Pioneer Stereo - No Sound - Logic Mute Wire?

[Jim Oaks]

I installed a Pioneer stereo in my 1996 Ford Ranger, and there's no sound at all.

When I was hooking up the wires I noticed that there was a blue wire on the plug that matches the connection for the Premium Radio. Here's the link to the wiring diagram:

1996_1997_Ranger_Premium_Radio_Wiring.pdf (therangerstation.com)

Here's a pic of part of the diagram:

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The diagram labels it as a ground that goes to the 'Logic Mute' connection on the factory amp. Didn't know this was a premium radio because there's no CD, just a tape player.

Anyway, I don't know what to do with this connection, or how it works. I know it says 'ground', but I don't wat to just ground it. This seems like it should be a signal wire of some sorts. From what I can tell that should be the only wire that's been cut that goes to the factory amp.

Anyone know how this should be connected? The Pioneer has a signal wire coming off of it to power accessories, but I'm not so sure that's what I need to do.

Plan B would be to bypass the factory amp completely.

 

[dvdswan]

Stop.

You're hooking the radio up to the truck not the truck to the radio.

What wires do you have left over from the back of the radio?

Basic radios have Pos, ign, ground, dash lights, and 2 or 4 channels for speakers.

 

[ericbphoto]

The head unit is probably supposed to ground that wire to tell the amp to mute or unmute. But I won't guarantee that. A logic signal is one that is used to make decisions, such as; if this input us grounded, send output to speakers and if not, do not send output to speakers. Or vice versa. If your new head unit doesn't provide that signal, then you must figure out whether it should be always grounded or not grounded in order to have sound from your amp. Might have to experiment to find out.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Fixed it.

Hooked the Pioneer blue wire to the blue wire going to the factory amp.