factory AM radio wiring

[Tetryon]

Did you ever identify the wires coming from the factory AM radio? I've just purchased a stock radio and am in a similar situation. Their are three black wires and a blue one for the bulb. Which is power and which is speaker. The speaker in my dash has the original two prong plug. One of the black wires is solid, one has short white dashes and the other has long dashes. Can you help me out here? Thanks

[fordman]

well maybe i am not sure by looking at the radioi have here but it looks lik emaybe the power wire is black with white dashes on it. the other two are for the speaker. one black and one green.

[Tetryon]

Thanks for the fast reply. How about the blue wire for the light?

[Tetryon]

12v neg ground. Does that mean there is no ground wire and that the chassis is the ground?

[fordman]

yes the radio ground to the radio mount bracket. but that not what 12v neg ground means. it just means it a 12 volt system that uses negative as it ground and not positive like some older stuff was.

[l1k2gadd]

Huh? On stock Ford bare-bones basic speakers there are two wires that come from the speaker. Usually one speaker wire on the RADIO, not stereo, has green colored hashes (or a green line) on it with a black background. The other has white hashes (or a white line) on a black background. These are the speaker wire colors. They are the identical colors as the wires on the Ford speakers. The hot to the radio is a solid black on the AM radio I pulled out of my '68. I have seen them solid brown on some radios I have passed up in the wrecking yards here. If you didn't cut the end off of the feed wire when you pulled the radio the feed has the fuse holder in-line on the wire that feeds the radio. This is because the "options hot" wire that the radio feed plugs into isn't fused (to my recollection). The other end of the wire with the second half of the fuse holder on it runs to the power option feed plug over near the driver's side of the dash. I removed the light from my radio to make up a connection on the '78 AM/FM Dent stereo I put in my truck. I believe it went to the connector back above the wiper motor, the same place the heater control wire plugs into, but it has been a while since I pulled this out of the truck.

[Tetryon]

Your feedback is very much appreciated. Sounds like I'll have the radio installed sooner rather than later. While I have your ear, a black wire with the dashes is for power, a solid black and a black with white dots will be speaker. What do I do with the blue wire for the dial light?

[fordman]

the backlight will hook into the dash lights some how. through the dash wiring. i know the dash wiring has a blue wire to light up the guages and speedometer. so it porbably hooks to them with another blue wire.

[l1k2gadd]

Solid black is your RADIO HOT, not speaker. Black with green and black with white are speaker wire colors. Ford, into the mid to late 90s still uses the black with white as the speaker ground in car radio and basic stereo systems. Blue with red stripe and possibly a red rubberized coated end, I BELIEVE, goes to a connector that the little wire that comes from your heater control panel light runs to.

[Tetryon]

fordman and l1k2gadd Thanks a million. Your expertise is much appreciated. You've identified the 4 wires exiting my Philco.
To Recap:
Back Light = Red Stripe on Green back round to dash lights
Power = Solid Black with +V marking
Speaker = Black w/dashes and Black w/ green dots
Please confirm. Thanks and good night.

[l1k2gadd]

10-4, you've got it. Black with white is speaker ground (-).

[l1k2gadd]

If you run that black wire to the options hot connector in the dash harness you will need to fuse the black (radio hot) wire, if there isn't already a fuse holder built into the wire.

(edit) When you connect the radio power (hot) wire to the truck's wiring you also want to be sure you connect it to a 'keyed" hot, which means the wire will lose power when the truck's ignition key is turned off. If you have your dash cluster out you can follow the hot wire from your wiper switch back to the place it gets power from. That is a keyed hot, and where I believe it is where the radio is fed from (again, with a fuse in the radio wire). You may be able to follow the wiper wiring from the underside of your dash too. You don't want to plug the radio into the green wire with the yellowish (or orangish) stripe. This wire is the wire that your dome lights work off of and it is hot all the time, key on or key off.

[Tetryon]

Above and Beyond.....You guys are awesome!

[fordman]

Solid black is your RADIO HOT, not speaker. Black with green and black with white are speaker wire colors. Ford, into the mid to late 90s still uses the black with white as the speaker ground in car radio and basic stereo systems. Blue with red stripe and possibly a red rubberized coated end, I BELIEVE, goes to a connector that the little wire that comes from your heater control panel light runs to.

the radio i have sitting here has a black fused wire with white dots or dashes on it the other two wires black and green go into t plug for the speaker. the radio backlight is intergratted inside the radio with the other wiring. of course objects in your mirror at 3 am mihgt not look like your close enought to the mirror too.

[Tetryon]

I installed the AM radio today into my 72 and its working like a charm. Thanks again for the support. "I'll be back"!