I need help with a Deck install on a 1988 TC

[bobbeck]

I need help big time. I have a new Dual 770 deck and I want to install it in my 1988 TC. Old radio out no connectors only wires. The only wiring diagram I can find is not for a JBL amp car. I have the wiring colors for the Dual. Looks like 2 complete sets of wires plus. Did one set run through the amp and one set bypass the amp from the factory. Can I use the old Amp or do I have to bypass. If so which wires do I use. If I cannot use old amp in the trunk I have a Dual 450 Amp can I put in trunk and run a set of kickers in trunk. BUMP BUMP BUMP OK so I will need to hook up the power antenna, the light dimming wire and the amplifier kicker wire. I have matching color wires for speakers easy to find. I found battery power, ignition on, and ground. That still leaves wires unaccounted for. I can take a picture and post if that will help with an answer. I have been without any tunes for a month. Anyone everyone help.

[Dusty]

A quick Google search yielded this:

1988 Lincoln Town Car Stereo Wiring Information
Radio Battery Constant 12v+ Wire: Green/Yellow
Radio Accessory Switched 12v+ Wire: Yellow/Black
Radio Ground Wire: Red
Radio Illumination Wire: Blue/Red
Stereo Antenna Trigger Wire: Orange/Blue
Left Front Speaker Positive Wire (+): Orange/Green
Left Front Speaker Negative Wire (-): Black/White
Right Front Speaker Positive Wire (+): White/Green
Right Front Speaker Negative Wire (-): Black/White
Left Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): Pink/Green
Left Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): Blue/Orange
Right Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): Pink/Blue
Right Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): Green/Orange

Sounds like you found most. If you want the dimmer my guess is you want to connect the one on the new head to the radio illumination wire. You can just connect the speaker wires from the new head to the car speakers without the amp.

If you have a power antenna that works usually there is a blue wire on the new head you can connect to the antenna trigger. That same wire can be the amp trigger if you use your Dual amp. Sometimes the new head have 2 blue wires one for antenna and one for amp.

I can not verify the above color codes, but hopefully it is correct and will help you.

Most aftermarket head units have a standard color code, too bad the factory units don't. Red ground wire is very misleading. Best to check the power leads with a volt/ohm wire to be sure.

[bobbeck]

Thanks for the help but I have a couple more questions. There seems to be 2 complete sets of wires under the dash. I have looked at the appropriate connectors and there seems to be 2 different square connectors and 2 different L shaped connectors. Each of the L shaped connectors has a different square connector with different internals. And if I remember correctly the L shaped connectors have 8 pins and the smaller square connectors have 4 connections each. It all is very confusing. Saturday I will do a video of the wires and connectors I have and upload it, maybe that will help. Also on my tripminder the average mileage readout indicator now only reads XXXX. Whats with that, it worked before. Anyway thanks so much. I'm pretty good at most repairs but electrical is my weak point. Love my 88 TC Signiture
bobbeck over and out

[gadget73]

There should be one long rectangular connector with all the power wires, and one square job that feeds to the amplifier in the trunk. JBL and non-JBL use the same connectors by 1988. You will need an install harness, but exactly which one depends on what you want to do with the amp. TO bypass it, you need the amp bypass harness, and an adapter that connects the old square connector to the speaker wires on your new stereo. TO retain the amp, you need the kit that connects the square connector to four RCA plugs. I usually suggest using the RCA plugs if the amp works. It tends to sound better. Either way, with the wiring harness adapters, the colors should match up to your stereo and you will not have to cut any wires in the car. I never like to cut wiring unless there is no way around it.

[bobbeck]

I got under the dash and here is what I came up with for wires. I hope someone can tell me which is which. Also I will give the wires of the deck.
Auto wires
Black---
Lt. Blue/red stripe
solid dark blue
green/yellow stripe
yellow/black stripe
Thick Red
All of these are in one bundle and I think I know where each goes except for the dark blue which i guess is the antenna/ amp

2 Red/yellow
2 black/orange
2 blue/brown
2 red/pink
2 blacks
1 yellow/tan
1 green/black
1 black/purple
1 thick white/purple
This bundle is the one that has me stumped. It doesn't seem to match up anywhere.

Lastly I have the wires to the ashtray light
red/blue
black
I have a Metra 70-5511 which is to allow me to integrate the aftermarket radio with the factory amp.
I hope there is a guru out there who can help me. bobbeck

[bobbeck]

So i just talked to Metra Electronics as I purchased a 70-5511 Ford premium sound system harness to Integrate my aftermarket radio with the factory amplifier and speakers. There advice was to re wire the speakers bypassing the factory amp because there connector will not work. Well if I am going to do that I might as well install my dual 450 watt amp if I cannot use my old one. What do the lincoln Guru's think of this advice. bobbeck

[gadget73]

I've used the stock amps with aftermarket stereos and not had any problems. I have one of the proper kits around here someplace for it, but I can't come up with it right this minute to give you the number. Its the one with 4 RCA plugs, not 8 wires that go to the smaller square plug.

If youre considering using your own amp, I'd run new RCA cables to the back to the aftermarket amp. You can get one of the amp bypass harnesses and do some surgery on it to allow the output from your aftermarket amp to plug straight into the factory wiring so you don't need to run new wires from the amp to the speakers. This is basically what I did with my car, though my 86 used slightly different stuff. The amplifier only ran the front speakers in my car, so I'm using RCA cables from stereo to trunk for the 4 car speakers and the sub, my wires from the amp to the rear speakers, and factory wires from the amp to the front speakers. The sub and it's amp are on the driver's side, the big old 4 channel Kenwood amp that runs the in-car speakers is over on the other side. Power feeds from a fuse block under the hood to the trunk distribution block with 4 ga wire, and from the block to each amp and the capacitor with 8ga.

Either way, I usually just don't like to use the bypass harness because it feeds power through really really skinny wires to the back, then all the way back to the front. Maybe it doesn't actually affect the sound all the much but I generally try to stay away from overly long runs of thin wire for speakers.

[bobbeck]

I got under the dash and here is what I came up with for wires. I hope someone can tell me which is which. Also I will give the wires of the deck.
Auto wires
Black---
Lt. Blue/red stripe
solid dark blue
green/yellow stripe
yellow/black stripe
Thick Red
All of these are in one bundle and I think I know where each goes except for the dark blue which i guess is the antenna/ amp

2 Red/yellow
2 black/orange
2 blue/brown
2 red/pink
2 blacks
1 yellow/tan
1 green/black
1 black/purple
1 thick white/purple
This bundle is the one that has me stumped. It doesn't seem to match up anywhere.

Lastly I have the wires to the ashtray light
red/blue
black
I got in the trunk with the Amp and the wire colors there do not match the wire colors under the dash. No wire for the dimmer no wire for the antenna no wire for the amp. And the wires under the dash except for hot,ground and switched hot are unfathomable from either the factory color chart or the deck color chart. The speaker wires will match up with the deck and if I wire in the small square black male 6 prong connector with the female I would think that the speakers would work but no. I can get the deck to light up and accept a disk,open and close. But not switched its on key or no key if i switch the hot wires it will not work, If I remove 1 of the hot wires it will not. light up Help I want to

[Newave Dave]

Your 88 is nothing like my 89 does the schematic on this site match up with yours? http://www.bbbind.com/free_tsb.html

[gadget73]

What does the amplifier look like? Is it square or football shaped? If its the football amp, you'll have to run wires to the speakers. The football system uses a strange common ground feed to the amp which is not compatible with aftermarket stereos. I had thought that ended after 1987 but maybe you have one.

The other clue is the connectors in the dash at the radio end. The square amp system should have one long rectangular plug and one square plug. The football amp use two long rectangles.

[bobbeck]

The amp is black an rectangle. has a plug with the wires i described on top and a fuse. There are only bare wires all the connectors under dash are AWOL Thanks for the reply bob

[gadget73]

Thats a JBL amp if its the black one with the fuse on the top.

I don't have the wiring diagrams for an 88, but at least now we know what you've got. If someone has diagrams for a 1988 JBL system, that'll be the info you need.

[bobbeck]

It seems like a difficult item to find. Was this amp a not very popular option. By the way does anyone have the option sheet for this year 1988.

[Dereck]

Hi

Not sure why people make such hard work of this simple job, you can use the JBL amplifier by connecting your aftermarket radio to the wires in the dash, the only odd wire is the Dark Blue which is teh "Amp enable" wire, it should be connected to a switched live when the radio is on, I usually use the power antenna wire from the aftermarket radio






Perhaps if you has searched our exstensive archives you would have also found This useful post

Regards

Dereck

[bobbeck]

Thanks for the post and help.But I would like to rebut your assumptions. Gently
about making something easy hard. I am sure to you this is easy stuff and that is why I asked for your EXPERT help. We all can't be good at everything I've got mine you have yours and sharing helps us all.
Secondly about searching LOLine extensive archives I did and I did not find these images. Now I admit I only got back to archive 15 and was working on the others as I could. You know 2 kids at home and a wife in school leaves little time for dad's pursuits. But I thank you greatly and reserve the rite to plumb the depths of your extensive knowledge files in the future bobbeck

[bobbeck]

Derick did you look at the wires I have under the dash they do not match your schematic. And they do not match the wires leaving the amp in the trunk. The simple speaker wires leaving the radio and matching one set under the dash is easy but they do not account for the second bundle from the amp I have included both sets color combinations if it's any help.
bobbeck

[Newave Dave]

What a puzzler. The diagrams don't match the wires you have. First, are you sure you have an 88 TC? ho ho. Take a look at this lengthy post. It mentions your fat red wire as being ground. None of the diagrams show it as such/ Good luck.

[bobbeck]

I checked the vin it's an 88 ok but the wiring is challenging Thanks though, bobbeck

[Dereck]

Hi Bobbeck

I have read this thread severall times now and I am as confused as a confused thing that is confused so let's see if I can get a few things straight.

Your first bundle of wires in the dash is easy

• Black wire = Ground
• Blue wire = Amp enable (connect to power antenna wire on your aftermarket radio)
• Light Blue/Red = Illumination (may be unused on your aftermarket radio)
• Light Greeen/Yellow = Hot at all times for radio memory
• Yellow/Black = Hot only in run & accessories (switched power)
• Thick Red = Ground from amplifier (grounds through the radio on an 88 but you can put it straight to ground)

Your second bundle is a right enigma, they should be the speaker wires back to the amplifier, have you tried following them into the dash and seeing if they join some factory wiring somewhere?


Are the wires the correct colors on your amplifier (Located on the right side of the trunk on seat back) and is the amplifier connected as it should be?


Regards

Dereck

[Dereck]

Hi Bobbeck

I have been working on trying to figure out what your second bundle of wires are for and they are 95% correct for the warning chime module, does your warning chime (lights on, key in, door open, ETC) work?

Regards

Dereck

[gadget73]

The wiring out to the amplifier should be in a single grey cable with a bunch of skinny wires inside it. Its not normal sized wiring like the power connector has.

[bobbeck]

I will check the small wire bundle as it leaves the amp abd report back. And no the chime does not work never has. Didn't know I had one. so what do these wires connect to each other. bobbeck

[gadget73]

If your chime module isn't plugged in, that would be why it doesn't work. It lives back there behind the radio someplace, closer to the gas pedal if I remember right from the time I ripped mine out. I seem to recall it is a long flat connector, sort of similar to the power connector for the radio.

[bobbeck]

Does anyone have the Schematic for the chime and alarm if there was one and whatever else was in that wire bundle of wire I discovered in the dash. Maybe with a little help to make it simple i can get it all back together. At least I have a starting place now. In the mean time I will search the manuals I have .Thanks everyone especially Derick.You da man. bobbeck

[Dereck]

Hi Bobbeck




Regards

Dereck