Ok, I have a Kenwood DDX 8017 that will be going into a 05 F150. I'm havin a tough time figuring out the wiring. Hope someone can help. Please note that this is my first install. Here are my issues:

1) The wiring harness that I have has 4 'mute' wires. The wiring from the Kenwood unit only has 1 'mute' wire. Do I have to splice all 4 mute wires together and conect it to the 1 mute wire coming from the unit? Or should i just use one and leave 3 un-used?

2) What do I do with the 'ant cont' wire? (blue)

3) What do I do with the 'ext wire'? (pink/black)

4) What do I do with the 'P cont' wire? (blue/white)

5) Also there is 2 grounds (black) and 2 battery wires coming from the kenwood unit. Do i need to splice the 2 grounds together and conect them both to the 1 ground wire on the harness? Should I do the same with the 2 battery wires? (One has the fuse box attached, the other is just the wire)

6)Also what to do with the long reverse wire? Connect this where?

7) Does the 'illumi' wire connect to the 'dimmer' wire on the harness?

As you can see I am an amateur installer, but I would never pay $300 to $400 to get this thing installed. Hope someone out there can shed some light or point me to a forum or website that will explain in detail what I have to do. And yes I've read the install manual, but it does not help me to solve the above problems. Thanx so much, vancityf150.

 

Ok I think I figured my second problem. This connects to the blue 'power antenna' on the wiring harness. This right?

 

Did you get this all figured out and instaled?

If so how do you like the unit? I am still debating on picking up this one or the new 6019. I really wanted the 8017 but now they came out with the 6019 that has a bluetooth car kit add on that will not work with the 8017, so now I am leaning toward the 6019.

It still doesn't make sense to me that Kenwood updated there lower model without updating the Excelon unit, but I guess that's what they did. I actually called them about it and the technician I talked to agreed that it seemed kind of silly. Oh well I guess the $600 difference will help me pay for the bluetooth kit, backup camera and a new cell phone.

 

Most of the colours should line up, between the harness and the radio. It's just a matter of figuring out what DOESN'T match and fixing those.

 

Yeah I got it all figured out and installed. BUT, that was the most pain in the *** install i've ever done. I made the mistake of buying a Schose dash kit, which by the way, will not work!!! I spent a whole day trying to customize it to work but it would'nt. And yes I had the right kit. I live in Vancouver, Canada and ended up driving down in to Washington state to buy the Metra kit that is'nt available here. Even with this, I still had to fabricate it because the screws that came with the Kenwood unit were to short and would not hold the side parts of the Metra kit to the unit. And like I discussed in the earlier post, I did'nt know what to do with some of the wires. And the instructions with the Kenwood unit were of no use, with regards to these wires. Other then the annoying install, I like the unit. I'm sure that I'll love it once I get used to it. Final notes - buy the Metra dash kit and don't cut your finger when customizing it (small amount required compared to the Schose kit).

 

metra kit works but you need to take a dremel tool and thin out the plastic so the screws will recess and be long enough.(does that make sense.. i hope so). you should buy a wiring harness. got mine from crutchfield . simply wire to their diagram and plug into 8017 and your done. if you buy the harness the give you a free vechicle install. makes it simple. but they didn't know what i was talking about the metra kit and the screws being short......