Mach 460 new head unit, wtf? please help

[RedEmbers]

Just bought a 2004 mustang from some lady in kansas. When I bought it, she mentioned to me that "the stereo just needs to be plugged in, don't worry."
She had already attempted to install a new head unit on her own, and made it a whole lot more confusing for me. Hopefully you guys can help.
First, in the trunk there is a red power wire with a u-shaped connector on the end. not plugged into anything. Also a loose ground wire and RCA cables. Couldn't find anywhere to put the power cable, and I already knew the amps didn't have RCA inputs.

Then, I looked at the actual head unit. Doesn't seem like she used a wiring harness, just car cables to radio cables. Idk if that's bad or not, but i've never heard of anyone doing it without a harness. Not to mention it was all wired wrong and very poorly. Tried to do it better myself today and ended up blowing a fuse. I'll stay away from it for now.

All I want to do here is connect the head unit correctly, and get the rear deck speakers plugged in correctly.

If anyone could tell me what the hell to do with the power cable, the RCA cables, and the lack of a wiring harness, and anything else I might need to do to get this working properly, I would appreciate it greatly. Will gladly provide pictures or more information.
Thank you

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[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

Just bought a 2004 mustang from some lady in kansas. When I bought it, she mentioned to me that "the stereo just needs to be plugged in, don't worry."
She had already attempted to install a new head unit on her own, and made it a whole lot more confusing for me. Hopefully you guys can help.
First, in the trunk there is a red power wire with a u-shaped connector on the end. not plugged into anything. Also a loose ground wire and RCA cables. Couldn't find anywhere to put the power cable, and I already knew the amps didn't have RCA inputs.

Then, I looked at the actual head unit. Doesn't seem like she used a wiring harness, just car cables to radio cables. Idk if that's bad or not, but i've never heard of anyone doing it without a harness. Not to mention it was all wired wrong and very poorly. Tried to do it better myself today and ended up blowing a fuse. I'll stay away from it for now.

All I want to do here is connect the head unit correctly, and get the rear deck speakers plugged in correctly.

If anyone could tell me what the hell to do with the power cable, the RCA cables, and the lack of a wiring harness, and anything else I might need to do to get this working properly, I would appreciate it greatly. Will gladly provide pictures or more information.
Thank you

Hack jobs are always a pain without experience ...it would take me about 10 minutes or less looking over the car and getting it back to normal ...factory setup should be all plug and play ...over look any aftermarket rcas or power wires ...on those cars the aftermarket harness has a set of rcas if that's present unplug it ..the original harness will plug to factory deck

 

[02WS6]

From what I'm reading - Aftermarket HU wont work without replacing everything else in the car - Speakers/amps etc because the way the factory amplifier is setup. YMMV

Are you going to try and put a factory head unit back in or keep the Aftermarket?

First thing you need to do is either re-pin your factory harness or buy/cut out the factory plugs from a wrecking yard and soldering/heat shrinking it to your car. This way you'll be able to connect/disconnect any stereo you want.

If you want to keep the aftermarket HU its recommended to bypass the factory amp, get your own amp and new speakers for the car.

I guess to start: How much money/time/effort do you have or are you willing to spend on this?

 

[02WS6]

Also found this: https://www.stangnet.com/mustang-fo...eplacing-your-2001-mach-460-head-unit.482713/

 

[marc2112 10+ year member]

Let's start by unplugging the battery first.