Car Stereos: Head Unit- Lincoln Continental, pioneer head unit, lincoln continental

Question
I just installed a pioneer head unit (http://pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/CarAudioVideo/In-Dash/CD-Players/DEH...) in my 1994 Lincoln Continental. The factory head unit had the antenna plug on it. My right speakers are not working in the front or back, but my left speakers both work. When i fade to the left on my head unit, all my speakers are off, when i fade to the right, my left speakers stay on. I checked the plugs in the wiring harness, they are fine. Any help would be appreciated :)

Answer
Hi Mike,

It definitely sounds like the speaker outputs are reversed, one way or another.  Did you use an adapter harness to install the new head unit?  If so, do you know the brand and model of the adapter?

Here's what I'm thinking:  usually, a Continental will be equipped with some sort of premium sound system from the factory.  The most common premium system of that era uses a small, square 8-pin plug for the factory amp signal wires, and a long, gray 8-pin plug for power, ground and illumination wires, at the radio.  

The most common adapter harness for these systems is Metra's 70-5511 or 70-5514 harness.  Now, I've used quite a few of these harnesses, and I've noticed one thing:  it's often very difficult to get the pins in the smaller plug to line up correctly.  It's possible to have the plug fully inserted, with some of the pins pushed off to the side so they don't make contact.

My guess is that you've used the Metra harness or something similar; that the pins aren't fitting right, and that the right channel pins are fitting the left channel sockets in the factory plug, while the left channel pins aren't plugged into anything at all.  In effect, the deck's right channel outputs are connected to the left speakers, and the left outputs are connected to nothing.  

The fix is to disconnect the harness, and use a small screwdriver to adjust the pin positions and try to fit the plugs together again.  Another thing you can try is to pull all the wires and pins right out the back of the harness casing (be sure to remember the pin positions), fit the casing onto the factory plug, then push the wires back into the sockets so they (hopefully) slide into the correct spots in the factory plug.

Hope this helps!

Brian