I found a good condition stereo and CD deck (the two piece ford unit) and tried connecting it to my car with no luck so far. Are the JBL gen 1s able to use the newer style out of the Gen 2s? If so what am I missing?
Gen 2 premium Stereo in a gen 1
- Thread starter Devin
- Start date
Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.
JRA2000TL
The Complainer
I went through this battle awhile back and gave up. You have to swap the amps out because they are different voltage. I did this and mine still didn't work, so I went with Gen I standard am/fm cassette in my 90 that I sold. My 95 has the factory JBL except I swapped the sub and you can't even tell it has a sub---another problem to deal with later. The 89 came with an aftermarket deck that was crap so I switched to another aftermarket deck.
Off that side tangent, I've been told that if you swap the amps to Gen 2 amps and put a Gen 2 deck in it should work since the connectors are the same. I had no such luck though. YMMV Also, if you're doing the Gen 2 deck and CD slave player combo, you may have to dremel out the middle divider bar that separates the DIN openings.
Off that side tangent, I've been told that if you swap the amps to Gen 2 amps and put a Gen 2 deck in it should work since the connectors are the same. I had no such luck though. YMMV Also, if you're doing the Gen 2 deck and CD slave player combo, you may have to dremel out the middle divider bar that separates the DIN openings.
Last edited:
jelloslug
Digital
You need to swap the JBL amp also. The turn on signal voltage for the gen 2 amp is 5 volts and the gen 1 amp is 12 volts. The gen 2 head unit does not have the voltage to turn on the get 1 amp. You should also swap the dash bezel too so you don have to dremel the one you have now.
Is the only difference the amp signal then? If so this will be a bit easier than I was hoping for.
jelloslug
Digital
Yep, that's it.
whiteman_01
Well-Known Member
Yep, i did this in the 91 i had for a bit. Just had to put a key'd 12v to the amp turn on and it worked.
jelloslug
Digital
I had a switch on mine for a while. It made a nice THUMP when I turned on the amps.
Since the non-JBL harness has a 12v "only-on-with-key-on" wire, could I disconnect the amp turn-on wire from the HU output harness and then splice it into the non-JBL harness?
whiteman_01
Well-Known Member
that should work.
Prior to getting the amps working, should the display turn on at all? When I plug the JBL harnesses into the back of the HU I don't even get power to the HU.
jelloslug
Digital
The head unit should act normal. You just won't have any sound from the speakers because the JBL amp is not on.
Okay, I think something wierd is going on then. I have 12v between my yellow/black and black wires in the non-JBL harness with key on. I do not have 12v between the yellow/black and black in the JBL harness.
It's very possible that this HU is dead, so I'm not going to sweat it. I will keep an eye open for another and see what I can come up with.
