94 Taurus wagon sterio system

[seasonalskier2006]

ok so i just baught a 94 taurus wagon and i want to replace the sound system because it is the bottom of the line, and i was wondering how hard it would be to put a new deck and speakers in by myself, i have had no expirence with auto electronics, but i have a lot of expirence with home electronics and wiring. If i did do this myself, what would i need to do to get at all of the speakers and deck? and what kind of wiring would i need to do if any? any help would be appriciated!

[shorod]

What degree of sound system are you looking for? High end with subwoofers, component speakers, and external amplifiers, or just better than what you currently have?

If you don't feel the need to run all new wiring and add external amplifiers and subs, this should be fairly straight-forward. You can get a wiring harness adapter that allows you to use the factory wiring harness, you just solder it to your aftermarket deck wiring harness following the wiring diagram for the power, illumination, speakers, etc. You won't get to use wire nuts here like you do in your home. The biggest difficulty you'll likely experience this route is getting the speakers replaced. You'll need to remove door panels and the rear package tray to access the mounting screws for the speakers. There are special removal tools for getting the factory deck out of the dash, and I do recommend getting a set. You can use a bent and cut metal coat hanger, but that's not the right way. The proper release tool has catches to aid in pulling the factory deck out.

If you have the urge to really go all out, then you'll need to understand how to run large-gauge wire from the battery, through a fuse, and to the trunk safely. You'll also need to run remote turn on and line-level output wires to the trunk (which I assume is where you'll mount the amplifier), and new speaker wires from the amp(s) to the speakers. You'll want to run the line-level wires on the opposite side of the car from the power cables, and preferably away from any other noisy wires. To do this type of install properly, you'll want to plan a full weekend to the install, take your time, and do some research.

I'm not a fan of Crutchfield, but they do have some decent guides to help you determine what size speakers will easily fit in your car.

-Rod

[seasonalskier2006]

well i have the system picked out and the guy at best buy (i dont know how reliable they are) told me it would work together but it is a JVC head unit with cd/mp3 compatiable, and sony 3-way speakers all around. and would i actually need a amp if i am just running these upgrades. and i dont want to go all out on this because i dont have a ton of money to do this upgrade. i just want to be able to turn up the radio when a good song is on without the speakers starting to give out. and where would i get the wiring diagram of the car?

[shorod]

If those are the only upgrades you plan to do, you won't need an external amplifier, assuming that the JVC head unit has internal amplification. I would imagine it does, but it's worth checking the box or owner's manual. Don't just trust the guy at Best Buy selling it. Some of the workers there are quite knowledgeable, others just think they are. If it says something like 180 Watts, or 4x65W, etc, then it has internal amplification and will work without an external amplifier. If you get the wiring harness adapter (probably costs around $25 and is worth it) the harness will tell you which wire to connect where, then the connector will just plug in to the original wiring that was plugged into the factory deck. Typically, the wire colors on the adapter will match the wire colors on the JVC.

If you Private Message me an e-mail address, I can send you the wiring diagram for the 1993 Taurus (should be the same as yours) so you can determine the speaker wire polarity for the new speakers.

-Rod