I'm attempting to replace the stock yu3f 18c868 aa stereo in my 2001 Ford Explorer to an aftermarket radio, and I'm more than a bit confused! I found this wiring diagram on a site:
Car Stereo Radio Wiring Diagram – 2001 Ford Explorer

and it doesn't seem to work. I have 3 wires coming from my aftermarket(not including the speaker wires of course): yellow (continuous power), red (switched power), and black (ground). According to the schematic on the above site, red goes to yellow/black, yellow goes to green/violet, and black goes to black. I've hooked them up and I get nothing. I've checked the fuses in both the vehicle and the radio, and they're good, and the stereo is new out of the box. I noticed a black with a green stripe from the existing harness that's quite heavy, and it isn't mentioned in the website diagram(?). I'm assuming I just need to insulate the red/black wire since there's no separate illumination on the aftermarket stereo. Does anyone know what I might be doing wrong?

Thanks in advance!
T.R.

 

Have you used a multimeter or test light to confirm that the wires function as listed in the list? Does the aftermarket radio do anything when connected per the listing? And I'm not attempting to offend here, but are you sure you're trying to turn power on the radio correctly?

If you confirm the wire functions work as they're supposed to and you're attempting to turn the radio on correctly, it may be time to return the aftermarket radio to the store.

I have the factory wiring diagrams at home, I'll try to confirm or correct the listing this evening.

-Rod

 

Yes, I tested the wires, and the green/violet is constant power even when the key isn't in the ignition. The yellow/black has power only when the ignition is on. Unfortunately my son cut the plug off without consulting me first, and I'm just trying my best to salvage the situation. The power button is the large one to the right of the stereo. It's a fused stereo so I'm assuming that would protect it, but the fuse was blown once while my son was attempting to connect it. My last thought would be to purchase a female adaptor that will connect onto the harness that came with the aftermarket stereo, then get a plug that will replace the one he cut off (since he cut the wires extremely close to the plug itself). I just have to figure out exactly which ones to get as some are pricy, and I don't want to get the wrong ones. Wiring it direct would be a better solution if I could do that.

 

Per the factory service manual, the wiring should be as follows:

Light green/violet = Hot at all times
Red/Black = Hot with key in START position
Yellow/Black = Hot with key in ACC and RUN
Black = Ground

So you would want to connect the yellow wire of the aftermarket deck to the truck's light green/violet wire. The deck's red wire to Yellow/Black of the truck, and the black wire of the deck to the black wire of the truck, or a known good ground.

If you've confirmed with the test light that these wires have the correct voltages at the correct key positions, the problem would appear to be the deck. Sometimes there are inline fuses in the aftermarket deck wiring and/or mini fuses connected to the back of the deck as well.

For test purposes you could try connecting the red and yellow wires together, then connect them to a +12V source and the black wire to a known ground (or both directly to the battery) to see if the deck will power on this way. If not, you know the deck is not functioning.

-Rod

 

Thanks for the verification! That's exactly how I hooked the wires up, but I was still getting nothing. So it would be safe to connect the new stereo directly to the truck's battery? Yellow and red on the positive terminal and black on the negative terminal? I didn't know if that were possible with today's electronics, although I remember doing it years ago to test radios.

 

Yep, that's safe. The power when wired normally is the same, just the switched power to the red lead is exactly that, switched, but still sourced from the same power source.

-Rod

 

That why you never cut or alter the factory wiring. They sell these wonderful things that are designed to make this job seamless and easy.

Receiver Wire Harness For select Ford, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury, and Nissan models, 1998-up at Crutchfield.com

First off, connect your stock connectors back on, and make sure you seal them up good, while electrical tape will work, if possible try to seal them with heat shrink tube.

Then with the proper harness adapter, wire up the stereos wires to the matching colors on the adapter. Then plug one end of the adapter into your vehicle, and the other end into your stereo.