I have an 83 f150 and i want to change the stereo to an aftermarket one. I can take the stereo out and replace it i just need to know which wires are the power cause im a little lost I have a wiring diagram. But the wire that it says is the power I am unable to find so if anyone has done this before please help and thank you for your time.

 

I think Yellow is all time power for the memory.

Red is keyed power.

 

Factory wire colors are...

1: Yellow/Black hash, 12v switched power

2: Light Blue/Red stripe: Radio dial Illumination lamps. NOT used for aftermarket stereo.

3: Light Green/Yellow stripe: 12v constant power. May or may not be in the radio connector. Can be found in the courtesy lamp or clock connector just to the right and in back of the heater control panel.



As for the aftermarket stereo, the wires are various and go by manufacturer.

 

thanks for the info but the the light green/ yellow isnt there should it be in the conector with the blue/red?

 

I forget the changeover year so all I can is "maybe."

But it was already pointed out... look behind the dash, down low, RH side next to the ash tray and HVAC controls. Some trucks have one, others have two, but there are connectors down there for the optional clock and lighting group, that light-green/yellow-stripe wire should be down there.

 

It may or may not be in the radio connector as CTUBUTIS describes.

it will be in the clock / courtesy connector

 

i have a yellow wire with a dark green down there is that a constant or is it keyed on

 

I'm not familiar with yellow/dark green so we'll wait for 81-F-150-Explorer and see what he says, he is the true expert here.

It can be easy sometimes to gt the colors confused as the factory shading is oftentimes inconsistent.

I'm afraid to say anything definitive without having seen it because nobody wants to steer you wrong. Some of those wires don't have voltage all the time, some have varying amounts of voltage (sending units, gauges, etc.) and similar stuff like that.

Do you have the ability to upload pictures?

This may help:

User Gallery & Picture Display Help - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

This wire you found, is it in a connector with others? If so, what are the colors of the other wires there?

I also clarified my post above where I said "some trucks have one and others have two," I was referring to *connectors* and not wires....

 

1980-1982 have two connectors for clock and courtesy lamp group. One 3 space connector and one four space connector.

1983-1986 has One 8 space connector.



The only color that comes close to Yellow/Dark Green in that area is the Yellow/Light Blue. The tracer might look green as it's dyed on top of the yellow. This wire is for the Optional Cigar lighter.

Look to the other side of the heater panel.

Light Green/Yellow stripe is the one you want.

Other wires in the connector in question are:

1: White/Purple: Clock switched Power
2: Light Green/Yellow: Clock Memory
3: Black: Clock Ground and ash tray lamp ground
4: Light Blue/Red: Ash Tray illumination
5: Brown: Clock Dimmer and Headlamp on warning buzzer from headlamp switch.
6: Red/Pink: Headlamp on warning buzzer from driver door jamb switch
7: Black/Light Blue: Underdash Courtesy Lights
8: Not used

You have the connector (C-326) and the wires, even if you don't have the options listed. The connector will just open and not plugged into anything without the options. If you have a clock or the courtesy lamp group, this is where those optional extras plug into.

The connector is attached to the metal dash support, just to the right of the Heater panel, and toward the rear.

 

Are you guys getting the wire colors confused? He could be looking at a wire saying it's "yellow-darkgreen" when it's really lightgreen-yellow. And some aftermarket radios can use the lightblue/red illumination wire. It's used to dim the LED display at night.

 

That's a good thought Franklin.

The first color is always the main color of the wire.
The second color is the smaller stripe, or has marks or Dots.

Something that you or I take for granted may not be known by somebody else.

As for dimming the LED display on a aftermarket radio. Personally I would choose to use the Brown wire out of the clock/courtesy lamp connector. This dims the LED display on the Factory Clock 1983-1986, and it's not hooked up to the rheostat in the headlamp switch. Hooking it up to the Light Blue/Red stripe wire, it could have the side effect of if you dimmed your dash lights, the LED display in the radio would brighten and do the opposite.

 

I know I've seen differences in the shades of green used by Ford in that circuit, and there are some wires where it's hard to figure out what the primary color is. For example, water temperature & oil pressure gauges, they're both red & white and it's sometimes REAL hard to know if it's red with a white stripe or opposite.