I'm getting my new Pioneer stereo at the end of this week and I got the dash installation kit and wiring harness as well. How do I take out the current Mach 460? Do I have to take the plastic dash covering off? I've never replaced a stereo so does anyone have a link to the instructions that can help me? Thanks

 

u need for keys and if youve never done a mach 460 before buy urself a bottle of advil the walmart econo size, youll need it. I would spend the money and just take it to an install shop. Im certified mobile installer and i HATE seeing those on the schedule.

 

What do you mean by for keys? And is the tough part wiring it or getting the dash off or what?

 

DON'T TAKE THE DASH OFF,

the new radio (or kit depending on the year) will fit right into place
the keys refer to te little holes on the sides of the factory radio which release it from the dash.

94-00 model: new radio is a direct fit to factory and mach system does not need to be bypassed
01-04 model: a kit will be needed and the mach system must be bypassed

 

I have an 02. I did get the dash kit with the stereo. The person that I bought the car from has the billet trim on the stereo right now but there are 4 holes on the corners of this trim on the stereo. What do you mean by bypass the mach system?

 

rewire pretty much

 

The keys 87fiveO is referring to are little metal looped giant paper clip looking thingies. If you look on the stereo's rim you'll notice 2 holes/slots on each side (left/right) In those holes are little metal clips that hold the stereo in place. YOu can take a wire hangar and cut it into four 6" pieces, make a loop at one end to allow you something to pull on.

Insert each one into each hole and push straight in. The 'Key' basicly unlatches the clip from the dash You may need to pull a couple out and re-insert it to find the clip. Once all four are in the stereo should slide out. That's it.

 

I got the wiring harness designed for the MACH stereo system. Do I still have to rewire??? I thought the wiring harness is what bypasses the rewiring step.

 

the ford amp integrator harness??? Hmmm with the mach its hit or miss.

 

87, I appreciate all the help you've been giving me so thank you. This is the wiring harness that I purchased separately from the head unit: http://www.cardomain.com/item/SCOFDK9B . This is straight from the description of the harness:

A Scosche wiring harness is an absolute must when installing an aftermarket car stereo. It provides easy connection of the car stereo to the factory wiring harness. Each harness includes both power and speaker wires, and each is labeled with its specific function. Any cutting of the factory wires is avoided so all connections are exactly right. All wires are color coded (EIA standard) for easy identification.

The FDK9 is used when replacing the factory head unit and retaining the factory amplifier in Ford and Mercury MACH Audio systems. Utilizes the low-power (10W x 4 MAX) speaker outputs of the stereo only. For high-power head units (over 10W per channel), use the Scosche FAI-3 in conjunction with the FDK9.

By reading that it makes it sound like I wouldn't have to bypass the MACH amp or rewire/cut any wires. I didn't get the FAI-3 that they're talking about even though the Pioneer DEH-2700 has 45 watts for each its 4 channels. I don't listen to loud music so I'll see how the wiring harness works with the low power outputs of the head unit.

Do you have any experience using this kind of harness when you replace the MACH systems? Once again, thank you very much for all of your help.