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2003 Mach 460 to 2004 Mach 460

13K views 21 replies 8 participants last post by  JoeAsheville 
#1 ·
I have been told that this can't be done. Therefore, I am attempting it.
The reason is to get a sat-enabled factory head into a non-sat-enabled vehicle.

I have been able to source an 04 Mach 460 head from a 2004 Expedition, complete with wiring harness that is taped together with two plugs. The two units are indeed different in terms of plugs, which is probably why most people said it could not be done. However, the way I look at that is the wiring is the major part...the plugs are just adaptive retention mechanisms into the back of the head. As long as I have the plug, I should be able to make things work by wire splicing. It is my reasoning that Ford would not significantly change the wiring color codes in a single year's production.

There are two plugs on my pigtail, one is for main power/ground/speaker and the other is for subwoofer out. All are speaker level of course.

I have been able to determine, using readily available schematics on the web (they are not 2003 Cobra specific), that the 8-pin sub out is wired identically to the 03 mach 460. For some reason Ford/Visteon decided to include an orange wire in the right rear sub bundle, which is not used in the plug...it's just not connected to anything. That is the only difference in the 8-pin sub out...basically they are 3-wire with a shielded ground in each bundle.

The main harness is more difficult. I have been able to determine that the main power bus, ground leads, right door speaker, right rear speaker, and left door speaker are the same. However the leads for the left rear speaker are not a color code match, and there is one lead that is extraneous over the 2003 installation. One wire, tan with yellow tracer, has been verified as #801 on the schematic for the left rear speaker. One other lead, white with orange tracer is gauge identical but does not appear on the diagram. I suspect that this is #800 but would have to test. The one extraneous lead is violet and is significantly larger in gauge, similar to the wires coming in from the main bus which are constant-on and switched-on. Unfortunately when tracing this one lead back to the plug for the head, it is the #1 lead in the plug. It makes sense that this would need to be either constant-on or switched-on...but I need to know before I make a wire splice. The fact that the pin directly opposite to this wire is black with a light green tracer, a ground, does not make me feel any easier that this is a power or a ground lead...however it appears that Ford uses violet on a lot of their 12v+ power in leads.

I am going to check my 2003 Cobra wiring schematic when I get time, to see if there is a solid violet wire anywhere on the vehicle and what it does.

Anybody gotten to this point yet? Anybody have a 2004+ schematic handy?

It looks pretty straightforward from here, it's just I want to do it right the first time. I don't want to take my dash apart multiple times just to get this done. Any help is appreciated...
 
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#2 ·
Looks like this forum is like the others...no interest in this particular topic.

I have also solved the issue of no bass in the 03/04 Cobra, but since there is no interest I'll just leave it as is.
 
#3 ·
CarpetCityCobra said:
Looks like this forum is like the others...no interest in this particular topic.

I have also solved the issue of no bass in the 03/04 Cobra, but since there is no interest I'll just leave it as is.
Easy now.. This forum just seems to get overlooked more often then not..

I cannot help you directly on the wiring schematics but i remember from my install days (long time ago, and short-lived) that one of the companies made reverse harnesses. Basically you plugged the harness into the back of the radio and you could stick it into any car, boat, etc. Unfortunately i cannot remember who made it and i'm fairly sure that it was not a Metra, but it could make your project much easier.
 
#4 ·
Yes, those are Metras among others. Metra does not make a harness to adapt the 03 wiring to the 04 head, but another company does make a solder-in pigtail for the 04 head.

Connector c290d plugs directly into the back of both heads, no adapter needed.

Thanks for the help, but it doesn't really seem like anybody is that interested. I'm really going to enjoy satellite in my 03 though.
 
#5 ·
CarpetCityCobra said:
Looks like this forum is like the others...no interest in this particular topic.

I have also solved the issue of no bass in the 03/04 Cobra, but since there is no interest I'll just leave it as is.
Could you please elaborate on how you solved the no bass issue in the cobras? I pick mine up this week and i want the bass!!!:beerchug:
 
#7 ·
CarpetCityCobra said:
Yes, those are Metras among others. Metra does not make a harness to adapt the 03 wiring to the 04 head, but another company does make a solder-in pigtail for the 04 head.

Connector c290d plugs directly into the back of both heads, no adapter needed.

Thanks for the help, but it doesn't really seem like anybody is that interested. I'm really going to enjoy satellite in my 03 though.
Not many people will swap from one stock hu to another stock hu, so i can see the lack of interest.
 
#8 ·
03f1504x4 said:
Not many people will swap from one stock hu to another stock hu, so i can see the lack of interest.
The big issue with the 2003 in comparison to the 2004 is to get sat capability. If you like the stock setup well enough but want satellite, swapping stock for stock is a VERY big deal.
 
#10 ·
CarpetCityCobra said:
The no bass issue was that the 03/04s, *in comparison to other Ford products with the same identical Mach 460*, has very little bass.
Did find a solution to this problem??
 
#13 ·
CarpetCityCobra said:
No go yet, it's just a theory. Will report back after theory is tested to see if it's reality. No time yet to test.
Ok thanks! keep us posted! Also, let us know how the 03 to 04 head unit swap goes!
 
#14 ·
I was going to install the head in the car this past weekend but I spent much more time on my stealthbox install than I had anticipated...it's about perfect but as a result I didn't have time to install the head. I should be able to get to it within a week or so.

Still getting ready to take care of business though.
 
#15 ·
Did you get a chance to work on it? Also, do you know anything about hooking MP3 players up to the factory stereo?
 
#16 ·
The head went in without a hitch. The wires matched color for color 98%.

As far as MP3 players...there is an "AUX" function on the head unit that was originally intended for an outboard CD changer, but can be used for the function that you want to use. The only place I am aware of a discussion may be on SVT Performance however...search under "FRDN AUX".
 
#19 ·
the ///man said:
Does this mean that there is input RCA's on the H/U? Or is it a 3rd harness for a OEM CD changer?
There are no input RCA's on any of the Ford factory head units in the Mustangs for sure, and I would say that with 98% certainty for the corporate heads also (might be one out there that I am not familiar with). The AUX is a fat plug for an auxiliary input and data swap, which may or may not be for a CD changer (mine for example was for a DVD player).
 
#22 ·
OK, here's the pertinent information.

As of 2015, Visteon no longer makes mobile radios even as an OEM Tier I. So the DLPs are only available used out of salvage.

Here's what I used in my installation in a completely different vehicle:

VP2L5F-18C961-AE DLP
2U6F-14588-BA Harness (also known as a "CDDJ" harness)

Antennas are sold all over eBay. If you use that particular DLP, make SURE you get the antenna adaptor or it's useless.

New DLPs for older pre-06 vehicles use the newer Delphi unit, and adapters are used to connect it to the CDDJ harness. Can't comment on the quality of the Delphi unit, but they DID use to be a Tier I for GM...
 
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