Thought I would throw up an FYI thread for this, since I had such a hard time and couldn't find anything definitive anywhere. I know some people are having trouble with this install, and it turned out to be rather straightforward.

1- I purchased a Metra Harness, good for all Fords 1986-1994 # 71-1770.

2- Remove old unit, I used the Metra tools, you will notice upon unplugging the factory harness that the speaker harness only has 5 wires, this is because it is running to an amp, mine was located behind the head unit, but I've heard some are under the seat. I disconnected the two crews holding it in, snaked it out and unplugged the two sockets on top of the amp, you may have to do this while it is still in the dash, don't be alarmed if the harness plugs break, you won't need them.

3- Now when you plug in your new harness to the factory one from the headunit you will notice the new headunit powers up but NO SOUND. Ahh Hah, this is because you are not going to use the original factory harness. Ford was thinking ahead when they installed these pitiful amps in our fox bodies. Here comes the hard part.

4- Set the old factory harness you unplugged from the stock head unit aside. Get ready to be a contortionist, actually it's not that bad. You need to get down with your head on the passenger side floorwell, push yourself under the dash so you are trying to look up behind where that headunit was, you need to trace the unplugged stock amplifier wires from step 2. You will find that they connect to two plugs mounted neatly on a bracket behind the AC/Heater controls. The top of these unplug and guess what, they look exactly like the plugs you disconnected from the factory headunit, that's because these are the factory amplifier bypass plugs, already thougtfully supplied to you by FoMoCo! You should be able to reach up in a and unplug them, snake them back out front, and plug them into your Metra Harness, thus eliminating the factory amp setup.

5- Throw factory amp and headunit in trash can.

Maybe a mod can sticky this, or add it to a FAQ if my instructions are not too horrible!

 

I was starting to think I was the only one that new about the easy bypass. I am putting a deck in my '94 with the mach tomorrow and will be posting pics as where to look and what to do.

 

sweet! ive been havin trouble with this for over a week!!!!!

 

I know buddy, that's why I wanted to throw up this thread, it's really easy once you locate those bypass harnesses tucked way up under the dash. But now I'm reminded how crappy 1990 speakers sounds....gotta by some speakers now! LOL

 

Theres a few of us in the procs of making stickies and a FAQ section for this A/V forum and we'll submit it to a Mod. I'm going to add this to our collection if you don't mind.

 

I missed this somehow, yes by all means add it to a FAQ, this section needs an FAQ badly....

 

AWESOME!

 

we have mods on this forum?

 

thanks bro, i spent mad time messing with it til i saw this

 

This is a life saver thanks guys