NOTE: TO SEE A WIRING DIAGRAM OF MY STEREO INSTALLATION CLICK HERE. THIS WILL CAUSE A NEW WINDOW TO OPEN WITH THE DIAGRAM IN IT. IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU KEEP THIS WINDOW OPEN AND FLIP BACK & FORTH BETWEEN THE DIAGRAM AND THIS TEXT TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW THE SYSTEM WAS SET UP.
I replaced virtually every component in the stereo system in my '88 T-Bird. This installation included new Pioneer Premier 6" door speakers, Pioneer Premier 6X8" deck speakers, Alpine 100-watt X 4-channel amp driving those speakers, a JL 12" subwoofer with a Kenwood 200-watt amp driving that. The Kenwood amp was used with an electronic crossover too keep the mids and highs away. The head unit used was a Kenwood Excelon cassette deck controlling a Kenwood 10-disc CD changer.
Normally when installing a setup like this I would run all new wires and leave the factory system in place in case I ever wanted to sell the car. Since I have no intention of ever parting with this car I went a different route and used as much of the factory wiring as possible. This not only saved a LOT of time, it made for a neater installation, too. My car had the factory Premium Sound system without EQ, which made my particular installation that much easier.
Since I was planning on using the factory wiring I only had to run a few wires. Two 8-gauge red wires were run from the battery to the trunk area, where the two amplifiers would be mounted. Two RCA-style pre-out cables were run from the radio area to the trunk (one was for front, one for rear). The CD changer controller wire was also run to the trunk. That's it. All other wires used would be factory wires.
In the dash of the car, where the head unit hooks up, I connected the wires like this:
|
Factory Harness |
Function |
Head Unit |
| YELLOW/BLACK | Accessory | RED |
| LIGHT GREEN / YELLOW | Battery (memory) | YELLOW |
| ORANGE / LIGHT BLUE | Amp On | BLUE / WHITE |
| LIGHT BLUE / RED | Illumination | ORANGE |
| RED (this is the large red wire bolted to rear of radio) | Ground | BLACK |
Since I was planning on using the amplifiers, I did not use any of the head unit's speaker wires. Instead, I connected the RCA cables to the head unit's pre-outs, then plugged the CD changer control wire in. I then removed the dash speakers, unplugged them, and reinstalled them. This is because of the poor sound these speakers produce - it's better to unplug them. Wiring up front was completed.
Then I moved into the trunk. This part is MUCH easier if you remove the rear seat (both parts, the cushion and the back). This gives you access to the factory amplifier wiring. Once I had access to the amplifier I removed it and the tray it's attached to. I bolted my Alpine and Kenwood amps to the tray, then set the tray in the trunk (I didn't bolt it back in yet so I could get at the amps to wire and adjust them). I cut the factory plugs off of the factory amp and attached them to the Alpine using the wiring diagram for factory premium sound as a reference. I used these wires:
|
Factory Harness |
Function |
Amp |
| Orange / Light Green | Left Front Positive | LF + |
| Light Blue / White | Left Front Negative | LF - |
| White / Light Green | Right Front Positive | RF + |
| Dark Green / Orange* | Right Front Negative | RF - |
| Pink / Light Green | Left Rear Positive | LR + |
| Pink / Light Blue* | Left Rear Negative | LR - |
| Pink / Light Blue* | Right Rear Positive | RR + |
| Dark Green / Orange* | Right Rear Negative | RR - |
| Orange / Light Blue | Amp Power On Signal From Radio | REMOTE (a second wire was spliced into this to go to the Kenwood amp's REM terminal) |
| Red | Ground | GROUND (A separate, 8-gauge black wire was also run from this terminal to the chassis ground) |
| *You will note that wire colors are repeated. Because of this you must find the proper wires to use. This is a relatively easy task - simply check for continuity using an ohm meter between the wire and the right rear speaker. For example, check both dark green / orange wires. When you find the one that is connected to the right rear speaker mark that wire with a piece of tape. Do the same with the pink / light blue wire, and now you know which wire goes to which speaker. | ||
After making these connections I connected the 8-gauge red wire that I had run from the battery to the amplifier's BAT terminal. I then plugged in the RCA terminals for the front inputs. I installed a splitter for the rear terminals and plugged them into the rear input for the amp. The splitter's other side will be connected to the subwoofer amp.
Which, of course, brings us to the Kenwood subwoofer amp. Most newer amps have a built-in crossover, but my older Kenwood didn't. A crossover is necessary to keep high frequencies out of the subwoofer, which can't handle them. An external crossover will do the trick. I hooked the RCA cables that had been split from the Alpine amp up to the Crossover's input side, then ran some more RCA cables up going between the Crossover and the Kenwood amp. I hooked the Crossover's ground up to a chassis ground, and hooked its positive input up to the REM terminal on the Alpine amp - this ensures that the crossover is only powered up when the stereo is turned on.
I then connected the second 8-gauge wire that I had run from the battery. The ground was then connected, and then the REM wire (from the Alpine amp). The subwoofer was connected to the amp's outputs. The system was wired. Now the only thing left to do was to adjust the gain on the amps, set the crossover frequency, and enjoy!