Ranger Radio Swap Help

[Humblejack]

Hi,
I have just became a Ford Ranger owner 3 weeks ago. I have a 1997 Ranger XLT. Someone had put in a big amp behind the seat and a radio that you need 12 years of education above high school to turn it on. I went to the local junk yard and got a CD player out of a 1997 Explorer. The plug in jacks on the back of the CD player is a little different than the plug in my 97. The CD has a long 8 pin plug and a square 16 pin plug. My 97 has two L shaped plug set at 90 degrees. I went to a site that had the pin out changes to convert the 16 square plug to a 8 pin. The player works but the volumn is low and static. I know the system works because I got a AM/FM Cassette with the correct plug and it works great. Any ideas as to where I went wrong?

 

[RangerX]

Welcome Jack! I moved your thread to the Audio forum. I think you'll get a better shot of an answer there.

 

[LONO100]

I think that you will need to clip the harness for the aftermarket deck, and rewire for the stock deck. I think if you search the forum, I posted a map for the wiring so I'm sure if you search for wiring diagram, it'll pop up.

 

[Humblejack]

Hi Lono100,
I did clip the 16 square plug and a 8 pin L plug from another Explorer (a 1998 I think). I then spliced the two together to make an adapter. I used the direction from a wire crossover from the net. When I plug it in is when I get the radio to work but the volume is low and very static. Every thing seems to work but I do have 8 wires from the 16 pin plug hanging around.

 

[The Chief]

FWIW, volume being low on a radio is usually a bad ground. Check to make sure the radio is grounded properly. And check it, don't just say it is. The speakers won't work correctly if the head unit isn't grounded right. The head unit won't work right as the amplifier in the radio won't work. Second thing is the radio itself could have a bad amplifier in it. Speakers being wired incorrectly/backwards also cause your problem.

Ground it good to the chassis. Let us know!

 

[LONO100]

I agree on the possible bad ground, you could also have a bad connection where you spliced the speaker wire to the harness. Did you solder the wores, or did you twist and tape?

 

[Humblejack]

I give up

Hi,
I have soldered the wires. I have been doing some searching on the net and may have some bad info from a site. I went to

http://www.the12volt.com/installbay//forum_posts.asp?TID=1653

This is what I used to make my adapter. I am not sure I am using the right plug end to adapt to. It fits the radio fine but I don't know where the radio gets its ground from. I ran a wire to the chassis and to the case of the radio and then to each wire (the spare 8 wires not being used as speakers. No change in the volume or static.

I think I will just give up and go get a third party player
ebay wants $170 for the cd player with the 2 - 8 pin connecters.
Thanks for all your help.

 

[toypaseo]

$170? Ouch. I would consider an quality aftermarket at that price...