Bypassing amp in a 97

[celly]

there is a tool for them,like a screwdriver but it has a bent end, and a notch they fit into,,

Those "panel poppers" are the sh*t. I use mine all the time. They can be had for cheap.
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[celly]

Big allen wrench, and yes, otherwise you cant get the panel off....bad design if you ask me lol

As corkey correctly stated, it's Torx.
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[BrianDye]

Woops...you guys are right lol, I get confused between the 2 sometimes cus some allens do work on Torx's

 

[nbarrera_013]

Does anyone happen to have a wiring diagram for a 95' with the SUB and changer?

Check out this website hopefully it helps

http://www.modifiedlife.com/car-stereo-wiring-diagrams-and-car-radio-wiring-diagrams/

 

[BrianDye]

Yea thanks for the link i think its the right one...lol

 

[617ricky]

I have allen wrenches, but no torx (except for a tiny electronics set).. So is there any other way to get the seat belt off? Is it really tough to get in there if you don't take it off? Cuz my plan is to check out the wire colors, and if they're the same as the ones listed in the thread on here for a 96, I was just gonna splice them myself instead of trying to hunt down the jumper.. Anyone know if I'll have enough access in there to do this w/o taking off the seat belt?

 

[sport97]

They sell a harness that is for the premium sound system, which i assume you have as it would be the only one to fit right. If im not mistaken you have to wire the remote turn-on wire(usually blue and white) into the stereo you have hooked up now. I did not do that at first thinking i didn't have an aftermarket amp, but the stock one needs it. The only other option is to rewire the speakers to bypass the amp.

 

[BrianDye]

617- I used one of those big (idk wtf the name is) wrenches, that you can like screw them tighter with the screw at the bottom of the handle...heres a pic, and I just got it tight enough that I had to use all my strength to get it to lock, then just twist it like a bolt.

it kinda looks like this, but theres a screw at the bottom of the handle, and its beefier
http://www.expeditionexchange.com/knipex/DSC03757.jpg

 

[617ricky]

They sell a harness that is for the premium sound system, which i assume you have as it would be the only one to fit right. If im not mistaken you have to wire the remote turn-on wire(usually blue and white) into the stereo you have hooked up now. I did not do that at first thinking i didn't have an aftermarket amp, but the stock one needs it. The only other option is to rewire the speakers to bypass the amp.

Wait what do you mean by this? Let me explain exactly where I'm at.. I have the "premium harness" that I hooked up to the stereo and everything looked good.. Stereo powers up, but no sound in the speakers.. I then found out about the amp, and read about various possibilities.. One guy actually hooked up the 12v amp cable on the harness (to power up the stock amp), and ran the pre-amplified signal from the new deck into the amp in the back, and that worked, although I would never do that..

So as far as I know, it's either brand new speaker wire from the deck, or disabling the stock amp by either splicing the wires (which I have color codes for), or using a bypass jumper cable that basically plugs the input into the output..

But what you're mentioning here confused me.. Why would you wire the remote turn on wire? That wouldn't be necessary (along with a few other wires), if you bypass the amp in the back.. This doesn't have anything to do with bypassing the amp without actually getting to it in the back, does it? Cuz as far as I know, that's not possible, and there's basically the 2 options I mentioned, or doing a hack job and just wiring the 12v amp cable, and double-amplifying the signal, which would sound worse and possibly damage your speakers.

 

[sport97]

Its been 2 years since i did this, but that is what i did. I had the premium stereo wire harness and i still had the stock amp hooked up. It doubled the amplification so it was at "max" volume the speakers could handle at about 20 out of 50 on the volume scale on my stereo. I have recently changed my stereo set up around have have a sub now and no long have the stock amp or i would go check. Try and wire the remote turn on in. The premium wire harness must have sent power with it to the amp. I wish i could remember for sure, but that must be the case as you said the power wire to the amp did the trick.

 

[617ricky]

It doubled the amplification so it was at "max" volume the speakers could handle at about 20 out of 50 on the volume scale on my stereo.\

What was the sound quality like tho? I'm not some audio-snob (for example the low hiss of a cassette player wouldn't bother me much), but I HATE distorted bass, and that's how I imagine it being.. And I definitely don't wanna blow the speakers in there.. Anyone else have any other info on re-amplifying WITH the stock amp and a new deck?

 

[sport97]

What was the sound quality like tho? I'm not some audio-snob (for example the low hiss of a cassette player wouldn't bother me much), but I HATE distorted bass, and that's how I imagine it being.. And I definitely don't wanna blow the speakers in there.. Anyone else have any other info on re-amplifying WITH the stock amp and a new deck?

It wasn't distorted at all, i'm not an audio snob but i don't like trashy audio quality. The only thing is that it hits the max the stock speakers can handle earlier than if you bypass it so you cant crank your volume dial all the way. It only takes a wire nut to wire the remote turn on. Give it a try first to see if it bothers you, if so do the bypass, if not then you saved yourself some time.

 

[617ricky]

It wasn't distorted at all, i'm not an audio snob but i don't like trashy audio quality. The only thing is that it hits the max the stock speakers can handle earlier than if you bypass it so you cant crank your volume dial all the way. It only takes a wire nut to wire the remote turn on. Give it a try first to see if it bothers you, if so do the bypass, if not then you saved yourself some time.

Hmmm you bring up a good point.. I have a couple more questions now tho, haha.. Where do you connect the 12v amp turn-on wire (blue/white), into the red or yellow wire on the stereo harness? I actually already connected the amp ground into the ground on the harness before.. Then I have a blue wire right next to it for power antenna.. On the stereo harness I also have an orange auto electric antenna wire..

And just for clarification, I don't have to connect the illumination and dimmer wires right? In the past I never have, and everything has always worked fine..

EDIT: I just went out and connected the 12v amp wire to the power antenna wire like you mentioned, and it worked! And you're right, it doesn't sound bad at all, just definitely gotta be careful with the volume levels.. But I've already compensated for that by keeping the volume on my mp3 player lower, so you can put the stereo volume up higher.. It actually sounds better like that I noticed, and the only thing I'm gonna be using is the mp3 player.. The actual radio has always come in really ****ty, and it's the same with the new deck, but that's not an issue at all..

So thanks, you definitely saved me more time and money, and I'm fine with this now.. It was other threads I was reading where people were saying that it would sound terrible using the stereo and stock amp, and 1 guy even made it seem like you'd ruin the speakers instantly.. Well as we both know at this point, it's simply not true.. Before with the stock deck I was using the cassette player to connect to the mp3 player, and that definitely had some hissing, but now with a direct Aux input, it's gone.. So thanks again, I'm pumped..

 

[sport97]

I'm glad it worked, like i said i ran it for a year like that until i redid my whole system. I thought it sounded good, especially with stock speakers. The only thing to be careful with is if you crank your radio because the mp3 player volume is low and you change it to cd or radio it will be too loud, just be sure to lower it first. I never had an issue with it. There is no reason you will trash the speakers unless you just crank it too loud. You should be able to tell when its too loud for the speakers.

 

[BrianDye]

I said F it and bought speaker wire tonioghtg

 

[617ricky]

I said F it and bought speaker wire tonioghtg

Did you do the install yet? Cuz if not, all it takes is connecting the 2 wires for the amp.. I originally thought it was gonna be like a half-ass way to do it, but as long as your EQ and volume is set properly, it sounds completely fine with no distortion at all.. Put it this way, I can pick up on distortion instantly and despise it, and I can't imagine there being a noticeable difference if you DID bypass the amp.. Even if I knew there was a difference, I still wouldn't do it, cuz I'm that satisfied with this, as it's definitely a solid step above the stock radio.. You just gotta be careful you don't mess up and have the volume up, cuz if you did it would be insanely loud, and I wouldn't be surprised in the least if it blew all the speakers..

But compared to the options I was looking at, either buying a bypass cable along with a solid project in the back, or running new wire with a major project all around, this sure as hell beat that..

 

[BrianDye]

I dont have anyway to hook up the speakers to the HU...

I can get a wire harness but only the power one works, none fit the 2nd little connector...otherwise id use the stock amp

 

[617ricky]

I dont have anyway to hook up the speakers to the HU...

I can get a wire harness but only the power one works, none fit the 2nd little connector...otherwise id use the stock amp

Oh I see what you mean.. If time or money isn't a factor (4-5 days and $6.99 total), you can just order the right harness on ebay.. You could pay with any credit/debit card (thru Paypal).. Here's the link - http://tinyurl.com/y93rue6
I would DEF do that before I even thought about running new speaker wire!!!

 

[617ricky]

I have something I'm thinking about trying, and I'm interested if anyone has any opinions on it.. Now as stated, I'm currently running the stereo AND the stock amp together, and it sounds good - you just HAVE to be careful with the vol/eq levels.. So I've been thinking about how it's like, there's too much power running to the speakers, and how if I put more powerful speakers in, that they'd be able to handle it better.. However, that's not what I'm gonna do, cuz I don't wanna a) pay for 4 new speakers, or b) take the door panels off..

But here's what I do wanna do.. I wanna take the main speaker wires coming from the stereo for the Front Left, and splice it into 2 (Front Left & Rear Left), and then do the same for the Front Right.. At that point, those 2 original wires will be powering all 4 speakers.. Then I wanna take the original Rear wires, and extend them all the way back to the cargo area, so I can hook up a couple [really] low watt sub boxes.. I have 2 MTX boxes already with like 8" subs, and they used to sound good connected as rear speakers to like a 120w deck..

I'm just basically wanting to take some of that extra power and put it to good use.. I realize it's definitely not gonna be great or anything, but if I figure it will at least sound better than it does now, and it should ease that overflow that's currently going to the speakers now.. And best of all, it'll be easy.. So what do you think?

 

[sport97]

The reason i switched my stereo setup was because of how it sounded with my sub. With you only being able to turn the stereo to, lets say 18 outta 50 before maxing out, its not turning your sub up very much, so your not getting much bass in relation to how loud the speakers are. Now, without the amp i can get to about 30 before maxing the speakers, and the sub is putting out about twice the bass, or wattage as when the volume was turned lower when i had the amp still. If you leave the current set up with subs your speaker volume compared to your subs isn't very good. I hope that made sense, its kind of hard to explain. It took me like 2 weeks to figure out why my sub wasn't hitting nearly at all.

Wait a second... I totally missed that you said hooking them up as rear speakers,not as subs with an amp. That would work if it sounded ok, it would just mess up your fade controls. Im not sure if that would risk blowing the stock amp, if it does then just get the bypass harness or i will sell you my old stock amp: