Retro Fitting Stock CD Player to 1994 V6

tmwsccsh · Jun 16, 2019

Hi all,

First main posting on here and it's a project - one I think sounds simple but fear it's not going to be! Apologies if this goes on a bit too...

As per the subject, I have a 1994 V6 and want to fit the stock CD player into it. When I got the car it had a Sony aftermarket tape player with 10-slot CD changer in the boot. I wanted originality so got rid of that (the changer took up too much space anyway) and found an original cassette player that I fitted to the connectors the Sony was on, as in these 2 (the sony used ISO converters, the Ford replacement was straight on to these).

So this gave me...

... which is what I wanted. But now I want to put the CD player in too where the current small cubby hole is.

I don't think I have the Mach 460 system (or should I say has had) as there's no tweeter speakers on the inside where the wing mirrors mount to the doors. But I do have some extra connectors in the radio bay which could be interesting.

Firstly, the one on the left.

These appear to go into the same loom but I have no idea what they are for. Then, the image on the right above is 2x more connectors that are to the right-hand side which look like the reverse of what I have connected the tape radio to. Close-up of these below...

The CD player I want is the standard one...

... but I read somewhere that there are 2x versions of this - one for the Mach 460 system and one for cars without the Mach 460. The only ones I seem to be able to find however have these connections on them...

... which don't match the connectors I have in the car.

Oh, and for interest, the tape player I have is...

Hopefully there's someone out there that can make sense of all this and advise on what I have / need to make this work. I have not purchased anything yet but am hoping there's a model of cd player and loom out there I can get and maybe splice in some way into what I have and I can get it all going.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Regards

TMW

ttocs · Jun 16, 2019

the cd player you have is newer. With out getting a harness to plug into it and hardwiring it yourself your stuck looking for the correct cd player. But first look on the back of your tape deck and see that it has the small square harness plug in for the cd player as I thought only the mach's had that option and you would need a whole lot more wiring to get all that to work.

tmwsccsh · Jun 16, 2019

ttocs said:
the cd player you have is newer. With out getting a harness to plug into it and hardwiring it yourself your stuck looking for the correct cd player. But first look on the back of your tape deck and see that it has the small square harness plug in for the cd player as I thought only the mach's had that option and you would need a whole lot more wiring to get all that to work.

Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply. I actually haven't got the CD player yet, that was just an example of what I am hoping to find - if there's an alternative that is the one I need (earlier) then that's something I need to look into.

Small square harness plug - not familiar with that - I will go and have a look now and see if I have one.

I did read on another forum that there were 2x versions of the cd player - one for the mach 460 set up and one for those without.

Am guessing if I don't have this square connector this is suddenly a bit of a non-event?

Regards

TMW

ttocs · Jun 16, 2019

You need a plug in on the radio for one similar to the one on the left to control the cd player. If your radio does not have this you cannot add the cd player

tmwsccsh · Jun 16, 2019

Hi,

So, just checked the radio - I don't have any connectors other than the 2x long ones I connect in on and the antenna connector...

So unless I can do some serious splicing, which is possible if I can create some kind of loom after those connectors as I have spare blocks from the old iso converters...

... this could be dead in the water...

Regards

TMW

ttocs · Jun 16, 2019

With out the mach wiring in the car it becomes a pretty big deal to put one in honestly. The dash harness is different and its hard to find and would really require removing the dash to put it in.

I think there was a newer version of the cassette deck that might not need the mach wiring but I am not for sure on that.

tmwsccsh · Jun 16, 2019

Yes, the more I think about this, the more I think it's a non-event.

As a matter of interest, does anyone know what the square and long connectors are actually for, as in the below...?

Thanks in advance.

Regards

TMW

ttocs · Jun 16, 2019

oh wait I thought the pics above were of the deck to cd harness that can be removed. Now i see that you do have the system that is actually between the mach and the standard stereo, that is the amp that you see behind the harnesses in the hole in the dash.

With that being said if you got the right cassette deck it should plug in. If you look inside the dash you will see a pair of black 8-pin harnesses that look like the grey on in the pic. You sony radio was plugged into them as that is the speaker wires that comes out of the amp. If you get it all back working then you will need to plug those two harnesses back into one another. Also be aware the stock amps have been known to be a big power drain that kills batteries as they have aged. IF your fighting a dead battery now its probably because of that amp.

tmwsccsh · Jun 17, 2019

Hi,

If you go back to the original picture...

... this is what the Sony was actually plugged into, and they are what go into the radio cassette that's in there now. These had the 2x iso converters on them to go into the Sony unit.

I don't have 2x black harnesses, but there is a black and a grey, as per the below - are they the 2 that you are referring to?

But then, what are these for?

You mentioned previously that this square one may go into the cassette player to control the cd, but that's on the same loom as the grey adaptor in the same photo, as if they are supposed to go into a different device (not necessarily the cd player...).

I think I am approaching a time to call it a day with this as it's not going to be as simple as I hoped!

Regards

TMW

ttocs · Jun 17, 2019

the first two pics are the outputs from the amp that go to the speakers. They were unplugged, and then the sony connected to it so the amp was bypassed. By plugging in the harnesses in those two pics(grey-grey, black-black) the amp will again have power and the outputs connected. The two harnesses in the last pic are what plug into the stock deck. The larger one is the power connections and the smaller is the audio input for the amp.

evilcw311 · Jun 18, 2019

I still never understand the urge to put a factory radio back in a car that doesn’t gain any value from it.

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RAU03MACH · Jun 18, 2019

evilcw311 said:
I still never understand the urge to put a factory radio back in a car that doesn’t gain any value from it.

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If its the shaker mach 460 system I would

ttocs · Jun 18, 2019

I can understand some people like the clean simple stock look but yea I like my music too much to listen on OLD stock gear mach or not.

RAU03MACH · Jun 18, 2019

ttocs said:
I can understand some people like the clean simple stock look but yea I like my music too much to listen on OLD stock gear mach or not.

I do think the mach 460 system is the best system out there
its stock clean and has a clear sound even when you blast it

ttocs · Jun 18, 2019

RAU03MACH said:
I do think the mach 460 system is the best system out there
its stock clean and has a clear sound even when you blast it

at the time it came out it smoked anything close to it but I have been into sound too long to not notice the problems it has or had. Now 20-25 yrs later the gear has long since been past its prime. I am sure the foam surrounds are nearly gone if not completely by now and the stock amps have long been known as a source for power drains to kill your battery.

RAU03MACH · Jun 18, 2019

ttocs said:
at the time it came out it smoked anything close to it but I have been into sound too long to not notice the problems it has or had. Now 20-25 yrs later the gear has long since been past its prime. I am sure the foam surrounds are nearly gone if not completely by now and the stock amps have long been known as a source for power drains to kill your battery.

pretty much my mach1 and my 98gt , 97 cobra , 95 gt I installed it
I have the mach 460 in all , and sound good to this day

tmwsccsh · Jun 18, 2019

ttocs said:
the first two pics are the outputs from the amp that go to the speakers. They were unplugged, and then the sony connected to it so the amp was bypassed. By plugging in the harnesses in those two pics(grey-grey, black-black) the amp will again have power and the outputs connected. The two harnesses in the last pic are what plug into the stock deck. The larger one is the power connections and the smaller is the audio input for the amp.

Right, I get it now - thanks for clarifying.

So basically the Amp is currently out of action. I assume I could make an adaptor from the 8-pin square back to the flatter connector (assuming the pin-out can be mapped) and then bring that back to life using the head unit I have now then.

But unless I can find someone to help me do some cleverness with the wiring, the cd is probably not going to happen.

As a matter of interest, does anyone know what would be the correct part number for the non-mach 460 cd player that I would need here?

Thanks again.

Regards

TMW