86 mark vii audio wring

[shaylynree]

someone out there must know what these wire colors represent...PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE help me out and share the info...2 lt grn, 2 lt blue, 1 yel/blk, 1 orange/blue....1 drk grn/yel, 2 pink/blue, 1 wht/red, 1 blk/wht, 1 pink/grn, 1 lt grn.
1986 mark vii. really need to know which is constant, ground, and switched. thanks!! :confused:

[Desert Stallion]

Remember that this system uses a common ground for the front speakers, and there's an amp in the way, so wiring speakers should really be done with all new wires, at least from the head unit to the speakers.

Just me though. I'm not sure about the wire colors though, I'd have to dig some later.

[pepsi2185]

Do you have a long 8 pin grey plug and a long 8 pin black plug,

or a long 8 pin grey plug and a square chrome and grey plug.

or a small square 4 pin grey plug and a small sqare 8 pin grey plug.

[ April 24, 2004: Message edited by: pepsi2185 ]

[Nick]

I thought the whole system was common ground.

[Desert Stallion]

If I remember right my '85 had seperate +/- wires for the rear and seperate '+' for the front speakers but they shared a common '-' wire.

That was a while ago, and I ran my own wires to all 4 speakers anyway because I ran them off amps mounted in the trunk, not the head unit.

[Nick]

THat's a weird set up. Thanks, Ford. If this were true, would I be able to install aftermarket rear speakers?

[pepsi2185]

nick are you putting those aftermarket speakers on the factory unit?

[shaylynree]

i'm really not looking for info regarding speakers at this time...looking for info to wire after market head unit. HELP!! :confused:

[shaylynree]

URL=http://hometown.aol.com/shaylynree/myhomepage/MyLincoln.html]My Lincoln[/URL]

[ April 25, 2004: Message edited by: shaylynree ]

[Nick]

My original plan was to let them sit until I got a set of Infinity components for the front and an aftermarket head unit. I would then run new wires everywhere. If I could get away with just installing the rears for now, then I'd like to try them out.

[Nick]

http://markvii.homestead.com/stereo1.html

1990 Wiring Colors. Don't know about an older car though.

[pepsi2185]

nick,

as long as the old speakers are 4 ohm speakers you will be fine (which im pretty sure they are). But underpowering new speakers will make them sound worse than the old ones. You may be best waiting to do the whole thing at once. Let us know how it sounds.

shylynree,

We are trying to give you advice on speakers wires because the way your speakers are wires directly effects if your new headunit will work at all. It looks like You have the old common ground system. It looks as though you may get lucky and be able to just rewire the fronts. As far as colors, ford changes colors a couple times a year so it may not match yours. You are going to need to get an old style ford harness (the metra number escapes me at the moment) for power connections and you are either going to have to run all 4 pairs of speaker wires to the trunk, or run 2 to the back and 2 to the kick. The amp is under the rear decklid.

[ April 26, 2004: Message edited by: pepsi2185 ]

[shaylynree]

Thank you Nick..i can understand where your coming from, but i'm still lost..if i could afford to have it installed, believe me i would. unfortunately i can't, so..i'm having to rely on my hubby to do it. he recently installed a system in his truck and a couple days ago he added more speakers and an amp, so i know he must know at least basically what he's doing..but with my car it seems like he's playin dumb..i would do it myself (i do almost everything myself)if i understood it all a little better. My expertise is in the computer building, repairing, and programming dept. i am mechanically inclined and am excellent at problem solving in most instances..getting this new audio system installed in my car is just getting the better of me and boggling my mind. :eek: i just want some tunes in my car...is that too much to ask :( lol :D anyways, thanks so much!!

[Nick]

Here's the safest and best way for you to install your sound system:

Go out to Walmart and buy the Ford wiring harness adapter for $7 for 1986 and up cars. This will allow you to plug into the factory harness while not cutting it up. Really you only need the power wire so everything else can be taped up. If you don't have speaker wire, you might as well get it when you are picking up the wiring harness adapter. It will be about $10. You will need enough to run wires to each speaker location from the head unit. You should also buy the head unit install kit for the car, which costs about $10-$15 and is available at Circuit City, Crutchfield, or a place that sells car stereo stuff. This will allow you to mount the new head unit in the dash.

You should run new speaker wires to each speaker location from the new head unit. You will have to loop the wiring through the dash and under the interior trim of the car. I advise you to run the speaker wires on the right hand side of the car to the back speakers as you can easily get behind the glovebox and if you install amplifiers later, your power wires can be run on the left side of the vehicle.

Running new speaker wires will bypass the factory, common ground system and the factory amplifier. This is very important as the stereo system is rated at 6 ohms while aftermarket equipment is 4 ohms. It is also important as the fronts or all 4 speakers only have positive leads going to them. Thus, rewiring the system allows you to run your new speakers at 4 ohms and have a negative and a positive lead. Running 4 ohm speakers in a 6 ohm system will lead to speaker failure.

It takes some work, but it'll be worth it. If you haven't already gotten a head unit, I would advise against Sony car stereo equipment. They seem to break more often than other brands. Pioneer is a good deal for features and the price. You should get equipment at some place like etronics.com. It works out to be much cheaper than conventional retail. However, if you buy something from Crutchfield, they have tech support that can help you with your car and they will include install instructions. Best of luck!

[shaylynree]

Thank you so much Nick!! I really appreciate you taking the time and effort to help me with this!! :D

[SQ_LSC]

Nick, running 4 ohm speakers on a 6 ohm HU will not cause the speakers undo wear. Speakers don't operate at any particular resistance. They are constantly varying. What will happen though, is that the HU will not be able to play into the 4 ohm resistance at a decent volume causing you to turn the volume higher. This will create stress on the HU causing it to fail prematurely.

shaylynree, If you want to do this yourself and have little experience, Crutchfield would be worth the extra money. IMO they have the best mounting plates around and they also offer full waranty unlike most online places who are not factory authorised. Plus the instructions smile.gif

The ford manuals are written by pin numbers coresponding to the wires location in the plug of the harness. It's almost impossible to tell you what colors to use, but knowing which plug combo you have like pepsi was asking would go along way to helping us know which setup you have to assist you better. the more info you can provide, the easier it is for the folks to help you out!

[shaylynree]

http://images.cardomain.com/products/sco/SCOFD01B.jpg

is this what your referring to regarding plugs?
also, i already have a head unit..it is an audiovox..it is new, but a so-called friend who claimed to know what they were doing got hold of it and cut the plugs off, so just working with wires now...i do have the install manual on it (not that it helps). Your probably gonna tell me to trash it now, right? :confused:

[ April 27, 2004: Message edited by: shaylynree ]

[Nick]

Thanks for the correction SQ.

shaylynree, to which connectors are you referring? If you still have the plugs, you can connect them back with solderless crimp connectors (red butt connectors). You can also probably buy a new harness for the head unit as a last resort. I know Alpine sells replacement harnesses for their head units. If you buy the mounting plate and/or plugs from Crutchfield, that qualifies you for their tech help.

[SQ_LSC]

so what you're saying is there is no radio in the car now and the plugs have been cut off the car's harness?

[shaylynree]

right..there is no radio in the car now. the factory plugs or wire harnesses that connected to the factory unit are still in tact...the ones that came with the new head unit have been cut off by an idiot friend who claimed to know what he was doing. there is a link a few messages above that has some pics i took in attempt to help u better see what it looks like in the car.

[shaylynree]

forget the link..
http://hometown.aol.com/shaylynree/images/imag0026.jpg
http://hometown.aol.com/shaylynree/myhomepage/imag0002.jpg?mtbrand=AOL_US

[Nick]

If you still have the harness connector he cut off, you can still get it to work. You might be able to connect it back on, unless he cut off the plug that goes into the head unit. Then you definitely need a new harness from Audiovox. I'm not aware of any other plugs besides this one that would come from the aftermarket deck.

On a side note, you can fix those yellow headlights by following the tech article in the Tech section. ;)

[shaylynree]

can anyone tell me how to figure out which wire is the constant..is there a way to test the wires to determine that?

[AceFrehley03]

If you have a voltmeter, or "Fluke"/equivalent, you could put the black/negative/"-" probe on a bare metal portion of the inner dash.

Then use the positive probe and check the wires one at a time until you read about 12 - 13 volts, with the key off.

[shaylynree]

thanks ace...i was just reading your post about 85 speaker wiring...i have the same head unit. audiovox rampage.

[AceFrehley03]

Sounds like we're at just about the same step in this process, and you're welcome.