Audio Systems: Ford F-150 Radio, ford f 150, ford f 250

Question
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Followup To
Question -
I have a 1999 Ford F-150 with a stock radio.  I bought a OEM radio from a 2003 Ford F-250 that was being pulled because they were installing a fancy stereo unit.  The 2003 radio has CD and cassette, which my old one did not.  Connections on the back are identical, except for the support bracket which is no problem.  I plugged it up and radio comes on, display works, changes stations, CD inserts and extracts OK, but there is no sound.  Ran a separate ground to make sure and reinstalled old radio to make sure no fuse or something was blown.  Old one worked fine.  Is there a difference in the two radios, or did I just buy a broken one?  How can I tell?  Thanks
Answer -
David,
The 2003 stereo may be a premium stereo that uses an external amp. On the rear of the two stereos do you see all of the same jacks? If the rear of both stereos are the same the no sound could be due to a defective audio section in the 2003 stereo.


TOM,
T&D ELECTRONICS
tdeser@zoominternet.net

Thanks, Tom.  The electricaly connections on the rear of the two radios are identical.  Took about 10 seconds to connect in the 2003 radio.  How do I tell if there is an external amp in the 1999 Ford F-150?  and how do I tell if the radio out of the 2003 Ford F-150 requires an external amp to operate?  Is it possible the 1999 radio had an external amp and the output from the 2003 radio is overpowering it?  Or that the 2003 requires an external amp and will not put out enough wattage to run the speakers?  Since the connections were identical, I thought they would work fine.  Thanks in advance for your help.  I really appreciate it.
David


Answer
David,
If you take your vehicle to your local Ford dealer they can run the VIN to see what options your vehicle has in it. If you have the original owners manual it should also decode to VIN to tell you what stereo system the vehicle has in it.

TOM,
T&D ELECTRONICS
tdeser@zoominternet.net