97 Eddie Bauer Explorer HU Install

Ok I mam trying to install a HeadUnit into my girls explorer and its becoming more work than I expected.  I cannot use the same diagrams as the regular explorers because they dont match.  Here is my problem, in detail.

Ok, I have a pioneer hu that I am trying to install.  My girlfriend has a '97 Eddier Bauer explorer and I thought that since it had the JBL premium system I use the premium harnesses.  The harnesses I bought are a total of 2.  One is a long square one [for the power, remote, ground, and similiar functioning wires], and one is a small green one [for speakers].  On the back of the headunit, I noticed that there was no power antenae jack.  Ok, no big deal.  Thats what I thought until I tried plugging up the small green harness for the speakers.  It didnt fit.  So I thought that there was simply an adapter that I need.  No biggie.  So I go to best buy and the guy starts treating me like Im a total idiot.  He tried to confuse me and be like "You must wire a ground fault detector to the LED and rewire every speaker to the amp so the fault generator wont flux.".  Basically just saying misc. jargon.  This isnt my first stereo install, but Im definately not Chris Anderson or any other master installer.  Im like any other weekend installer, just looking to get the damn thing done quickly.  So Im pissed the guy at best buy is trying to talk me into circles, so I go accross the street to circut city.

Circut city told me that the amplifier has a relay switch for the power antenae on the actual amp.  The also told me that I would need to run wires from the speakers to the actual head unit and wire my own relay and a resistor in order for the antenae to raise.  So me, thinking that I am a genious, decide that I would use the factory harness, cut it, and then use those wires to connect to the HU.  I started doing this until I noticed that the wiring guide on this website didnt have colors that coordinated with the Eddie Bauers.  This is after 5 wires had been cut.  Then I hooked up a multimeter to try to isolate each speaker set.  The factory HU put nothing on the meter.  Im thinking that the Factory HU is like the Bose ones, and has a very low output and the amp powers all the speakers using the signal from the headunit.  So by wiring up the new headunit to the original harness, will it blow all of the speakers?  I havent pulled any of the panels off yet to see if the amp is powering all the speakers or a woofer.  Anyone who has done this install, I would definately appreciate the help.  My gf is nagging me every hour on the hour about this.  Time is running short because she just wants to take it to a shop to get done, but I want the notch under my belt and the experience. 

Thanks in advance for the help. 

frnkpwrs@bellsouth.net

I have done some explorers but dont beleive ive come accross this problem. My advice if youre going to rewire the vehicle go to the factory amp unplugg it then find the the input and output wires, once you know which ones are the output run 4 wires from youre headunit to the amp output. You will probably not be able to use the sub anymore. Before you even start you should ask around to another car audio shop to make sure they dont sell or make a harness and factory amp integrator.  Sorry cant tell you much else.

The unit in the dashboard is just a display, tape deck and controller.....the brains and power of the system are in the tuner/amp pack, in the right side rear quarter panel.

You can buy a Ford Taurus install kit ($60).  Discard the mounting part of the kit; you just need the wire harness.  The harness will plug into the wires that go into the tuner pack, and there's enough length to reach the dashboard.  A long antenna extension, with the special Ford plug on one end, is also included.  Also, getting to the tuner pack itself is a lot of fun----you can either remove the entire quarter panel trim, or attempt to bend it partially aside while scraping your arm trying to reach down inside.

Also, you'll lose the subwoofer and the rear-seat controls, and the four regular speakers sound rather lousy without the JBL amp.  And you're still stuck with an ill-fitting, poorly designed aftermarket radio.....in my opinion, this is too much of a sacrifice just to play CDs.  I think you'd be better off putting the factory stuff back together, and get an RF-modulated changer.

Ok, when u say the Taurus kit, do you mean the Taurus wiring harness that you can buy from a stereo retailer?  I cant really leave the factory stereo in there because I wanted to add a pretty decent system overall [decent components, a tv, dvd player, and maybe some subs].  Plus, I dont think my girlfriend can grasp the concept that she should just get a FM Modulated changer after seeing the headunit hooked up [she fell in love with the organic picture display].  So I pretty much dug my own hole.  This is my plan though:

Im just going to go from where the speakers are in the rear quarter and run my own speaker wires from the quarter to the dash.  All of the speakers must centralize in the rear quarter since that is where the amp is.

Then I am going to replace the rear seat controls with an LCD

Im just going to cut the factory harness off completely and reconnect it to my newly ran speaker wires to each speaker.

Welcome to the BS' club of ford explorer jbl "premium" sound replacement.. I recently purchased a used 1997 eddie bauer explorer.. I can feel your pain.. went to the shop... picked out my head unit... and right away the 'wiring harness'... and as you have found out.. holy hell broke after that. lol. First off.. I bought a Pioneer unit that is actually a din and a half.. I have the same unit in my grand caravan.. of course the din and a half is really made for chrysler/dodge... but with a double din opening.. I could do a small mod' to cover the very small gap.. that was easy... shaved the pawl a lil.. covered the gap and figured out my rear mounting ... no problem..  but then the wiring.. as a person who has done more than his share of un'professional yet quality installs I felt quite confident with 'my trusty' wiring harness by my side... man was I wrong.. as you have found out.. but for me one of the two harness' matched.. the other didn't.. ok.. back to the shop... about 4 times.. all the kits were mixed up... everywhere.. it was hilarious.. not one kit had the same harness' matches... lol.. this was because all the home installers.. like me and you...  obviously had been there ... um... fiddling with the packages.. lol... anyway... with no true match..

I hesistantly did the bypass... lord knows I didn't want to.. I removed the quarter panel in the rear passenger side.. ok.. now I understand.. the dash unit is just basically an extended control panel for the REAL stuff in the rear.. (only ford could think of this brainiac set up) and it does control EVERYTHING... I started to run the speaker wires directly from the h/u to the speakers... it was cold.. decided against it.. lets make things easier... lets get some speaker wire info from the net.. finally found the PREMIUM JBL wiring color coding.. matched it to the colors at the amps/controller at the back of the truck... still kind of far from the dash.. but eureka!!! the wires must make it back to the front somewhere... and they did.. at the right front kick panel at the passengers feet... behind there are the speaker wires... since I was mutilating the jbl system anyway.. I went for my first color match... tested.. and GOT SOUND!! thank got.. clipped and connected all the speakers... without having to run lines all the way to the back...

NOW... we have sound.. but not to the sub... ok.. one long line... cut the wires to the sub.. directly cutting out the amp... and by the way.. the antenna line is extended from the back to the front too... you'll find the antenna line under the carpet at the front passengers feet... I ran the sub wire for a later connection to my OWN amp... will replace that sub later.. but wanted the wire available... everything is hooked up... EXCEPT THAT DAYUM POWER ANTENNA... the harness for that is again behind the kick panel on the passenger side front... red and grey if I remember correctly... in a two wire harness right behind the harness' for the speakers... problem.. still looking for a solution to raise and lower.. without installing an additional switch... if you want to see an install with the switches to raise and lower the antenna go to CMEGLOW.com... custom explorer... I'll figure it out and get back to ya'.. if you need the speaker wiring colors... respond to this.. and I'll post the color codes...

good luck... I'm still installing.. more attention to it when it gets warmer.. NY... lol