radio for '91 Eddie Bauer

[John D. Goulden]

The factory unit in my '91 Eddie Bauer 4-door 4x4 finally died for good and
I would like to replace it with an inexpensive, basic unit. Everything I saw
in the Crutchfield catalog was "modified fit." Do y'all know of anything
that is (a) inexpensive and (b) that I can just pop in as a replacement with
minimal cutting and filing?

Thanks

--
John Goulden

[Steve Sigman]

Any 1 din radio will fit nicely.

Steve

[Ulysses]

"John D. Goulden" <jgould...@goulden.org> wrote in message
news:dknqc...@news3.newsguy.com...

I just put a $39.95 Am/Fm/CD player in a '92 EB. The trick is to get the
correct wiring harness/adapter.

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?mfrcode=MRA&mfrpartnumber=CKW
HFPS

That is Kragen (here in South California) and the part number is Metra
CK-WHFPS. The stereo I bought is a Jensen (Audiovox) PCD120UCS from Pep
Boys. They even have a tape player for $19.95. The stereo I got is OK but
does not have memory buttons for radio stations--it has a manual/digital
dial--and the volume level always comes on at 1/2. The treble, bass,
balance, and fade etc is all OK and easy to use. It seems to have enough
power for my purposes (Beethoven, Mozart, Glenn Miller etc). It's my wife's
car and all she ever listens to is AM talk radio so any stereo would have
suited her.

Here's another wiring adapter that looks like the same thing but costs more:

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-Xct8omCs2vk/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?i=120705004&g=
103000&search=stereo+wiring+adapter

that is Crutchfield Item #120705004 and is supposedly for the 91-94
Explorer.

One nice thing about Kragen is that they tell you right online if it's
available at your local store. They were correct in my case. They are aka
Checker, Schuck's, and Parts America. I don't know what y'all call it in
The South.

You will need to remove the passenger side rear panel to get to the amp
(assuming it has premium sound) which is somewhat of a PITA and the plastic
panel buttons will no doubt break. I guess you have to go to Ford to get
new ones--I didn't replace mine yet. You then connect the amp bypass
connector and put it back together (unless you want to test it first ;-).
The wiring adapter for the speakers and power supply is fairly simple and
all of the color codes on the adapter matched the stereo except for a
different shade of purple on two wires. I used wire nuts to connect the
wires. The proportions on the new stereo were just a little different from
the original so when the trim is replaced the space around it is a little
uneven, but close enough for me. No filing or cutting needed. The hard
part is cramming all those new wires and adapters in the hole that is barely
big enough to accomodate the stereo unit. It took me a while and then you
have to make sure all of your heater/AC cables and such are still working. I
was going to just attach the stereo to a steel brace underneath it with a
glob of silicone but since everything was so tight I ended up not attaching
it. The panel seems to hold it just fine. I bought an adapter kit (Metra)
to install it that was specifically for the 91-94 Explorers and there was
nothing in the kit that would in any way assist my installation so I took it
back. I was expecting it to have some add-on so it would pop in like the
old one. You will need a tool to remove the old unit. I made one with a
piece of a wire clothes hanger. It is simply a U-shaped piece of bent wire
about 2 inches long on each leg and bend it so the spacing is the same as
the two holes on the side/front of the old stereo. I found it helpful to
bend the legs slightly outward at the ends and insert it with the bends
facing away from the old stereo. You just stick it in, push a little toward
the stereo, and the unit should pull right out. Then do the other side.
There was a picture of the removal tool in the install kit that I returned
but it was not included!

BTW the power connector on the Explorer has (unless it fell off) a wiring
label on it. Also, just in case you have not done it before, to remove the
panel you have to remove two screws that hold in the ash tray, put the
shifter in a low gear, and the rest of the panel just pops off. You will
need to disconnect the 4X4 switch and ash tray/lighter wires. No need to
remove the connectors from the lighter as there is another connector behind
the ash tray that's also for the light.

It had some severe distortion once I installed the new stereo which turned
out to be the foam on the door speakers had rotted away. I fixed them by
placing some foam, about 1/2 inch thick, at either end of the cones. Sounds
OK but it still needs new speakers. I held the foam in place with some
contact cement. It took a few tries with different thicknesses of foam to
get it to sound right.

For future googlers:
Ford Explorer stereo replacement removal
Ford Explorer stereo wiring adapter
Ford Explorer stereo wiring harness
91 92 93 94 1991 1992 1993 1994 91-94