So I have a 96 Ranger with the premium sound and factory CD changer. When I bought it, the previous owner had a system in it, but he took it out to sell it. When I picked it up, he said there was only one speaker working due to the factory amp. I figured it was no big deal, and I would fix it.

Now to what I have done to try and fix it. I located the factory amp and he cut the wires on the factory harness for his own amp. At this point there was still only one speaker working. I figured that he had some loose connectors and redid them all. Now none of the speakers are working. I have tried two different amps and the factory radio and my after market pioneer deck.

Anybody know why I could be having this trouble?

 

There should not be factory amp unless its for a sub.

In the case of hacked up wiring I'd start from scratch. Aftermarket headunit and dedicated wires to the speakers.

 

From my research, every ford with a CD player came from the factory with an amp. And I would like to avoid running all new wire for the speakers and keep it factory. I've done it before, but I just really don't want to do that.

 

My truck does not have a factory amp and it came with a CD player. The amp is built into the headunit. If my truck had a separate amp I would have blow in long ago because I'm running a high power headunit. The only Rangers that i have seen with factory amps is the Tremor model to power the Pioneer subs and any model with the optional sub in the center console.

I think the wiring is just either really hacked or the speakers are blown.

 

yea, the stock speakers are trash after this long, my stock speakers blew a couple months ago in my doors.

(i drive a 96 too)

 

The guy left the after market Alpine speakers in it, and they definitely all worked when I test drove the truck. But I do have a couple of other after market speakers from my old truck I can try.

Searching on TRS, people were saying that there is a so called factory amp right in front of the right rear speaker. I found what I assumed was the amp in that spot until you said something about there being no external amp.

I thought that when a speaker blows, it just gets all static. Mine are not working whatsoever.

EDIT: Found a wiring diagram. http://www.therangerstation.com/tech...dio_Wiring.pdf It shows that there is external amp. Guess tomorrow I will be getting the meter out and try to find out what is wrong.

 

Maybe Ford got rid of them in the later years because my truck doesn't have one. It was kind of stupid using an external amp since the Ranger doesn't have any special type of speakers.

 

Well if it had a 'Premium' sound package, it probably did come with a factory amp. My friends 97 Mustang with a 'Premium' package had an 2 amps go out. Only one amp for the tweeters works now.

 

Ranger vs Mustang. Ranger is a cheap small pickup. The Mustang is a sports car. Premium on the Ranger that year could have meant cd/tape and premium on the Mustang that year could mean separate tweeters.

 

Yep but as you said man. Ford probably did get rid of them because they weren't so great.

 

Or maybe the technology got smaller so they could package it all into the headunit. Either way this is new to me.

 

Well, I figured it out. Always start with the simple stuff, like fuses, if something isn't working. Changed the fuse and I got sound back, but only from one speaker. Tried the amp that I got from the junkyard and all four now work. But there is a lot of static. Just for giggles I plugged in my Pioneer deck and everything works perfect.

So I guess there is also a problem with the factory radio. Oh well, I can always get another from a pick n' pull for like $15.

On another note, does anyone know how to hook up a factory CD changer to an aftermarket deck, if it is possible?