Installing in a 99 Ford Taurus

[c_hayhurst 10+ year member]

Okay, here's the deal:

I bought a 99 Ford Taurus, which has an integrated radio/climate control dashbord. The local installation tech I spoke with said it would require a $90 installation kit for special wiring and installation. He also mentioned something about how the head unit could be installed in the dashboard, but the "brain" would actually be in the trunk. HUH?!? Could someone please comment on any experience they have had with installing head units in this type of vehicle? Thank you in advance.

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[KaeZoo 10+ year member]

In the 96 and up Taurus, there are two problems with replacing the factory radio.

First of all, the radio is combined with the climate control system in an Integrated Control Panel (ICP).

Second, the factory radio up front is just a control unit. The actual tuner and amplifier are in the trunk. This means the antenna and speaker connections are in the trunk.

If your Taurus has rotary climate controls (as opposed to digital) a special kit replaces the entire ICP. The knobs and modules for the A/C controls are moved to the new kit. The kit also includes a long wire harness and antenna extension to connect the new head unit to the speaker outputs and antenna plug in the trunk.

If you decide to do it yourself, it's time consuming but not too difficult. The factory ICP can be removed with standard Ford radio removal keys. (Don't try to do it with coat hangers; if you screw up the brackets, it's almost impossible to get the ICP out without damaging it.) You'll have to remove the door sills and probably the lower part of the rear seat to run the wiring back to the trunk. The factory amp is on the driver's side of the trunk, near the antenna and under the trunk liner.

 

[c_hayhurst 10+ year member]

Hmmm. Thank you so much foryour feedback! Now, does that mean my headunit goes up front or in the trunk?

On a related topic: I am looking to hook up a 10-disc CD Changer, Amp and 5x7's in front and back of the car. Can I just leave the factory radio in and use its CD changer controls? This way I could dodge the pain in the a$$ of installing my own head unit. I believe the factiry unit indicates that if a factory CD Changer was in the car, it would only be a 6-disc changer. Would the factory head unit still be able to control a 10-disc changer?

Also, I presume that since I would be installing my own amp, which would bypass the factory amp already in the trunk, I could leave the existing head unit intact.

Yes? Man, I hope so. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/uhoh.gif.c07307dd22ee7e63e22fc8e9c614d1fd.gif

 

[unrealii 10+ year member]

KaeZoo, covered everything. For the head unit, you keep it up front, but you will have to run a wiring harness to the trunk to connect to the speaker plug and get the antenna connections, etc.

Here are some pic of my amp installation. http://www.taurusclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=5638 I kept the factory head unit because I had the digital controls.

For a cd changer, go to http://www.cdchangersonline.com They have 6 & 10 disc units which will work in your car even though the radio only says 1-6