1988 Ranger Radio Plugs

[RobbieD]

View attachment 87483View attachment 87484

Here's how it's laying out. WIth this, the truck does fire on ignition and run, so that's better.
Clock works, back light works, but clock radio does not work, radio does not turn on.

Using my tiny 12v battery I could activate the motor for the cassette player, so I know it has the ability to function.
It may just be that this

Your second picture, from (somewhat questionable!) memory the wire colors should be:
1 Lt Grn / Yel Constant +12V power
3 Yel / Blk Switched +12V power (ignition switch RUN and ACC positions)
4 Lt Blu / Red Rheostated instrument illumination- goes through the light/dark control, + voltage differing levels
5 Org / Blk Non-rheostated illumination- +12 volts with lights on (dims the digital display when the lights are on).
Do verify what's in your truck with a VOM, because again, that's from memory.

Speaker colors didn't get burned as deeply into my grey matter- most years used pink and orange base colors with different color stripes, but the "oddball" wire colors in your first picture does kind of ring a bell, as in I think that they're stock, and not aftermarket.

For speakers, an old trick is to solder a pair of short wire leads onto a 1.5 volt flashlight battery, and use it to momentarily "pop" the speakers. A VOM can show that two wires are connected at a speaker coil, but "popping" a speaker with no more than a volt and-a-half will 1) confirm that two wires a speaker pair 2) the location of the speaker and 3) the speaker's polarity (if the cone moves OUT, the battery polarity as applied is also the correct speaker polarity; if it moves IN, the battery polarity is backward).

Hope it helps, good luck!

 

[2 bronco 11s]

Yes you are missing chassis ground. Ground radio to body and see if that fixes it.

 

[2 bronco 11s]

This is the plug and back of a 90 ranger . It shows the chassis ground with your wire colors. The plug and radio show a 1986 part number. All the diagrams for the 88 do not show a chassis ground . It should have an exterior ground. Not sure if your radio will work like that .

 

[JerrySab]

Wow thanks for this. Super helpful. Beginning to wonder if this is a fools errand I'm on, and I need to find another solution.
Can you clarify what you mean by exterior ground in this instance? Do you mean it's on the engine block?

Do you know what the red wire is doing?

 

[RobbieD]

There doesn't appear to be a ground wire on the plug in your truck, and I remember that some '80's Rangers as having a bare braided ground wire going to the stud on the back of the unit where the back support bolts on.

And the '88 EVTM (wiring manual) also shows the ground wire bolted to the radio at rear back support stud.

Without a ground wire, either in the plug or as a separate wire, the radio would still be grounded by the mounting ears being bolted to the dash structure. And less effective, but also through contact of the rear brace to the metal structure behind and through the coax cable shielding of the antenna.

You can easily make a radio ground cable with a length of wire and two eyelets (ring terminals). Run it from the stud on back of the radio to the metal structure behind and below the dash. You can look for an existing grounding point, and just add your new eyelet, or just put your new eyelet behind an existing bolt.

I have no idea about the red wire in your pictures. It doesn't show in the EVTM.

Two things to consider here.
1) If the truck originally had Premium Sound, the rear speakers were originally wired to an amplifier in the upper center of the dash. So the wiring was different.
2) During that time (the '80's) aftermarket radios that cosmetically looked like Ford products were popular at lot of dealerships (more profit in ordering with Ford radio delete and then adding the cheaper aftermarket). Some aftermarket also included knock-off wiring harness that looked like the factory stuff. The wire colors on your speaker plug just look "off" to me, and they don't match the factory color codes.

Don't give up on it. Even though I did car stereo for a living back in the day, now I prefer stock radios in my own old trucks. Good luck!

 

[2 bronco 11s]

Here is the red wire. Older has an exterior ground as you said. These are Ford Factory diagrams. Hard to believe they used red for a ground !! The 88 diagram doesn't have this wire. As RobbieD said stud on back to firewall or metal . Been thru the radio diagrams twice cannot find your radio diagram matching those colors. This was out of a 90 . Good luck

 

[JerrySab]

Amigo I really appreciate all the help in this.

this afternoon I did connect the ground/black wire to the ecu ground in the cab, it just kept the backlights on the entire time. I look forward to looking at the diagrams you posted, there may be a solution to be found.

also I’m not sure which stud you’re referring to for the braided metal ground. Would any screw on the radio enclosure work?

 

[RobbieD]

also I’m not sure which stud you’re referring to for the braided metal ground.

There should be a threaded stud (like a bolt) on the back of the radio case. It's what holds the back brace on, with (I think) a 7/16" nut. It's visible in your first picture.

Would any screw on the radio enclosure work?

Yes.