CD Changer

[Eastcoast SHO]

i was curious i am a new owner of a 1994 SHO and i was just wondering,please don't knock me but, in the trunk behind the seat there is a box bolted to the seat to me it looks like a power amp but i dont see no jacks for a subwoofer, is this what it is? second on the wiring for the speakers i also noticce a clip coming off those wires and there is nothing hooked up there does anyone know what this is for, i was told it was for a cd changer if so, how would i hook it up i dont see any buttons on the radio deck for cd controls thank you

 

[T.O_SHO]

My CD changer in the trunk has a little separate wired controller right ontop of the ashtray. Its a stock CD changer and is bolted down in the trunk, right beside the passenger side rear wheel space.

If that helps...

 

[SlowHeavyObject]

Your box is an amp but it doesn't have the conventional sub hookups because it is specifically made for your car and uses special harnesses. Usually there are 2 amps, one silver, one black bolted to the back of the seat behind a cover panel. Black is for the 6 1/2" sub bolted in an enclosure under the middle of the rear deck. The silver is for the rest of the speakers.

Now your harness is indeed for a factory CD changer. The changer went in the little depression in your trunk on the driver side between the rear wheel well and taillight panel. The changer has a wire and plug that runs up the driver side behind the trunk trim panel and connects to that harness. Controls for the changer were standalone from the JBL head unit and used a special harness to connect to the cassette player.

Configurations for your dash/console for the radio depended on your system. There were 5 options on the SHO:
#1 - regular am/fm cassette (no AUTOMATIC on tape deck door)
#2 - JBL am/fm cassette (all JBL had AUTOMATIC printed on tape deck door)
#3 - JBL am/fm/cassette/cd
#4 - JBL am/fm/cassette/6 disc cd changer
#5 - JBL am/fm/cassette/cd with digital graphic equalizer
#X - JBL CD only (rare or pirated from another ford/lincoln/mercury/ebay - single cd player where cassette would be)
#Y - a plain old am/fm (rare)
#Z - no radio at all (rare, harnesses still there but a radio delete plate covering the slots)

If you had #1 or #2, you had the head unit in the first slot, then either a coin/cup holder or fold down storage compartment in the bottom slot, and a cassette caddie and cigarette lighter insert in the console right below the slots.
If you had #3, you had a cassette in the first slot, cd addon in the second slot, and the cassette/lighter console.
If you had #4, you had a cassette in the first slot, the coin/cup/storage in the second, and changer controls where the caddie/lighter would be.
If you had #5, you had cassette in the first slot, cd in the second, and controls/screen for an equalizer in the console.

You can mix/match any of the Premium/JBL/Mach 460 system components except Premium/regular cannot connect as the harnesses were different. Hope that helps.

 

[Eastcoast SHO]

actually it did help i have the number 1 and i was wondering if i got the stock slave cd payer would i be able to replace the bin with the cd player should it just hook right up to the premium sound cassette deck it the back?

 

[SlowHeavyObject]

Of course you can do that as the JBL deck has a jumper for the connector. You can buy the CD addon for about $10 used. You need the CD unit (from either another JBL or Mach system) and the CD WIRING HARNESS. When you take the cassette out there are 3 plugs attached to it: a long flat gray one, a black square one, and a small black one. Disconnect those, and with the back of the deck facing you, look in the upper right and you will see another small black connector that doesn't have any wires hooked to it. That's the jumper and you pull that out and toss it.

The most important thing is getting that harness. You can get a hacked one but it's easier to get a complete one from a donor car. It has the same connections as your stock harness except it has 3 more plugs: two that connect the cd addon and cassette together, and a red one that powers the cd unit. Try to get one from a Taurus or Sable because the Mach harness doesn't have the dash mem/vol/seek controls if you care about that. You don't have to take apart your dash but you will have to unplug your old harness from the main underneath where the eatc is and toward the drivers side of the dash and plug the new one in and route it (the connector is gray) or splice your hacked one in. Then you can put the cd addon where your coin/cup thing is.

If you are looking for an easier solution. Ford sold a standalone JBL CD/radio for the 95 SHO that was previously only available on the Mercury Capri and Probe. You just plug that into your existing radio harness as the hookups are the same. But the tradeoff is you won't be able to use cassettes too. On ebay those go for about $90. Also you can add the CD changer but those are rare, pricier, and the install is harder.

I'll try to find you the part numbers as soon as I can find them.

 

[Eastcoast SHO]

thank you i found a stock cd slave player on ebay for $10 it comes with the harness so hopefully it should work i appreciate the info thank you very much

 

[GIL Shoemaker]

Your box is an amp but it doesn't have the conventional sub hookups because it is specifically made for your car and uses special harnesses. Usually there are 2 amps, one silver, one black bolted to the back of the seat behind a cover panel. Black is for the 6 1/2" sub bolted in an enclosure under the middle of the rear deck. The silver is for the rest of the speakers.

Great information, only one slight problem. The black amplifier is the main unit for the 4 regular speakers inside the car. The silver amp is for the subwoofer under the rear package shelf. The small box connected to the center post between the two amps is the called the radio choke, but it really the power supply for the silver subwoofer amp.

- Gil
-92 Green

 

[Eastcoast SHO]

i only saw one box im not sure of the color i would have to check again and i havent seen a subwoofer unless im looking in the wrong place

 

[SlowHeavyObject]

Great information, only one slight problem. The black amplifier is the main unit for the 4 regular speakers inside the car. The silver amp is for the subwoofer under the rear package shelf. The small box connected to the center post between the two amps is the called the radio choke, but it really the power supply for the silver subwoofer amp.

- Gil
-92 Green

I knew I had something wrong ! I haven't been back there in such a long time it's probably growing cobwebs by now. And what years had the "choke?" I don't seem to have one. I have the 2 amps and the keyless mounted to the back of mine. I have a 94 ATX and have owned it since new in 94.

 

[SlowHeavyObject]

i only saw one box im not sure of the color i would have to check again and i havent seen a subwoofer unless im looking in the wrong place

You should have the sub and both amps if you have the premium sound package since it was a standard speaker package, only the mechanisms were different. The non-premium somtimes had different speaker setups. Just to make sure check that the word "AUTOMATIC" is printed on your tape deck door. Also on your front door panels the speaker grills should have emblems with "JBL/Premium Sound" or something like that on them. And lastly make sure you have a long rectangular gray plug and SQUARE plug plugged into the back of your deck (not 2 flat rectangular ones, 1 gray, 1 black). If your deck isn't the premium one, you may or may not be able to use the CD addon. Also the sub is in a black box made out of milk gallon plastic that hangs on the roof of your trunk in-between the rear speakers. On sunny days from inside the car looking toward the back window you can see a hidden grill under the carpet between your rear speaker grills.

 

[GIL Shoemaker]

The easiest way to tell if a car came from the factory with the JBL other than the front door labels of course, is to look at very center of the rear package shelf. If there are a bunch of perforated holes in a 6x8 speaker pattern under the covering material of the package shelf, it is a JBL System. This is where the output from the subwoofer enters the main cabin.

SHOs came with either the Premium Sound (standard) or the JBL System (optional). The wiring harness to the amps is identical for both systems with 2 different plugs going into the main amp. The Premium Sound system only had one amp (silver) with no labeling on it and was rated at 20 x 4 = 80W. The front door label should say "Premium Sound". The JBL System came with two amps, Black with JBL printed on it, rated at 15W x 4 = 60 and a seperate subwoofer amp, silver with no labeling on it, rated at 85W, for a system total of 145W. Good stuff for 1992 (Actually, the JBL system has been around since at least 1990.) The front door label should say "Ford JBL Audio System." I had a SHO with the left door was "Premium Sound" and the right door was "Ford JBL Audio System." Car really had Premium Sound. I was really bummed out when I found out. :cry:

For the Gen2, the headunits for Premium Sound and JBL were identical. Many JBL systems also had the add-on single disc CD player (built by Sony) which was an additional option.

- Gil
'92 Green

 

[GIL Shoemaker]

I knew I had something wrong ! I haven't been back there in such a long time it's probably growing cobwebs by now. And what years had the "choke?" I don't seem to have one. I have the 2 amps and the keyless mounted to the back of mine. I have a 94 ATX and have owned it since new in 94.

1992 to 1995 (Gen 2) had the choke. The choke is the small box mounted on the amp rack directly between the black and silver amplifers. The silver amp power wires lead into the choke. The keyless entry module will have the keyless entry code printed on it and you will see an antenna connector coming out of it along with 3 plugs at the botton. The keyless entry is on the left side of the car, above the amps. On cars without keyless, the interior light dimmer takes the keyless module's place and it maybe 1/8th the size of the keyless module.

I have seen only seen the choke on the Taurus. All other Ford products seem to not use it. I would be willing to bet that the Taurus isn't as well grounded as the other models.

- Gil
'92 Green

 

[GIL Shoemaker]

i only saw one box im not sure of the color i would have to check again and i havent seen a subwoofer unless im looking in the wrong place

Another way to check for the sub is to open the trunk. You can't miss the ********* box hanging from the center of the rear package shelf.

- Gil
'92 Green

 

[SlowHeavyObject]

1992 to 1995 (Gen 2) had the choke. The choke is the small box mounted on the amp rack directly between the black and silver amplifers. The silver amp power wires lead into the choke. The keyless entry module will have the keyless entry code printed on it and you will see an antenna connector coming out of it along with 3 plugs at the botton. The keyless entry is on the left side of the car, above the amps. On cars without keyless, the interior light dimmer takes the keyless module's place and it maybe 1/8th the size of the keyless module.

I have seen only seen the choke on the Taurus. All other Ford products seem to not use it. I would be willing to bet that the Taurus isn't as well grounded as the other models.

- Gil
'92 Green

Thanks. Hmm, I'll have to look into the systems a little more. It seems I don't have a choke. The 2 amps are there, but the keyless is directly to the left of them (level, not above) and I have no antenna. However I do have the keyfobs and they work, and I was able to program 2 more keyfobs to it. All of this is factory Ford and has the Ford part numbers to boot. Wierd. And yes, it's known that Fords in general are poorly grounded, even the engine electrical components (how many times do they need starters?), yikes! Thanks again.

 

[go-to]

Late to the party, I know, but thought I'd add some information on the choke.

This *choke* is simply a coil wired in series with the power supply to help eliminate (switching) noise in the amps/system.

In the end, it's just a noise filter.

Reference: http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=18916