Factory Radio Amplifier

[tdkd99]

Hello Everyone,

Ok, after reading through all the many posts on 1st generation explorers with the premium sound, I am sure I'll get booed at for this. But here goes anyway:

My 93 with premium sound suddenly lost all bass and the radio will work for about 5-10 minutes then die. By die, I mean no sound at all. The display works fine, I can change stations, set the clock, ect. If I turn it off for awhile and try it again, it will work but only for another 5 minutes or so.

Given I want to keep my factory radio, what's the chances I just need a new amp? If so, does anyone have a known good used one they can sell me? I realize if this is not the problem I'll need to change the radio to an aftermarket and bypass the factory amp.

Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated as I miss my tunes!

Thanks,

Tim

 

[Anime]

Chances are it's the radio/head unit itself, not the seperate amplifier.

The head units in these have issues, the amps don't usually have problems unless they are driving speakers that overload the amp (wrong ohm load).

Your best bet if you want to keep the factory head unit is to just get another one, either at a salvage yard, from someone on here, or on ebay.

The head units were used in a lot of other early 90's Ford vehicles, not just the Explorer, so you can usually find them. However, they will all eventually develop some kind of issue.

The other option would be to have the original head unit repaired - this will probably cost a good bit, but chances are it will be fixed and you won't have issues with it, or if you do, the repair should come with a warranty.

Best option is usually to just upgrade to an aftermarket head unit. You can get them for well under $100, they will play CDs, MP3s, etc. from a lot of other sources than the factory radios. Get the harness to bypass the factory amp or better yet, just use speaker wire and wire the four speakers directly to the new head unit speaker outputs.

If the system has a subwoofer, and you want to keep a sub in the system, you are usually best off upgrading the sub to an 8" or find some other decent 6.5", and use an aftermarket amp and wiring kit for it.

 

[Wolfie_85]

There are also adaptors you can get if you still want to use the factory speakers and sub. They don't cost much. But if you just want some music with little fuss, it works. But yeah, replace the head unit. Unless you're dying to keep the factory one for some reason, get an aftermarket one. Better features.

 

[tdkd99]

Thanks Guys. Sounds like I need to go ahead with an aftermarket unit. I only hesitated going that route because stupid kinds love to steal them and I rather not have to go through that exercise.

 

[dmorris]

I went thru this a while ago with a dead radio. went to the yard go a replacement, dead, tried again, good so far. went got another have not tried but plan to. $15 was worth it (plus they gave me 30 days to bring it back, not many yards will do that with electronic stuff). The main reason was I just like the look of OEM, I also like the plug and play aspect, plus I got the CD player.

here is the 1st of 3 videos I did on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jhl0IY_MLv4

My other reason for going this route is I am just cheap.

 

[tdkd99]

Yep, I'm cheap too and I kinda like the way the factory ones look. Thanks for the videos.

 

[dmorris]

you're welcome.

if you go the yard route, see if you can find a premium sound package get both the amp and the head (or at least note where they are if you get just one) I am not 100% sure all amp units with with all head units (even though all the plugs work). I pulled one amp unit and it was a perfect plug in deal but was DOA, I dont know if it was bad or there was some kind of compatability issue.

You may of course be buying something that may not last, but in my case it was worth it. It may not last but what the heck...

 

[Gadget X]

Dmorris, do you remember what vehicle the cd head unit came from, or was it just a "shelved" item at the junkyard? I would like to have cd, but keep the factory look, also. Thanks!

 

[dmorris]

one was from a Explorer EB 93 the other was a 95-97 4dr sedan.

 

[Gadget X]

Ok, thanks. I think I'll do some "hunting" at the pullapart this weekend!

 

[dmorris]

have fun! make sure they have a return policy, if possible try it on the lot (I did that with the amp unit to make sure, same with the head unit. Best bet would be to have the truck ready to plug them in and see what happens. Oh and watch out for the yellow jackets, I got stung last time, I was so focused on pulling a seat that I did not eve see them. ouch.

Oh and some cars and maybe the aerostars are MUCH easier to pull since you do not have to remove a trim panel. I hope you have the tool, its worth the 5$ over the coat hanger wire. You have to pull to find out if premium sound, It was about 1 out of 4 on the ones I pulled when looking.