Hi,

I am upgrading the factory stereo and started with the 2 rear speakers, replacing them with Pioneer 6802's. Rather than spend $30 on harnesses I simply spliced the wires myself. I used a 1.5 volt battery on each speaker to determine polarity.

While at Best Buy today looking for something else, I saw the Metra harnesses for Ford and looked at them, and they have their black/negative wire being opposite of what I did. I have installed many car stereos from simple to complex, but seeing that made me question my wire polarity. Could Metra be wrong?

Also the new speakers are hard to hear as the front stockers dominate, but as its still the factory HU I wrote that off as the Mexico made stockers are just more sensitive. My new Appradio HU and front speakers will be he later this week, I just wanted to get a head start since these got here first. I'll be powering all 4 with an amp as well, but want to be sure of the polarity issue before the front get here.

I've done many searches here and elsewhere, but all of the wire colors I see posted are not what I have. Modified life, installdr are all wrong (unless their colors are for the dash and not AT the speaker itself).

Finally on each speaker on the side which I find to be negative, there is a small mark, like from a magic marker in black which they were marked with at the factory.

Can anyone confirm these wire colors/polarity for me? I just double checked in the garage and if I do the 1.5v battery test like the Metra connectors have them, the speaker pulls in which tells me polarity is reversed. Am I crazy to think the Metra connectors are wrong?

Thanks for reading

Scott

 

i havent been on the12volt.com in a while but have you checked there? if the colors are not right there, ill pull my expo electrical manual out tomorrow to check it.

 

Thanks Bigg, I would appreciate it. I have checked 12volt and it is also incorrect. Although I suppose it's possible for them to be different colors at the deck than in the doors.

But what I have is one side (right I believe) is:
Tan/White (what I think is positive)
Tan/Yellow (what I think is negative)

Left
Tan/Green (what I think is positive)
Black/Pink (what I think is negative)

Thanks for the help!

 

ok here you go, according to the helm:

lr + tan/ yellow
- gray/ light blue

rr + brown/ pink
- orange/ red

lf + orange/ light green
- light blue/ white

rf + white/ light green
- dark green/ orange

 

Thanks a lot for the help! This is perplexing as to why the wire colors are off @ every source from what I have. I've only had the truck 1 month, but being as my dad bought it new in '99 I am 100% positive the door panels have never even been removed, much less any wire harness alterations etc.

When the fronts come in I'll pull the front panels and stick a volt meter on one of the plugs with the radio on and see if I can get a reading that way.

thanks again!
Scott

 

Interesting I found the following on a mustang forum searching for solutions...perhaps I'm not losing my mind Although the voice coils on the stockers are surely tired of me hooking different 1.5 v batteries to them

From Mustang Forum
"I just finished replacing front and rear deck speakers using Metra 72-5600 speaker adapters (from Best Buy) to a comletely stock setup. Just out of curiousity I checked the polarity of the old speakers and found that the adapters set my new speakers out of phase.

I called Metra and they said that was common with Ford, that they had a tendency to wire their system in reverse polarity."