Replacing the stereo in my '92.

[MistahYebba]

How do I start?

Can I just go to Walmart and buy any 'ol $30 stereo that has auxiliary and just take my old one out and expect it to work?

Or am I looking at a bigger task than I'm expecting?

The reason I want to replace it is because:

1. I would love to be able to connect my phone to it.
2. The current (factory) radio is all fuzzy. Only the back speakers give reliable sound, so I have the fade set all the way to "B" to only play out of the backspeakers. If I put it right in the middle, it *CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACKLES* as I turn the Fade dial, and only sometimes will it actually play out of the front speakers..

I had a good idea to try cleaning the stereo electrical contacts and see if that fixes the issue, but I don't know if I can take the knobs off of this old factory stereo? If so, how?

..If I can replace the stereo, how do I take off the dash? I read somewhere that you have to unscrew the 2 bolts in the ashtray and then slowly pop off the dash covering... then there's 4 holes on the stereo that you need to insert something in each one to pop them all out?

Once that was done, what am I looking at as far as putting in the new one?

I saw lots of people have problems with some sort of "amp"? I also read that this amp is only present on ones with "Premium" sound? How do I know if I have premium sound? I read that I can find out by looking on the back of 1 of the speakers in the door panel? So I'll do that later..

If I have premium sound, I'll have to do something with the amp which is somewhere on the passenger side by my understanding... what exactly will I have to do?

Thanks for all your help!

 

[natenkiki2004]

Sounds like you have the right idea. I'd wonder about your front speakers being blown though and a new stereo won't fix that. To find out if you have premium audio, look at the back cargo area, on the passenger side. There's either a subwoofer or a little cubby to put things, right behind the wheel well.

 

[Anime]

It's not as easy as just popping the old one out and then throwing a new one in, but it's not very hard, either. Just a matter of getting the right parts to do the job.

You will need a few items to remove the factory stereo and wire in a new aftermarket stereo.

First thing you'll need is a pair of Ford radio removal tools:

You can get these at walmart for a few dollars if you want to buy them, or you can just swing by your local car stereo shop and if they are friendly enough, they will come out in the parking lot and use their tool to pop out the radio for you. You don't need these for anything else other than popping out the factory radio.

With the radio out, you will need adapter harnesses for the radio power wires, speaker wires, and possibly the amp bypass harness. You probably DON'T have the premium system if you have a radio with dials. The premium stereo was full-logic, meaning all push-button controls. You can also just shine a flashlight into the side panel hole the passenger side seatbelt goes into, and peer into the back panel to see if there is a silver color amplifier in there. With the stereo loose, you can also look at the wiring and connectors, that will tell you what adapters you will need.

For a basic Ford stereo, you just need the power wire adapter and speaker adapter, which should be these two you can get pretty cheap:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/70-1770-For...reo-/111697539792?hash=item1a01b132d0&vxp=mtr


If you have a premium system, I would suggest buying this Metra 70-5514 harness kit on ebay for $4.99 with free shipping:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FD5014-70-5...H_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2562290c31&vxp=mtr

This gets you all 3 wiring harnesses for 5 bucks, a hell of a deal compared to paying the $20-30 they will want at a stereo shop, and you get the longer, individual harnesses.


You can still buy the Ford harness kit at walmart, but it's a tangled mess of different adapters all wired into each other so it fits all Ford trucks and cars from the 1980's into the 2000's. I prefer just having the clean, individual harnesses so it's not a mess you have to shove behind the new stereo, plus it makes for less to go wrong if a wire or connector is messed up.


After you have the wiring adapters, you just use a wire stripper and crimp connectors to match up the wires and if you did it correctly, it should work.

You will need to use the metal DIN sleeve of whatever stereo you get, to attach to the dash hole where the factory stereo went.

Slide the DIN sleeve off the stereo when you get it, attach it to the dash hole by bending the tabs, then after the wiring is done, slide the new stereo in until it clicks/locks, and keep the new removal keys so you can remove it if needed.


Not too hard, but watch some basic DIY stereo install videos on youtube to get a better idea of what's involved if you've never put a stereo in before.

 

[larrydd999]

Anime did an excellent job of explaining the issues. The only things I would add is that you get what you pay for with radios and speakers, so you may not want to go with a $30 radio, and the 20+ year old OEM speakers (if that's what they are) are probably long overdue for replacement. However, I have found the factory amplifier (if you have the premium sound) is rather good so I've left it in both of my Explorers. I suggest you go on-line to a few of the Internet car stereo sellers and look at their installation information. One well-known one is: www.Crutchfield.com

 

[Wolfie_85]

Anime said it all! It's not hard. I've used four skinny screwdrivers to get a factory Ford radio out in a pinch. The tool is nicer.

 

[chefduane]

I will second what larrydd said about not replacing the factory amp. I put in a Kenwood double din unit with new Pioneer door speakers and an Excelon shallow mount sub and kept the factory amp. Everything dropped right in with no problems and sounds great. Save the $$$ and don't swap the amp if it really isn't needed.

 

[1bird7stones]

Also if you're feeling cheap you could fashion up a removal tool out of a coat hanger and bend the pieces into a u shape so they look like the tool pictured above. Then you just push them in and pull the stereo out.

The Metra adapter is definitely convinient. You don't have to use it but it definitely makes any sort of future installion easier. I just cut the factory plug off and used a wiring diagram to match the factory wiring to my head unit and soldered and heatshrunk it all together. I didn't use the factory amp so I ended out running new wires to all the speakers from my head unit because it had a built in amp.

The wiring diagrams I got from http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/stereodetailm/856.html

 

[Number4]

My '94 got to the point where speakers were all crackly.
While I was at the wrecking yard for my '04, I picked up four speakers out of an '05 Mounty (same speakers as Explorer) along with their wire connectors and about 6" of wire. Speakers were $6 each and aren't bad, especially for my stock '94 stereo.

When I pulled my '94's speakers, the paper was no longer attached to the center.

 

[Wolfie_85]

I went with Kenwood two-ways all the way around. They were a nice upgrade, and they sound great. Went with a Kenwood head unit with bluetooth and HD radio, built in 7 band equalizer, and a Kenwood 12" sub with a Kenwood 1000 watt amp.

Mine didn't come with the factory sub, and I wouldn't have gone all out like that if it wasn't a screamin' deal. But it was, so I did!

Explorers are super easy to do installs on. I love the way mine turned out, and it wasn't even super duper high end. I always liked Pioneer, JVC, and Kenwood. All of them have decent products that offer good sound and good value. I paid about $40 per pair for the speakers (5"x7"/6"x8"). That came with a warrenty and better materials and sound quality than factory.

 

[BearHug]

A good stereo goes a long way. I originally replaced the speakers on my car (Kickers in the rear, Duals in the front) running them to the stock radio, and it was a nice upgrade, but after replacing the stereo with a Pioneer it took the sound to a whole other level. I made the mistake of cutting my amp wire and thinking I could wire it straight, but doesn't sound like you'll have that issue. Ended up bypassing the amp and running new wire directly between stereo and speakers.