Factory amp removal??

[juggaloscorpio]

Does anyone know where i can get a walkthrough with pics for a factory amp location or removal in a 95 xlt?? I have tried looking on the net and in the forums but cannot find anything except for posts saying to just bypass it. I want it to stay in the truck working i dont have the funds for a new amp right now. I posted awhile back with an issue of my door speakers cutting in and out on me and when they do i "tap" the rear wiper button and they come back on. I have not been able to locate any type of ground-out anywhere so i want to rewire radio-to-amp and amp-to-speakers to see if it will fix this issue and if it doesnt i at least have my new wires ran for a future door speaker amp. But right now i really need a pic to start with so i can get this issue fixed i have already broken 2 radio bezels trying to either make the sound come back on or locate the problem. PLEASE HELP!!!

 

[BrianDye]

The amp is located in the rear panel under the passenger side glass (right behind the backseats in the panel)

 

[617ricky]

Do you realize how big of a job it would be to run all new wiring from the deck to amp to speakers??? You'd be removing all the inner door panels, rear quarter panel, and then running the wires thru all these tiny openings.. And that doesn't cover everything, cuz all the wires are attached to harness plugs which you would have to keep.. So you'd have to cut the plugs off, and splice/solder all the wires to them, cuz it's not a normal amp like you'd expect.. You'd have to do the same with the speakers too, cuz the wires don't get right into them - there's plugs..

If you wanna look at the amp tho, you can pry the quarter panel off with the claw of a hammer.. You just gotta pull where all the circles are, cuz there's little "christmas-tree" clips under them.. I got mine off halfway like that to bypass the amp.. But if you wanna get it off completely, it's more work requiring Torx bits for the coat hanger, seat belt, and then there's a screw or 2 as well underneath the cargo area that I couldn't even unscrew due to corrosion..

It's gonna be a pretty big undertaking.. And just you kno, it's really not expensive to just upgrade the stereo.. I got a used deck on ebay for $15, and a harness/dash kit for $20, so for $35 I had a new stereo.. Cuz it was so cheap, I went ahead and got a new amp/sub, and the bypass cable, and that was $100.. I ended up paying $50 to have the amp professionally put in, and it was well worth it.. And now the system sounds totally different and bumps.. But just a new deck is an improvement over stock, and you can definitely do that cheap.

 

[agonz91]

installing speakers is easier than youd think. you still gotta take off the door panels to put in the aftermarket speakers. but what i do is run all my speaker wire from my amp to the back of the deck where i just attach the speaker wire to the harness and that way i wont have to run individual speaker wires to each door (pain in the a$$ b4 i discoverd this method.) if u break the pins holding the door on u can always buy more. i know my local walmart carrys them. and when u install an amp make sure to run the power wire on the left side and run ur rca's n remote-turn-on wire on the right side, if u dont do this then ull get engine/alternator noise.

 

[617ricky]

installing speakers is easier than youd think. you still gotta take off the door panels to put in the aftermarket speakers. but what i do is run all my speaker wire from my amp to the back of the deck where i just attach the speaker wire to the harness and that way i wont have to run individual speaker wires to each door (pain in the a$$ b4 i discoverd this method.) if u break the pins holding the door on u can always buy more. i know my local walmart carrys them. and when u install an amp make sure to run the power wire on the left side and run ur rca's n remote-turn-on wire on the right side, if u dont do this then ull get engine/alternator noise.

i definitely see what you're saying about just connecting the wiring for new speakers directly from the stock amp, but to be honest it's more work than needs to be done unless you want a really big upgrade.. in a premium system, the door speakers sound fine if you add a new deck and separate amp/sub.. and taking all 4 door panels off is still a pretty big job unless you're familiar with that sort of thing.. i've installed decks a few times in diff. cars, and i tried taking off a door panel for the hell of it in my 97, and i gave up cuz it wasn't easy, haha.. i've installed new speakers in hondas and even an old pontiac, but i could just tell in a 97 X, it was more than i wanted to get tied up in.. the deck itself was easy, but messing with even the stock amp was a pain..

what i'm getting at, is before i'd ever think of changing the speakers, i'd change the deck 1st, and then throw in a separate amp/subs if i wanted some bang.. but the stock speakers can definitely hang with a sub or 2 on a separate ~250w amp, which should be enough for anyone short of a legitimate audiophile..

 

[juggaloscorpio]

Thanks for the replies

617ricky:: I know it is a big job just didnt want to realize how big haha, but most of it i have done already such as both front door speakers have new wiring to back of an aftermarket HU. I really dont care for the so called "premium" door speakers they just sound like crap to me.

I have an Audiobahn 200W amp(i know its a baby one) running 2 Infinity 12" Kappa's Perfect Series(1200w each) in it right now(currently dead had to remove radio again) will post some pics either today or tom. Right now im looking at getting a JBL GTO 5355 5ch to put on it.


agonz91:: Even with separating the RCA(passenger side) and power wires(driver side) of the EX it still has the engine/transmission sound in the background when my door speakers are all running. the only speaker that stays on all the time is the rear passenger side. I just dont get it I have gotten so upset with my EX that she got grounded to the garage until i can rewire everything the right way again this weekend.


Since i cant get the factory wiring fixed i will just have to HA HA UPGRADE!! my speakers and in the process rewire everything front to back so...

Can someone point me in the right direction for a whole set of good aftermarket door speakers and amp??

 

[bo11]

If you can avoid taking the rear panel off I would suggest you go another route. My 95 is in excellent shape so I was able to get the rear panel off to replace the sub back there but I had to be really careful not to break any plastic in doing so. I have a shop manual that I bought back in 95 gives a good illustration on how everything is laid out but due to the book being so thick I couldn't copy the pages to scan to you.

 

[juggaloscorpio]

If you can avoid taking the rear panel off I would suggest you go another route. My 95 is in excellent shape so I was able to get the rear panel off to replace the sub back there but I had to be really careful not to break any plastic in doing so. I have a shop manual that I bought back in 95 gives a good illustration on how everything is laid out but due to the book being so thick I couldn't copy the pages to scan to you.

Thats okay thanks for the thought and, after the responses i got today, I just sat here for about 30 mins thinking that im just gonna have to rewire and re-speaker all my doors. I have an '04 ranger edge supercab that i put a new HU into(next step upgrade from radio in the EX) but removed both subs and amp to put back into my baby and now im dealing with this crap again.

 

[juggaloscorpio]

If you can avoid taking the rear panel off I would suggest you go another route. My 95 is in excellent shape so I was able to get the rear panel off to replace the sub back there but I had to be really careful not to break any plastic in doing so. I have a shop manual that I bought back in 95 gives a good illustration on how everything is laid out but due to the book being so thick I couldn't copy the pages to scan to you.

Oh and i see that you just joined this month so welcome to the site!

 

[toypaseo]

Rear panel removal instructions: http://www.mtx.com/caraudio/products/manualsQuickInstall/thunderforms/FEX10.pdf

My ex-Ford mechanic neighbor loaned me a Snap-On soft grip panel removal tool for removal of interior panels. It slides under the head of the plastic panel "Christmas tree bolts", and makes removal of them easy, with less to no damage to them. This saved me alot of time and headaches, so I bought my own set off eBay...

 

[bo11]

No problem, I hope I can help out and get some help myself here.

 

[ahodges]

I'm just curious, not to direct the attention away from juggaloscorpio, but I was wondering why everyone likes to at minimum bypass the stock amp. I have mine wired to turn on the the head unit which powers aftermarket speakers.

Would I get better sound quality by just bypassing the amp? Whats the advantage?

 

[617ricky]

but I had to be really careful not to break any plastic in doing so.

exactly.. i only popped the rear panel off just enough to get 1 hand in there and wiggle the bypass cable in, definitely wasn't easy not being able to see either.. and when i tried taking off 1 of the door panels, i took the screws out, but i got the same feeling when i tried prying it off, like i may break something.. i guess if you know exactly where to pry you'd be good, but it wasn't something i wanted to get involved in..

 

[bo11]

Another note, If you do take the rear Panel off. You will have to bend the upper part of the rear panel to move it out of the way to get to the amp. Unless you take the passenger rear seat out which I don't think you want to do. Be careful not to scrape the upper part of the panel against your roof liner. The sharp edges on the panel will rip your liner pretty easily.

 

[617ricky]

The sharp edges on the panel will rip your liner pretty easily.

Wow that's funny you mention that.. What I did was start to pop the panel off in the middle 1st, and when I got a few of the things unclipped, I just pulled it with my hands.. And at that point, you could pull it open enough to see the amp, but when you let go of it, it would go back into place.. So anyways, I was showing someone what I was doing, so I started to pull the panel a little bit, and it felt stuck.. Sure enough - that razor sharp edge up top put little slit up in the fabric!

 

[juggaloscorpio]

door panels

The door panels/interior trim removals are the easiest part of doing the speakers/wiring to me and im usually pretty good at locating ground-outs/shorts/loose wiring or whatever but this EX is driving me bonkers I cant wait to get her thumpin again and thanks for the warnings on the trouble I would be going thru right now if I was to start rewiring the amp/speakers/radio like i was thinking of doing.

Now i have a question because im still not 100% sure I have a built in amp.(first EX for me still getting to know her) and not to sound like an idiot seeing as I have done this before but When my last HU was in I ran the front door speakers directly to the HU and I couldnt hear the sound very good on them, but it was pretty loud on my rear speakers(still running to my factory wiring) this would mean that I do have a built in amp right?? I have seen on here posts that explain the audio pakages for the 95 EX but still couldnt figure out what system was originally in it. I have the factory radio I removed still but it dont have any identifying info.

 

[juggaloscorpio]

Wow that's funny you mention that.. What I did was start to pop the panel off in the middle 1st, and when I got a few of the things unclipped, I just pulled it with my hands.. And at that point, you could pull it open enough to see the amp, but when you let go of it, it would go back into place.. So anyways, I was showing someone what I was doing, so I started to pull the panel a little bit, and it felt stuck.. Sure enough - that razor sharp edge up top put little slit up in the fabric!

as far as the ripping the headliner fabric goes they make a burr remover for plastics that can solve that in one ripshot if ya really wanna stop that from happening

 

[617ricky]

Now i have a question because im still not 100% sure I have a built in amp.(first EX for me still getting to know her) and not to sound like an idiot seeing as I have done this before but When my last HU was in I ran the front door speakers directly to the HU and I couldnt hear the sound very good on them, but it was pretty loud on my rear speakers(still running to my factory wiring) this would mean that I do have a built in amp right?? I have seen on here posts that explain the audio pakages for the 95 EX but still couldnt figure out what system was originally in it. I have the factory radio I removed still but it dont have any identifying info.

How I found I had an amp in mine, is when I hooked up a new deck, I got no sound at all from the speakers.. So I luckily found this site, and then found out about the amp.. What I did in the meantime just to get it working, was connect the 2 wires on the harness for the stock amp, cuz they are on there.. When you do that tho, you're basically amplifying an already amplified signal, so you can't put the volume or bass up too high or you get distortion.. It still sounded fine if you were careful, but it wasn't ideal..

What I know now tho, is you can just go on crutchfield.com and click "outfit my car" under car audio, and enter all the specs for your model and stock stereo.. When it takes you to the next page, if you click on "view all installation gear", they'll show you the harness, and it will say whether or not there's a factory amp.. There's actually another thing you can buy called an "integration adaptor" where you don't have to mess with the amp, it just basically trims down the amplified signal from a new deck and still uses the stock amp too.. Honestly, I would have rather gotten that instead of the amp bypass cable, cuz I think my stereo is only 18w rms per channel which is lower than the stock amp itself (20w rms)..

 

[juggaloscorpio]

Okay good looking out man will look into it and for the radio output you saying i would rage and pillage if my radio was only 18X4rms hahahahaha thats why i got rid of the stock and i upgraded a lil bit to 50X4rms

and does anyone really know about JBL??

here are the specs on the amp im looking at buying

Grand Touring Series 5-Channel Class AB Car Amplifier
RMS Power Rating:
4 ohms: 55 watts x 4 chan. + 225 watts x 1 chan.
2 ohms: 75 watts x 4 chan. + 360 watts x 1 chan.
Max power output: 125 x 4 chan. + 535 watts x 1 chan. approx. (1035 watts)
LED power and protection indicators
Tuned Bass EQ (0-12 dB bass boost)
Cast-aluminum heatsink
Variable high-pass filter (10-100 Hz, 12 dB/octave)
Variable low-pass filter (32-320 Hz, 12 dB/octave)
CEA-2006 compliant amplifier
Frequency response (Chan. 1-4): 10-83000 Hz
Frequency response (Chan. 5): 20-250 Hz
Dimensions: 18-9/16"L x 10-3/8"W x 2-1/8"H

can someone verify the quality of JBL amps for me cuz its a $280 amp and im not ready for that amount unless its really worth it(my woman is buying it for my V-Day gift and dont want her to get ripped off)

 

[617ricky]

Okay good looking out man will look into it and for the radio output you saying i would rage and pillage if my radio was only 18X4rms hahahahaha thats why i got rid of the stock and i upgraded a lil bit to 50X4rms

It all comes down to listening preference... But when you say 50w rms x 4 you must mean a separate amplifier and not just a deck right? My stereo is labeled as 180w (45w x 4), but that's max output which is pretty meaningless.. Even 200w decks (50w x 4) are only putting out around 22w rms per channel, so you can see how the stock speakers are definitely better than a typical stock speaker, since they were already handling 20w rms..

When I used to crank the stereo before I upgraded, it was definitely loud enough for my mids/his, so I didn't really see a point in upgrading the speakers.. It was bass I was after, and with a new amp/sub in the back, I can definitely feel the music which is what I like, haha.. And I max out the treble on the deck for the door speakers with the bass low, and let the sub take care of that, and it's a nice balance.. I'm not trying to turn heads or anything, but when someone gets in and hears it, they know there's definitely some sort of system in it..