I recently acquired a 88 Colony Park that appears to be fully loaded (some of the options are surprising). There is one thing that I am unable to locate in the vehicle. It has a 6 channel stereo (speakers in dash / front doors / rear wheel well). Is there a factory amp in the vehicle (according to crutchfield there is)?? If yes, where is this amp located?? Also, what are the specs of it?
Pull the piece of trim that covers your spare tire. It's hanging out right by the pillar at the very back of the wagon. It's a tiny little thing, if you're used to looking at the much larger aftermarket amps sold at bestbuy and car audio shops, you won't recognize it as the same thing. 3x5"? The specs i have no idea of, probably nothing to brag about I've got the wiring manual, I scanned the relevant page at one point for someone else here. But basically, the 8 wires that leave the amp in a harness there go to your 4 speakers, so it's not hard to put a new amp in there and plug right into the harness once you know which pin is which speaker, +/-
Alrighty.. Ill get out there today and see what I can find. Thanx!! The amp only powers 2 pair of speakers?!? Do you know which 2 of the 3 pairs of speakers it powers?
wait, you have three pair?? There are two speakers in the front doors, and then two just behind the rear seats, on either side of the cargo bay. There shouldn't be any speakers in the rear doors, unless someone added them aftermarket: you should only have 4 speakers!
I wouldn't mind a photo! I had 5.25" stock in the front. 5x7" is right for the rear (just behind the 2nd row of seats?). 4" dash speakers... none exist! Do they look like they were added on?
Pass Door Speaker from Pass Door Rear Wheel Well Speaker Sticker from Speaker from Driver Rear Wheel Well
yup! that's the amp. Huh-- I'll need to check my own car now! But I'd swear it does not have those top dash speakers. Funny. I wonder, if those are for high frequencies anyway, if they're simply not powered by teh amp?
I donno if from the factory it has a crossover or not. Im guessing that since there is no sub, they are all full range. Now that I know where the amp is, Ill do some testing. I should have an answer by Saturday (as the headunit for the Mustang and Colony Park will be delivered by Friday). This is the "selections" from crutchfield... Im guessing Rotary volume knob = yes amp toggle volume knob = no amp That is based n this
I'm not sure about 1988 or that setup specifically, but for Ford radios of that era the toggle volume control was usually on the premium or higher end radios they put in the cars.
Well, I finally got around to attempting to install the new headunit (yes, attempt)... I get no power from what is susposte to be the constant and switched power wires. The ground doesnt ground... Now the weird... The stock radio, does power on. I get sound from all 6 speakers and it appears to be constantly changing the frequency like the tune button is stuck (the stock radio has always done this) an odd obersavation. when the radio was hanging out from the dash, the antenna scrapped against it, and SPARKED!!! connect my test light to a known good ground, and I get light!!! very very odd............ Im thinking a complete rewire is needed for the radio.... I didnt want to have to do it that way. Tomorrow looks like a day of tearing down and radio wiring... Pictures will follow
Man, I love this. This totally takes me back to when I was putting in a new stereo in my 89 Ford Country Squire (basically the same car). And had the same problems. I was told that the car had a common ground wiring system and that is what was causing it to not work properly. I paid someone to rewire the car for me and I assisted as much as I could. Though I'm sure I don't have to tell you this, be sure to connect your power wire from your amp to the battery and not the starter solenoid (which is what the guy did that I paid) It kinda works but causes problems.
I did this with my 6-way system: I researched here, where I learned about good grounding (See Upgrading the Big Three article) and the many Factory circuits and mods: http://www.the12volt.com/ And here, where I got some Ford AMP info as well. A lot of the Mustang guys have done this here too. Search for Amplifier on their site: http://vb.foureyedpride.com/index.php The plug converters do make the job easier, but I don't like a lot of the new Electronic display radios, so I stayed with my AF/FM Cassette Ford Headunit. I like knobs, what can I say? The common ground is an ALL Black wire (about 8 gauge, coming from the original AMP. There should also be one at the original headunit. The Yellow with Black hatch stripe is your power (accessory side and run side of ignition), which should be taped to a baby-blue with red stripe (radio lamp wire) And if you have a factory power antenna, its the Orange/green hatch wire) The rest are speaker wires. Each speaker has its PLUS and NEGATIVE. They ground internally inside the Factory AMP, which manages voltage spikes and prevents grounding issues between speakers. That little AMP you show is also used as a booster AMP in Lincolns and Mercuries and Cougars, etc. but the bigger cars also have an AMP on the Passenger side in the sedans which also provide Equalizer functions. If yours had both, then you might need to get another connector or two. I stayed with the Stock setup, using the Fairmont-sized tweeters in the dash, then 1975 Lincoln door speakers in my stock door cavities, and the big 1989 6 X 9 Premium sound speakers from a Lincoln. I really recommend that you get the Ford EVTM for your car. It's the only Ford manual with excellent circuit detail for the Stereo/AMP/EQ system. EVTM = "Electrical and Vacuum Troubleshooter Manual" The AMP and Head units (except for Lincoln headunits) all basically fit all the Ford/Mercury models in the late 70s and 80s. But the wiring was really different.
