Car Stereos: Ranger 1992 radio, premium sound system, ford radio

Question
Brian,
I just picked up a newer version of a Ford radio with a cassette player. The one I have now was not working properly and one of the connector cables is not compatible. Connecting the one cable enables the radio to turn on but no sound. Can you help?

Answer
Hi Bill,

I'm guessing that one of the radios used two 8-pin plugs of the same size; and the other radio uses a wide 8-pin plug, and a smaller square plug.  Is this correct?

If your old radio used the two wide plugs, and the new radio has the square plug, then it won't be compatible with your truck.  The radios with the square plugs are made for Ford's premium sound system, which includes a separate amplifier.  The head unit for these systems doesn't have a built-in amplifier, so it's not capable of driving speakers.  It can only provide a source signal for a Ford factory amplifier.

If your old radio was the premium system, and the new radio uses the two wide plugs, then you might be able to make it work in your truck by connecting the speakers directly to the radio and bypassing the factory amp. Sometimes there's a "bypass" plug buried deep in the radio cavity; if it's there, it would fit the speaker connection on the non-premium head unit.  If the bypass plug isn't present, then you'd have to purchase a new plug that fits the head unit, locate the factory amp, and extend the speaker wires from the amplifier location up to the dash and connect them to the new head unit.

Hope this helps!

Brian