ground, Remote,
and the 8 speaker leads. The power and ground aren't large enough to run another amp. I suppose the remote wire could be used. The right column is the amps output connector and has the 8 speaker leads.

*------ means wire together

Front Passenger. +
White w/Green stripe-------White w/Red stripe
Front Passenger. -
Green w/Orange stripe-----Brown

Front Driver+
Orange w/Green stripe-----Light Green
Front Driver -
Blue w/White stripe---------White w/ Orange stripe

Rear Passenger +
Orange w/ red stripe--------Violet w/ white stripe
Rear Passenger -
Brown w/ Pink stripe--------Light Blue

Rear Driver +
Gray w/ Blue stripe----------Blue w/ Black stripe
Rear Driver -
Tan w/ Yellow stripe--------Yellow

 

[Brian's98XLT]

yes you can find polarity by using a AA battery. If the speaker moves outword then your polarity is right. You have to be able to see the speaker to do this

 

[leenjen]

yeah, you're right about using the battery to find polarity. that was nice of you to take the time to post the wiring color codes for the 96 explorer.

 

[Digger196]

are they the same for a 95?

 

[Mbrooks420]

I'm not sure. I'd say probobly because the 95-96 were almost the same thing. The 97's colors were probobly different because they changed the Ex's. I figured them all out from scratch. I just used the battery method to isolate all the channels. I was replacing door speakers at the amse time so figuring out the polarity was easy.

 

[cobrajeff]

Three Levels of Wiring for Most Explorers

There are three entirely different levels of factory wiring for most model years (prior to 1998) of Explorers.

1) "Base" or "non-Premium Sound" wiring (no external amps)

2) "Premium Sound" wiring - external amp, no Subwoofer

3) "Audiophile Sound" wiring - with two external amps, a 4 channel amp AND a Subwoofer amp

So the wiring diagram for one '96 Explorer will be different from another, UNLESS they both originally came equipped with the same model factory head unit.

The head units in "Base" systems have a base part number of -19B132- (Midline Cassette)

Head units in Premium Sound systems usually have -19B165- (Premium Cassette) or -18C815- (Premium CD)

Had units in Audiophile systems prior to 1995 will have a base number of -19B165- (Premium Cassette). For 1995 through 1997 (ONLY) Audiophile head units will have a base part number of -18C852- (Audiophile Cassette).

With three different wiring diagrams for EACH year, they can get pretty confusing. On top of that, the 1995-97 models with JBL had that "distributed architecture" where the guts of the head unit are actually in the Rear Control Unit (RCU) mounted to the subwoofer enclosure in the back.

Once somebody tosses the factory HU and starts chopping up the wiring, it's pretty tough to tell what diagram might apply. An ohm meter or the battery method may be the only way to tell what goes where.

regards,
cobrajeff

 

[dejello]

So I'm guessing mine was "Audiophile" though it says (or rather said) "Premium"

 

[cobrajeff]

If you had a factory subwoofer, then it was an "Audiophile" system. The Trim guys messed us up on the early Explorer - they conveniently "forgot" to put the "Ford JBL" logos on the front door speaker grilles like they were supposed to. In the 11th hour, so close to production, we had to settle for getting the Ford JBL badge on the Subwoofer grille only.

cobrajeff

 

[Triple5s]

So does anybody have any clue as to the correct wiring for a 96 v8 xlt all wheel drive with the (JBL) premium sound system and how to install an aftermarket deck to the factory wires without harness? this has been more than frustrating that all I keep seeing is other wiring colors that dont match the ones that I have. Also the factory sub/amp in the back stopped working and I was wondering about any solutions to fixing that problem as it kind of just cut out one day, no distortion or anything with sound prior so dont think its a sub issue it simply stopped working leading me to believe its an amp or wire issue. Has anybody actually fixed this same problem?

 

[Mbrooks420]

Are all the fuses good? If I didn't have any fuse issues I'd start at the amp and test for 12v, and a path to ground. If those check out, I'd check the speaker itself. If the speaker works elsewhere, you are left with a bad amp, or a signal problem. Worst case scenario you could get a cheap small bridgeable amp that has high level inputs and replace the factory amp.

Edit: Oh, and welcome to the site!

 

[98EdBomber]

Are all the fuses good? If I didn't have any fuse issues I'd start at the amp and test for 12v, and a path to ground. If those check out, I'd check the speaker itself. If the speaker works elsewhere, you are left with a bad amp, or a signal problem. Worst case scenario you could get a cheap small bridgeable amp that has high level inputs and replace the factory amp.

Edit: Oh, and welcome to the site!

I just swapped out the blown factory 8" sub and now I have no power on the output side of the amp. The harness on the input is 12v so im getting power but Im afraid the amp is blown. You mentioned buying a cheap amp to replace the factory. Any ideas which one would work. I found some on ebay but not sure which ones would work on my 98 EB 4.0. Thanks!

 

[Mbrooks420]

I would think any amplifier with high level inputs would work. Besides the 12v power and ground how many wires are there in the harness? it has been a LONG time since I've seen a factory amp setup. What kind of sub?

 

[CountryMick1771]

Help!!!!!

Here is how the wiring broke down in my 1996 Xlt
I used Bullet connectors, Butt conectors would work also.
The left column is the input connector to the amp. It has 11 leads. It has the Power, Ground, Remote,
and the 8 speaker leads. The power and ground aren't large enough to run another amp. I suppose the remote wire could be used. The right column is the amps output connector and has the 8 speaker leads.

*------ means wire together

Front Passenger. +
White w/Green stripe-------White w/Red stripe
Front Passenger. -
Green w/Orange stripe-----Brown

Front Driver+
Orange w/Green stripe-----Light Green
Front Driver -
Blue w/White stripe---------White w/ Orange stripe

Rear Passenger +
Orange w/ red stripe--------Violet w/ white stripe
Rear Passenger -
Brown w/ Pink stripe--------Light Blue

Rear Driver +
Gray w/ Blue stripe----------Blue w/ Black stripe
Rear Driver -
Tan w/ Yellow stripe--------Yellow

Please, for the love of all that is unholy, somebody help! I have spent 11 hours trying to properly install my new HU, and NOBODY seems to have the correct schematics. I caught the first glimmer of hope in the post I'm quoting, because all of the colors in the right hand column correspond with my stock HU's harness. HOWEVER, after splicing them to my new HU based on the speaker location and polarity described, I have ZERO audio. Everything else works on my HU, even bluetooth and Pandora, but I have no volume for any media, regardless of input, which leads me to believe I have a different schematic to my wires.

For what it's worth, I'm working with a 1996 Explorer Sport, 2 door, 4WD, 4.0 V6, and the stock HU I pulled out has a model number of F57F-19B165-AG. I cannot find the OE wiring diagram anywhere.

 

[FR-425]

Give this a look,

hope it helps.

http://www.installdr.com/Harnesses/Ford-Wiring.asp

 

[DjDom]

Before you try that ^

Sounds like you didn't hook up the remote amp turn on. Hook up the blue wire to the remote turn on on your new headunit.

 

[CountryMick1771]

Many thanks

DjDom, that was INDEED my problem. My new hu works marvelously now!

 

[DjDom]

DjDom, that was INDEED my problem. My new hu works marvelously now!

Good to hear that it all works now, enjoy!

 

[DCVR 614]

I have a 01 mountaineer with a factory sub in the back. Are the wires any different from the 98-01 explorers?

 

[DjDom]

Nope, factory sub 98-01 uses the same wiring.