cassette deck replacement
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Joined: Aug 2001
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cassette deck replacement
Paul-
what year is your Expy? Did you replace the factory cassette deck with an aftermarket deck or Ford deck? The newer Expy's 1999 and up have the amplifiers incorporated into the head unit, the old ones do have external amps. I am pretty sure that the external amps on the older trucks take a differential signal from the preamp, and an aftermarket head unit will almost certainly be single ended. You really shouldn't mix the two (it could wreck your new CD player), so you do need to bypass the amp. I have seen factory amplifiers all over the place, but good places to look are under the dash on the passenger side, in the center console, or under one of the front seats. I'm not sure what the wiring setup is for your particular truck, but I suspect the amplification is done before the large audio distribution plug underneath the center console. You may be best off to check the wires going into this plug - tou could probably drop speaker wires from your CD player down into the center console and tie into the "already amplified" factory speaker wires going in to that plug. To be honest, I don't know for sure if the front factory speaker wires go through the plug, but I assume they do. You should be able to get wire colors for your truck from a dealership or you can try going to installdr.com. Check it out and see what you can find.
Whatever you come up with, I still have to think that you would be better off leaving the factory amp wiring alone to protect future owners of the vehicle. Also, if there is a separate fuse for the factory amp, I would take it out after you do the bypass.
Jerm
what year is your Expy? Did you replace the factory cassette deck with an aftermarket deck or Ford deck? The newer Expy's 1999 and up have the amplifiers incorporated into the head unit, the old ones do have external amps. I am pretty sure that the external amps on the older trucks take a differential signal from the preamp, and an aftermarket head unit will almost certainly be single ended. You really shouldn't mix the two (it could wreck your new CD player), so you do need to bypass the amp. I have seen factory amplifiers all over the place, but good places to look are under the dash on the passenger side, in the center console, or under one of the front seats. I'm not sure what the wiring setup is for your particular truck, but I suspect the amplification is done before the large audio distribution plug underneath the center console. You may be best off to check the wires going into this plug - tou could probably drop speaker wires from your CD player down into the center console and tie into the "already amplified" factory speaker wires going in to that plug. To be honest, I don't know for sure if the front factory speaker wires go through the plug, but I assume they do. You should be able to get wire colors for your truck from a dealership or you can try going to installdr.com. Check it out and see what you can find.
Whatever you come up with, I still have to think that you would be better off leaving the factory amp wiring alone to protect future owners of the vehicle. Also, if there is a separate fuse for the factory amp, I would take it out after you do the bypass.
Jerm
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Joined: Oct 2001
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cassette deck replacement
Thanks for the tips, I have a 97 expi. I can see a silver box that looks like an amp behind the front power outlet and the cigarette lighter, that could be it I have a wire harness that should go plugged in to the outlet of the amp, but I need to find the amp first. I'll go and take a look at the places you suggested and try that and I'll let you know how my journey goes
thanks again.
thanks again.
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jsavlen
1997 - 2006 Expedition & Navigator
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Oct 18, 2011 10:39 AM
