Okay so the factory integrated stereo crapped out a few months ago. It would refuse to power on for whatever reason then out of nowhere it would come on while I'm driving, or after sitting for a while, whatever. It finally died altogether about two weeks ago. The clock was blinking (with the correct time), the compass and thermometer worked as usual but that was it. No satellite, no radio, no CD player. So I bought an aftermarket Kenwood double DIN from Crutchfield with the recommended PAC unit and the replacement dashboard kit.

The problem I have is when the PAC module is wired up the Kenwood harness and plugged into the Ford plugs from the stock stereo, I do not get power to the new stereo when the key is on. The red 12v accessory wire is dead. The yellow battery wires (constant 12v) for the memory is getting power though. I tried removing the negative battery cable for 15 minutes then reattaching it, turning the key on, then off after about 15 seconds, then on again but it didn't work.

The fuses are not blown. I was sent a replacement PAC interface but it did not fix the problem. I did not try swapping out the PAC unit wiring harness, just the small module itself.

When I splice the red 12v accessory wire to the yellow battery wire from the PAC harness, the radio works. Everything in the truck works as it should. The only thing I need to be aware of is that I have to power down the radio when I get out so I don't kill the battery.

Crutchfield Tech Support seems to think that if I swap the PAC unit wiring harness and the problem persists that it's an issue with the truck. One of the relays or some other part that tells the truck to send 12v to the accessory wires when the key is on must be malfunctioning and they think that is why the factory integrated radio stopped working. I've been told those radios have had issues from time to time and the radio internals were most always the problem child there.

My question is what are my options? The PAC unit obviously works somewhat I think because the speakers work, the satellite radio works, the CD player works and I the truck runs and operates like normal. The clock, compass and thermometer are NOT WORKING but I thought that was supposed to happen with an aftermarket install. That screen is totally blank.

The only two Ford harness plugs that were used with the PAC unit are the 21 pin and the smaller 10 pin that plugged into the back of the integrated stereo. The small 4 pin plug that used to control the volume, tuner and functions of the stereo was left out of the equation.

 

Dude, I have a 2015 f250 that I just got last week and I go to install a stereo deck today and I can't find the switched power wire either!?? My wiring harness adapter has the red power wire coming out of it, but that hole doesn't have a pin coming into it from the factory plug at all. I've tested all the wires on the factory plug and none of them appear to be switched?

Can anyone chime in here?

Thanks!

 

That is just great news to hear LOL. I was trying to do the same thing and start checking pins. But it was getting dark and the rain picked up so I abandoned ship for now. Crutchfield tech support seemed to indicate that the vehicle bus or computer or whatever needs to tell the PAC unit to actually create and deliver +12v on the red accessory wire to the stereo. This made no sense to me at all because the only connection that has anything to do directly with the stereo only has the constant +12v (yellow) wires, ground wires, speaker wires, power antenna, steering wheel control and that is it. The other two plugs are for items I don't have (subwoofer, rear seat entertainment, auxiliary devices, etc.) They are telling me it has something to do with the vehicle BUS computer or whatever. I'm trying to figure out why I have factory plugs behind the dash that I have no connections for on the aftermarket PAC unit and radio. I think that is really where the problem lies right now.

I'm stumped because as I said I can hard wire the radio to the constant 12 volts and everything works exactly as it should.

 

Ok, I found a solution for me. I couldn't find anything on the internet, but I started pulling panels off of my dash and poking around the wiring harnesses on the drivers side. That's when I spotted a bare bundle of open ended wires coming out of the main harness above and to the left of the bake pedal. I un-taped the bundle and sure enough there was a sticker on them with labels that said what each of them were for. Bingo! There was one labeled "ACC" It was white with a blue stripe. I stripped it and tested it with the ignition switch and sure enough it was switched. I just tapped that one and ran a wire from there back up to my stereo wiring harness and just tapped into the red ACC wire which I had previously soldered and shrink wrapped all nice.

I'm still very confused why I couldn't find a 12 volt switched power wire up by the factory radio.. but alas I was able to work around the issue without tapping into an important ignition wire.

Go looking for the bundle of spare wires up there, hopefully you'll have them on your truck too.

 

The reason why you won't find +12v from a factory radio harness is because that is not how the trucks operate these days. That part I understand, the computer and various BUS modules and relays read off the different areas of the vehicle and report back instructions on what to do. So when your key is in the ON or ACC position, the BUS relays to the proper devices that the +12v accessory wire should be charged.

My mechanic today told me that the problem could be as simply as the wiring harness has a bad crimp or more likely there is a module, relay or wiring issue. He said the truck may have an entertainment module somewhere that feeds back and forth between the stereo and any other factory add on components.

As far as the bundle you found is concerned. Most new vehicles today are built with one blanket harness system so that as the vehicles move down the assembly line, workers can simply add or ignore whatever add ons are required for that vehicle. As for me I need to figure out why I can't get the thing to work. It could be an issue that needs to be addressed.

 

The PAC OEM-1 is working properly, the Interface is not compatible with the Temp/Clock and Compass were probably tied in with stock receiver and are no longer receiving power..
I'm assuming the clock/compass and temp had their own display panel separate from the factory head unit display ?

 

The PAC is not working properly at all. Well in such as the CAN BUS wires are not sending a signal to the PAC which in turn would tell the PAC to open the circuit to the red accessory wire and send 12 volts to the stereo.

I agree that the display is probably not receiving power for the thermometer and compass. The system my truck has is an integrated system. The CD player/stereo is just a head unit. The display is a screen above it that had the compass on the left, time in the middle and temperature on the right. Underneath that information on the same screen is the radio display for CD/Satellite/tuner whatever. So it makes sense that there is a data issue which was causing the stereo to not operate and the clock to blink while the compass and thermometer worked fine.

There should be a way to get the compass and thermometer working I'd think no?

 

Absolutely, what if you used a relay from the PAC/LOC hot wire and used that relay to send power to the separate display, would that work?

 

I suppose but usually with these CAN bus setups it's not a +12volts from a red accessory wire kind of thing. It's a signal coming from the computer through an interface (like the stock radio control panel) to the various displays. So I'd need to figure out how to pigtail the two proper data wires together I think.

There is a small 4 pin harness left over from the stock control panel for the stereo and clock display (the volume, tuner and source buttons/dials) that does not get connected to any aftermarket harness. One wire is red and I think one is black (hopefully accessory 12 volts and ground) the other two wires are most assuredly data wires that may or may not apply to my stereo. One of the buttons on the stereo is a phone button for hands free applications with SYNC which I did not have so for all I know that four pin plug is totally useless other than to supply power to the control panel for the stereo and maybe something that has to do with adjusting the clock, muting the stereo, etc.

 

Wish i could be more help, try your question at Car Audio | DIYMA.com
Do It Yourself Mobile Audio..

 

I know this post is about a year old, but I was having the same issues with my 2011 F250. I ended up finding out the CANBUS system in XL/Fleet Vehicles doesn't have the required signal for the interface systems. So I had to mess around for a while to figure out how to wire my deck in and keep the delayed acc feature.

I ended up finding a few wires on the interior fuse panel under the passenger kick panel that run off the relay that runs the delayed acc. I used the teal/violet wire. Not sure if this will work with the F150 also, but someone can look and see if it helps them.





I removed the cover to find the wires that had power with the delayed acc.





This is what it looks like with the cover on.

 

How did you end up getting your aftermarket radio to work?

 

I bought a basic Ford wiring harness and wired it up like normal. The accessorie wire and reverse wire are missing. The accessorie wire I hooked up to the fuse block like I showed up above. I had a rearview camera to hook up, so I just ran a wire to the back with the video wire. I was done f****** with it at this point since I bought two interface units and neither worked. After doing some research I found out XL/Fleet models don't have the required CANBUS signal to work. I spent enough time finding a delayed accessorie wire that worked, didn't feel like spending anymore time digging around for a reverse switched wire.

 

I know this is an older post but I am having the exact same issue, do I just t-tap from the red wire in the new radio harness to the teal wire for power?

 

You will have to check the wire to see if it has full 12.6+ volt power when the key is on and after you turn the key off and leave the doors closed. My truck is an F-250 super duty, but I thought I would post this info since they may have used the same or a very similar fuse block in the F-150.