Ford Premium Sound problems

I searched in the spare tire well for the amp, and came up empty there.

The amp was not in the DS rear cargo box area, nor under the rearmost seat. I've heard it might be underneath that DS rear cargo area "box", too. I'm about ready to trash the damn thing and get an aftermarket stereo and speakers, with all new wire. I'm really not all that happy about pulling the dash pad. I've heard FOUR possible locations for that damn amp now!

I've pulled the fuse, in the meantime. It made hideously LOUD death noises on the way home from work! The noise coming from all of the speakers was TWICE as loud as the radio station was cranked up to the full mark! It was equally loud, whether the radio was on OR off! I couldn't wait to get home and yank that ^$#$*^%(-ing fuse!!!

 

I'm telling you, the amp's in the monaural speaker location and the pad has to come off. Looking in other places just makes the job longer.

 

Why the hell would Ford put that damn amp in FOUR different places in the SAME car over a 12-year model run??? So far, I've seen pics of them in the back of the spare tire well, under the DS rear cargo box area, and under the RF seat, as well as your description of under that dashpad. The locations have differed from year-to-year. I'd be plenty pissed if I remove that pad and find air, as you can understand. I've looked at the three other places I mentioned, and am gravitating towards pulling that damn pad off. This is my driver, and I'm just not enthused about yanking half the dash apart to get to that damn amplifier.

This is not looking like fun.

 

If you have a clean small mirror and a nice, bright flashlight (one of those 9-LED flashlights works perfectly), you should be able to see down the holes. But now that you mention it, they put anything in any place that's convenient, and an '82 sedan is gonna have a lot of wiring differences from an '86 wagon.

 

The places I mentioned were all WAGON placements over that time period. Don't know about the sedans.

 

Well, I think I did indeed find that ^^&#@(#^^% ing amp under that dash pad (thanks, Hobo, you are a Ford tech!), assuming that is what I see through the center speaker holes in the dash pad.

 

No, Sir, I just bleed blue. But I am glad you found it. Any word on the radio?

 

Have 97 Tbird with premium sound. Under carpet amp quit twice, factory tuner detonated in a cloud of smoke. Early on replaced stock "premium" speakers with ones from Crutchfield and got way better fidelity.
Since tuner detonated have not replaced.

 

I'm very tempted to simply replace all of it with new speakers, wiring, head unit and amp, and be done with it.

 

Hey, that's not a bad idea, considering, but bear one thing in mind: it's a lot lot more work than just replacing the amp if you decide on new wiring. I did just 4 speakers and wiring along with a usable older head unit and EQ in my '74 Ranchero Squire, and running the wiring into the doors and under the carpeting to the back was a b!tch. Imagine attempting it in your wagon.