Got myself into a bind..

[m4dioses 10+ year member]

So we recently purchased a 2005 Ford Freestyle (cool little wagon) and I decided to upgrade the head unit and speakers. Since we have kids now an external amplifier and subwoofer are out of the question but I'm not content with the power from just a head unit. I purchased an Alpine KTP-445U to give the components that I bought a bit of a boost.

The Freestyle has steering wheel controls which my wife does not want to lose - so I purchased the PAC SWI-RC.

I'm confused as can be on how to wire these two things in - I'm under the impression that I wire the radio harness to the input of the Alpine KTP-445U and the output of the Alpine KTP-445U to the aftermarket vehicle harness. No problem!

How do I integrate the PAC SWI-RC into this installation? What wires do I tap into to make this work? I understand the directions for the most part but this is more of an advanced installation for me with all of these auxiliary components.

Right now my thought process is HU-Harness -> KTP Input -> KTP Output & PAC SWI-RC -> Aftermarket Harness -> Vehicle ?

The PAC SWI-RC only has one wire that connects to the vehicle, the white - connects to pin 18 on the harness. This is a dead pin on the aftermarket harness though from what I can see. Do I cut into the actual vehicle harness to get to this wire? I'm using the Scosche FD23B.

I know this post a bit of a mess but in the end my question is - what's the best route to wire a KTP-445U and PAC SWI-RC into an aftermarket headunit.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Good luck with that. Most of the guys who really know their stuff around here would likely never use either of those units (as they would go all aftermarket). I'm sure someone out there has had experience with those though.

 

[m4dioses 10+ year member]

Everything is aftermarket! I have a new Pioneer headunit, all new speakers, the KTP-445U amp to power the speakers and the aftermarket steering wheel control module.. I'm not using anything in the vehicle sorry if I explained it that way.

Alright so here's what I'm going to try..

Wire Pioneer harness into the input of the KTP-445U.

Cut pin 18 loose from the harness already within the vehicle, tap this into the white wire on the PAC SWI-RC that requires pin 18.

Wire the aftermarket Scosche harness onto the output of the KTP-445U and at the same time, tap into the remote on and ground here for PAC SW-RC - so essentially two wires will tap into one on the Scosche harness before it plugs into the vehicle harness.

This is the best I could come up with and it makes the most sense. If anyone has any other ideas please let me know, going to tackle this tomorrow.

 

[CSCStang]

What speakers are you going to run?

 

[fasfocus00 5,000+ posts]

the SWC is pretty simple, just read the directions. It tells you exactly what pins to cut or tap into and if one of them needs a resistor. It's pretty cut and dry if you know how to read. I'm really not trying to be mean about it but I get guys like you in the shop all the time telling me "I know how to hook up a radio" but than can't do SWC. the instructions even have pictures of the harness you're going to tap into so you know your in the right harness. SWC take like 5 minutes tops to install.

 

[4bannger 10+ year member]

I did a head unit in a 2014 sonata and had to splice the factory harness into the unit. make sure the one you have is made for your vehicle universal doesnt always mean universal.

 

[m4dioses 10+ year member]

@ff00: I do know how to install a radio but I do not do it for a living and I do not do it on a daily or even regular basis. My issue is not with the SWC as running the SWC by itself is quite easy and makes a lot of sense - my issue is with integrating the SWC with the KTP-445U, whether I was running the SWC before or after the amplifier. I realized afterwards that the aftermarket harness was a dead pin for the wire I needed for the SWC and understand that I just have to take it off the vehicle harness now. That's really all my question was - the order of integration. I'm sorry if my post wasn't clear enough to make this out as I provided excessive information. I wasn't trying to have a pissing contest. I'm sure you're far more adept at installing systems and auxiliary components than me or I wouldn't have come here for help. I do still appreciate your snide reply just for the fact you took the time to reply to me.

@CC: ID CTX65CS in the front and Polk CD651s in the back - going to see what it's like letting the 45w go to all 4 channels but will probably wind up letting the amp just hit the CTX's in the end.

@4banger: Yeah, that's what I figured I was going to have to do. Thanks!

 

[fasfocus00 5,000+ posts]

the SWC has nothing to do with the 445U. you're making it more complicated than it has to be. mock up the radio harness to the adapter plug, than mock up the wires for the 445U, than mock up the SWC wires. you should only have about 4 wires that actually need to be connected for the SWC, power ground than 1 or 2 for actual controls, than you'll have just the one plug that goes into your head unit.

 

[CrossoverOre 10+ year member]

on the vehicle side of the stereo harness tap pin 18 no need to cut it. connect power and ground to where the pioneer harness meets the aftermarket ford harness. The swi rc and 445u will have nothing more to do with each other than where the ground connection is. Dont connect the 445u to the power wire on the integration harness as it probably will not be enough supply. I always connect them to the 12v constant at the ignition harness or some other source with at least 15a supply. From there you just follow the instructions for programing. Make sure the dial is set to the appropriate number for the pioneer head unit.

 

[whitedragon551 5,000+ posts]

I ran the KTP 445 for awhile.

I had an Alpine 9887 HU. It went HU > KTP > HU Harness > Vehicle Harness