2000 mustang stereo wiring (prem. snd)

well first off lemme tell you definitely do not cut the factory plugs off!  i made that mistake once and I to this day still regret it.

Anyways, actually they do make harnesses for this setup, it's just that the exact one you need will vary depending on what your plugs look like.  Do you have one grey rectangular plug and then another square plug?  If so, you'd need the FDK1 harness from scosche.  Also you can check out this page for the full listing of all their ford premium sound integration harnesses.

just a follow up to my previous post....

Once you look at all the pics of each harness,  then you can just match up the size/shape of your plugs with the correct picture.  Whenever possible get the low level version as it'll give you better sound.

I should also point out that technically you can bypass the ford amp altogether and power all the speakers using your aftermarket head unit's internal amplifier.  If you do decide to go that route just make sure you get the right harness (it'll include a bypass harness).

Thanks a lot, I was about to cut them off, but Im glad I decided not to.  Yea I do have a rectangular gray plug, a black and red weird rectangle plug, two small square metal plugs(probably for that seperate cd player), and finally a bigger square metal plug.  I will take a look at the site.

Thanks again, I appreciate it

I looked at the website, and that first link you gave me looks like the correct one.  Do I need to just ignore the other plugs that went to the cd player?  So I just use the pre-amp outputs with the one plug, and the power plug and that should do it right?

thanks again

Yep you are correct.  Just make sure that the blue wire with a white stripe is hooked up to your head unit's amp remote wire (solid blue or, if present, blue w/white stripe).  This wire will give the factory amplifier its turn on signal so that it will go on and off whenever the head unit is on and off.  If the amp does not get this signal the head unit will turn on and appear to function normally, but since the amp would still be turned off you'd have absolutely 0 output.

as far as the factory cd player is concerned, you have a few different options.  You can just leave it in there, but it won't power on or function at all.  you could pull it out and put in a universal DIN pocket to give you a place to store a couple of CDs and still leave your dash looking nice--personally that's the option that I would choose if I were in your situation.  And finally there's always the option of putting in a 2nd DIN unit such as a DIN-size EQ, an in-dash monitor, and/or a dvd player.

Since the factory head unit uses a low-level (unamplified) output, as long as your aftermarket head unit doesn't have some ridiculously high output level for its RCAs (say 6v or higher)  you should be okay.

It's really too bad that more people don't know about these harnesses because they are really incredible time/effort savers and honestly they do a much better job than hardwiring/tapping in to the factory wiring.  I'm just glad I found your post in time!  good luck with the rest of the install.

I really appreciate it, that helps a lot, and thanks for responding so quickly