i want to set fire to the ford audio designer......

[philoldsmobile]

decided i wanted to change the stereo in the stang, so toddled off to hellfrauds this morning and got a cracker of a deal on a kenwood Ipod head unit, £130 down from £260 (they reduced it in front of my eyes!!)

so i got home, and pulled the old head unit, this is where it started to go horribly wrong..

Turns out i have the 'premium sound system' as opposed to the basic one, looks the same, but has a 50w per channel amp mounted in the boot, and no speaker outputs on the head unit..

to take my mind off things, i mounted the ipod interface and wired it, with the connector out of the way in the glove box.. i then had to isolate the power connectors for the amp, so that it didn't turn on with the stereo..

as there is no speaker wires per say, i have then had to remove the whole interior of the boot, and most of the interior plastics and run new speaker cables to the speakrs.. (still got hte fronts to do)

after this, i connceted the switched, permanent live and neg... ok, plug in and sound... then nothing.... then a crackle...

check connections... all good.. it works again.. then not..

turns out kenwood have supplied a dodgy ISO - kenwood lead... feck, i've cut the iso plug off, but the problem is at the kenwood end, not my wiring..

fortunatley hellfrauds offer to replace the harness, and check the stereo in case its a dodgy pin on the unit.

head unit is fine, so they give me a new lead.. go home, cut the ISO off, and spend an enjoyable 15 mins crimping bullet connectors on the new one..

ok, its all working properly now, no crackles, no cutting out.. all i have to do tomorrow is connect the front speakers, then solder the power leads (i dont  completely trust crimp bullet connectors for that) and its all finaly done....

[55starchief]

why not just use the single ended outputs on the new head unit, solder some connectors to the multicore screened cable and use the existing power amp

[philoldsmobile]

i doubt a 10 year old standard fit amp is any better, if as good as one in a decent grade (orig. price £260) kenwood head unit, the power output is the same @ 50w per channel so i haven't lost any power..

didn't seem worth the hassle, plus my electrical skills are competent rather than really good, so i cant be sure i cold make it work that way, at least the route I'm going i know i can make it work..

[55starchief]

Quoting: philoldsmobile

i doubt a 10 year old standard fit amp is any better, if as good as one in a decent grade (orig. price £260) kenwood head unit

probably the other way around mate, everything nowdays has some nasty class D digital crap in it at least the old one was transistor

[philoldsmobile]

meh, there is a notable improvment in sound, so i'm not worried, and the ipod interface is awesome, all the ipod functions are on the head unit, it becomes an extra source

not really looking for audiophile sound, just decent functionality and ease of use..

not even gonna bother adding a sub i dont think....

[ianjpage]

Ahh the wonders of the ford integrated amp / speaker wiring!!

Told ya it gunna be fun - had to do the same (wiring wise) to vicky's camaro - i am going to leave the cobra we4ll enough alone!!

Oh and the door cards need to be removed to get to the speakers in the stang!!!

[Incursus]

Quoting: philoldsmobile

Turns out i have the 'premium sound system' as opposed to the basic one, looks the same, but has a 50w per channel amp mounted in the boot, and no speaker outputs on the head unit..

I had similar problem with fitting my Sub.

Previous owner had, badly very badly, wired the Alpine head unit it to the Mustangs amp so I had the volume range of off or deffening (sp)

The speakers were being fed from the amp but the sub i installed was coming from the head unit.  so at volume setting 3 my speakers were blasting and the sub wasn't even ticking over  

Kenny fixed it though and completely by passed the amp

[philoldsmobile]

well... all done now.. started at 2pm yesterday, finished at 2pm today...


and ian, yeah, i found out about the door cards... i also found out why my passenger one squeaked, someone had left the two screws out!

[F Body]

Quoting: philoldsmobile

someone had left the two screws out!

Well it is a Ford - Should have bought a Chevy

[ianjpage]

Quoting: philoldsmobile

well... all done now.. started at 2pm yesterday, finished at 2pm today...


and ian, yeah, i found out about the door cards... i also found out why my passenger one squeaked, someone had left the two screws out!

kewl sounds about right - took me about the same sort of time, maybe more, to do the camaro as well!

And i always said you had a screw (or two) loose

[Jamieg285]

Quoting: philoldsmobile

well... all done now.. started at 2pm yesterday, finished at 2pm today...

Didn't you sleep

[ianjpage]

Quoting: Jamieg285

Didn't you sleep

to quote his favourite saying "sleep is for the week"

[Titsy]

Quoting: ianjpage

to quote his favourite saying "sleep is for the week"

Maybe if your name is Ryan

Otherwise I think the saying is "Sleep is for the weak"....

[Roadkill]

Quoting: ianjpage

to quote his favourite saying "sleep is for the week"

Quoting: Titsy

Maybe if your name is Ryan

[ianjpage]

Quoting: Titsy

Quoting: ianjpage
to quote his favourite saying "sleep is for the week"


Maybe if your name is Ryan

Otherwise I think the saying is "Sleep is for the weak"....

grumble grumble

[Jamieg285]

[Jamieg285]

I suppose vehicle electronics is a good reason to have a pre '80s car.

Don't have any of this hassle in mine.

[ianjpage]

Quoting: Jamieg285

I suppose vehicle electronics is a good reason to have a pre '80s car.

Don't have any of this hassle in mine.

yeah tis true.....so much easier to work on older stuff as alot less involved to rip & replace!!

[Roadkill]

My biggest fear with new(er) cars is all the electronic crap they put on it . . .

[ianjpage]

Quoting: Roadkill

My biggest fear with new(er) cars is all the electronic crap they put on it . . .

yeah wayy to complicated and also a PITA to track down the fault!!

[55starchief]

Yup spent the morning trying to figure out why the central locking on the chavscort has stopped working

[Jamieg285]

Quoting: 55starchief

Yup spent the morning trying to figure out why the central locking on the chavscort has stopped working

Did you check the battery in the remote

[55starchief]

Quoting: Jamieg285

Did you check the battery in the remote

remote dont have one of them

[Roadkill]

Quoting: 55starchief

Yup spent the morning trying to figure out why the central locking on the chavscort has stopped working

Why bother ?

You only use one door ?

[55starchief]

Quoting: Roadkill

You only use one door ?

thats almost as cold as the remark to titsy yesterday