Audio Systems: radio deck problems, ford f 150, pioneer radio

Question
well i recently got a pioneer radio deck out of a '95 ford f-150 and want to put it into my '94 ford explorer, i removed the factory deck and found out that the power harness and antenna both plugged into the new one and the radio deck worked but the one plug didn't match, there is a square shaped plug coming from the dash and the one on the new radio deck was rectangle shaped and since everything worked except the volume i figured that was the cord for volume, so i went to best buy and bought the square harness and stripped the wires from the new and connected the square shaped harness and everything plugged in fine, but here is my problem i turned the car on and the volume still didn't work, then i took the new deck out and put the old one back in and it worked fine.....? what is wrong? i hooked everything up right double checked the wires to make sure they were properly covered so they didn't touch and matched each wire with its coordinating one, white-white, gray-gray, purple-purple, green-green, white black stripe-white black stripe, gray black stride-gray black stripe, purple black stripe-purple black stripe, and green black stripe-green black stripe!!! everything done perfect but still nothing of any sound??? i hope this is enough detail please help......

Answer
I got a little lost in your explanation, sorry, but I think the solution lies in the wiring harnesses and hookups.  Here are some sites; pictures that will help you unravel the problem you are having.

F150:
http://installdr.com/InstallDocs/FLM/PDF/356037.pdf

and Explorer:
http://installdr.com/InstallDocs/FLM/PDF/356007.pdf
(note: this is for a  1995 Explorer, and there are differences, but I think this will help).

The problem is there are basic differences between the systems for uses between explorer vehicles and the 150 trucks.

So, please check the wiring differences from the sites above and see if that will help.

You may need a wiring harness to convert the wiring scheme over to the new vehicle.  You can find them at www.installer.com.  Go to:

http://www.installer.com/wires/

and skip down to the Ford section where you may find the right converting harness.

Good Luck,
C