QuestionI have 98 ford exepedition 4x4 , i bought with no stereo in it just wires hanging, trying to install a jvc cd stereo , I am not getting any power from the power wires, called a stereo place they said the system is amplified , if i can find out why no it is not getting any power I think i can hook it up myself, what do i need to do?
AnswerHi Brian,
It's very likely that your Expedition has a factory amplifier, but that wouldn't make any difference as far as the radio power wiring was concerned. The first thing I'd check is the constant power fuse. This is located in a very small fuse box under the hood. It's in the corner of the engine compartment, on the driver's side toward the rear. It's a small box with five fuses in it; the constant power fuse is a 10-amp fuse in location #3.
Once you have power to the deck, you'll have to see what you can do about getting audio. The speaker wires in your truck are actually connected to a factory amplifier, located low in the dash below the radio and climate controls. It's very difficult to access; the wiring plugs are on the bottom of the amp. I've managed to unplug them and bypass the amp before, but it's not easy. The easier option is to try integrating the amp; you can try feeding the amplifier's inputs with the new head unit's speaker outputs, and connect the factory "remote" wire to the blue/white remote output on your new deck. This should activate the factory amp, and give you sound--as long as the stock amp is working properly.
I'm assuming that you already have a wiring guide that tells you which wire is which in the radio harness; if you need specific wiring information, let me know, and I'll try to provide it.
Hope this helps!
Brian
