sheltonfilms

Ok so I just got a 1996 GT with the Mach 460, but instead of the cd player I got the cubby hole. Well I wanted to put a factory cd player so I did some research. Search just about every Mustang forum, and I've seen a lot of post where people asked this question but got no response or they got the "mach 460 system sucks" response. Well this is not helpful at all, so I decided to finally give some help to those people.

There are two ways to do this: For early SN95-98 models you have to replace the radio harness, which is what I will be showing. For 99-00 models you just have to add a jumper harness. Which has 3 plugs on each end.

Harness for 99-00:


What you need to do is remove your radio and possibly the bezel and plug the three connectors on the left to the cd player. Connect the two connectors on the upper right to the radio. And the grey middle connector connects to the existing harness. Boom done......super easy.

For early sn95-98 models:

Well your job is a little bit harder since you have to replace a harness, not add one. The part number for the new harness is F6ZB-19B113-BC. Look for the part number on the harness in blue and orange.

Don't look at the part numbers on the white tags, because they will just be the same:


The way this harness is routed is shown below:


Here is the new harness:


It connects to your radio, cd player, main harness (i think, it could be another audio harness), amplifier. Then it routes behind the dash support, connects to a connector on the right behind the instrument cluster (behind the rusty support bar), follow along the top of the main harness and back down the side to two connectors and a ground screw.

First thing you need to do is remove you existing radio, cubby hole, and radio bezel. Then remove your cluster bezel and cluster. I also removed the bottom of the steering column, both plastic and metal to give better view and access. If you are getting ready to put a heater core in this would be the best time to do it since routing the harness is 1000x easier if the dash is off, but its not to hard to do it with it on.

After you do all of this you need to disconnect these two connects which are attached to the dash support using those "christmas tree" plugs:




Then you need to disconnect the three connectors to the back of your Amp. Only two are shown but there is another between these two:


There is a connector behind the right of the instrument cluster which you can see through the hole. It's easiest to disconnect this underneath the dash:




Now remove the driver's side door seal kick panel around the hood release. Which looks like this:


There will be two connectors near the bottom you need to disconnect. Just follow the harness that goes straight down:


Now you need to unscrew the 8mm ground screw to the left of the fuse box:


Now that everything is loose its time to remove the harness. I forgot so I'll put this here. There are still three christmas tree plugs holding this harness in place. One to the upper right of the instrument cluster, one right above the ground screw connection, and one above the amp.

The best way to remove the harness is to pull up the drivers side part through the instrument cluster opening. Feed the harness through as you pull so you don't get it hung on anything. You may have to pry back the main harness from above the IC opening to give you room. Now these harnesses have an older wrap that is like tar (I know on my 2000 Ranger they used a more smoother plastic wrapping), so it can get pretty hard to pull through.



Once its through the opening pull it down the right side underneath the dash. Now you can pull it through the radio bezel opening and that part is done my friends.

All you have to do now is route the new harness the same way and connect your new connectors. Three new ones to the cd player and 2 new ones to the tape deck. Just to avoid some confusion the black connector goes to the metal tab on the back of the cd player, so does the black one for the tape deck. This electrically bonds the chassis of the units. There is probably a blank plug installed on the back of your radio for the extra shielded connector so remove this and install the new connector.