CD player wiring?

I'm not sure this is really th right place for this, but I've an '87 crown vic LTD. I attempted to replace the factory radio with a new CD deck today, only to find two plugs in the back of the radio. The new cd player only has one outlet. Well, a friend convinced me to cut those plugs off (doh!), so a wiring harness is not an option. I read the guide on crutchfield advisor, and I figured someone on here would have had some previous experience with this exact problem.

The two old connectors have a total of about 800 wires, or atleast far more than what could be directly spliced to the replacement connection included with the new CD deck. It's a Pionerr DEH-P3700MP if that makes any difference. Does anyone have any idea which wires go together, and what do I do with those wires that aren't used? Any help would be insanely appreciated.

Mike Sharp

I'm not sure this is really th right place for this, but I've an '87 crown vic LTD. I attempted to replace the factory radio with a new CD deck today, only to find two plugs in the back of the radio. The new cd player only has one outlet. Well, a friend convinced me to cut those plugs off (doh!), so a wiring harness is not an option. I read the guide on crutchfield advisor, and I figured someone on here would have had some previous experience with this exact problem.

The two old connectors have a total of about 800 wires, or atleast far more than what could be directly spliced to the replacement connection included with the new CD deck. It's a Pionerr DEH-P3700MP if that makes any difference. Does anyone have any idea which wires go together, and what do I do with those wires that aren't used? Any help would be insanely appreciated.

Mike Sharp

Did you say 800 wires?! Are you sure? The CD player should have only a ground, main power, remote power, power antenna, illumination, and of course the speaker wires. These should all be color coded. Am I on track?

Did you say 800 wires?! Are you sure? The CD player should have only a ground, main power, remote power, power antenna, illumination, and of course the speaker wires. These should all be color coded. Am I on track?

Haha, you are right to think there are not actually 800 wires. There are 13 wires in two bundles (with another large cable), and a few seem to be the same color. I just found a wiring guide on installdr.com that depicts the harnasses that were cut off from those wires, but the coloring of my wires is different. Can I simply match the wires based on their position within the harness?

Also, I don't believe my ignition has an acc position, and the cd deck manual says that the acc wire of the deck should be connected to a terminal connected to the ignition on/off operations. i'm not quite sure what that's telling me to do...? Thanks..

Haha, you are right to think there are not actually 800 wires. There are 13 wires in two bundles (with another large cable), and a few seem to be the same color. I just found a wiring guide on installdr.com that depicts the harnasses that were cut off from those wires, but the coloring of my wires is different. Can I simply match the wires based on their position within the harness?

Also, I don't believe my ignition has an acc position, and the cd deck manual says that the acc wire of the deck should be connected to a terminal connected to the ignition on/off operations. i'm not quite sure what that's telling me to do...? Thanks..

Don't worry about that acc wire, all you need is the RED one for power. The acc is another power source that can be used for an amp if you have one.
Buy an adapter harnass at Wal Mart. It will simplify everything, it's built to connect directly to your car's factory harness and the wires will match the colors of the CD player's wires.
If you dob't take that route, you could do what a friend of mine did by wiring each wire one at a time until you figure it out that way :screwy: ...he blew I don't know how many fuses and filled his interior with a horrible burning smell from wire mismatching. That smell stayed in his Ranger for days... :grinno:

Err...the problem there is that the original harnass is no longer intact, and splicing it back on isnt much of an option either. So...can I buy the original harness, then reconnect the wires and use a harness adapter?

Oh my ...I think i'm going to end up like that friend of yours...

Err...the problem there is that the original harnass is no longer intact, and splicing it back on isnt much of an option either. So...can I buy the original harness, then reconnect the wires and use a harness adapter?

Oh my ...I think i'm going to end up like that friend of yours...

One time I had a sony deck my brother in law gave me, for some reason or the other it didn't have the harnass. I made a trip to a local audio store and they wanted about 50 bucks for a stupid harnass!! I said screw this and just bought another NEW and better Sony deck for about 100 bucks on clearance at circuit city! However, I think you said yours is a pioneer? For the sake of saving a few bucks make a couple trips to pawn shops, see if they have any pioneers they've got that don't work, they may even give you that harness for nothing! Pioneer harnesses should all be the same from one unit to another.

It's not the cd player harness that's been removed...it's the in dash wiring harnesses. That friend was able to convince me to cut them off because the cd plaer came with a spare harness that would plug into the back of the cd player...he said "Okay, cut those harnesses out of your dash and then we splice the wires onto the wires of this new harness." I took it for granted that he knew what he was doing before stopping to think that the colors don't match up. uhhg.

It's not the cd player harness that's been removed...it's the in dash wiring harnesses. That friend was able to convince me to cut them off because the cd plaer came with a spare harness that would plug into the back of the cd player...he said "Okay, cut those harnesses out of your dash and then we splice the wires onto the wires of this new harness." I took it for granted that he knew what he was doing before stopping to think that the colors don't match up. uhhg.

Eeeeesh!!! sorry about that I had everything mixed up....Well now that leaves you with 2 other options (these won't be fun!)
1) Find another Crown Vic with the same harnass (that is still intact!!) at a junk yard and cut that one out to replace the one you cut out of yours. The wires should match in color making it easier for you.
2) Trace the wires that are left in your car (there still are some wires left, right?)...speaker wires, label them all LF, RF, RL, RR..etc) and find the power wire and label it...this can be done but it's very tedious and time consuming! And get that friend of your to help you!!

You need the acc wire and you have it it should be the red wire while the yellow wire is for a constant 12 volt source such as the battery. the acc wire is so when you turn the ignition key on but do not start the car the radio gets power and turns on if you do not use this wire the stereo will be able to turn on with out the key and will drain the battery. And the acc is not so that you can hook up an amp. What you need to do is put the two connectors back in the car. Then go to wal-mart and buy the wireing to hook up an aftermarket stereo in the car. Then just match up the colors till you get to the speaker wires. Now with the speaker wires you might have to run all new wires from the stereo to the speakers them selfs because I believe you have the common ground for all speakers in the car, Now common ground means there is one ground wire for all 4+ speakers in the car. I would check at a local installer to find out if it is common ground before you do the speakers. because I know 86 and down have common ground.

Hope this helped

Constant 12V+ Green/Yellow
Switched 12V+ Yellow/Black
Ground Chassis
Illumination Blue/Red
Dimmer n/a
Antenna Trigger Orange/Blue
Antenna Right Front

Front Speakers 5" Dash

Left Front (+) Orange/Green
Left Front (-) Black/White
Right Front (+) White/Green
Right Front (-) Black/White

Rear Speakers 6" x 9" Rear Deck

Left Rear (+) Pink/Green
Left Rear (-) Pink/Blue
Right Rear (+) Pink/Blue
Right Rear (-) Green/Orange

And as you can see it's not a common ground.......................

I'm not sure this is really th right place for this, but I've an '87 crown vic LTD. I attempted to replace the factory radio with a new CD deck today, only to find two plugs in the back of the radio. The new cd player only has one outlet. Well, a friend convinced me to cut those plugs off (doh!), so a wiring harness is not an option. I read the guide on crutchfield advisor, and I figured someone on here would have had some previous experience with this exact problem.

The two old connectors have a total of about 800 wires, or atleast far more than what could be directly spliced to the replacement connection included with the new CD deck. It's a Pionerr DEH-P3700MP if that makes any difference. Does anyone have any idea which wires go together, and what do I do with those wires that aren't used? Any help would be insanely appreciated.

Mike Sharp

You need the acc wire and you have it it should be the red wire while the yellow wire is for a constant 12 volt source such as the battery. the acc wire is so when you turn the ignition key on but do not start the car the radio gets power and turns on if you do not use this wire the stereo will be able to turn on with out the key and will drain the battery. And the acc is not so that you can hook up an amp. What you need to do is put the two connectors back in the car. Then go to wal-mart and buy the wireing to hook up an aftermarket stereo in the car. Then just match up the colors till you get to the speaker wires. Now with the speaker wires you might have to run all new wires from the stereo to the speakers them selfs because I believe you have the common ground for all speakers in the car, Now common ground means there is one ground wire for all 4+ speakers in the car. I would check at a local installer to find out if it is common ground before you do the speakers. because I know 86 and down have common ground.

Hope this helped

when he buys the adaptor harness, he will indeed find that the harness will not require the ACC wire be used...as I told him earlier. However the ACC wire is a power source that is commonly used to power the amp whenever the deck is turned on. I wasn't talking about the main battery power if that's what you thought.

Well, I was able to get someone who knows what their doing over here, and with your help we figured it out. Thanks guys!

Loekee75, you are thinking of the remote wire not the acc wire. Trust me I install car stereos for a living. go to any installer and they will tell you the same thing that I am telling you.

LOL are you sure about that???


when he buys the adaptor harness, he will indeed find that the harness will not require the ACC wire be used...as I told him earlier. However the ACC wire is a power source that is commonly used to power the amp whenever the deck is turned on. I wasn't talking about the main battery power if that's what you thought.

amo4387622 you rang a bell mentioning remote wire, you are right. I install myself, yes using the remote for power. But I also do know for a fact that the acc "can" be used as well, because both the remote and acc are power wires.

Okay who's been doing crack and not sharing?

Okay who's been doing crack and not sharing?

LOL :sly: I'm clean, I swear