97 Lincoln Towncar Radio Questions..

[C0RR0SIVE]

Ok, so our 97 Towncar has what appears to be the higher end JBL sound system in it, has the disk changer in the trunk, along with factory sub and speakers, as well as the two amplifier systems, one for sub, and then the one for the deck and front speakers, the head unit is a two piece, as in, what's in the dash is just a control unit and nothing more, all the processing is done in the trunk at the "primary" amp. This is by far one of the most confusing setups I have seen, and there is tons of wiring.

We aren't planning on upgrading the sound system unless it's absolutely needed. What we have ran into is a problem receiving any audio over the antenna, I suspect that the jack on the unit in the trunk is broken. I went out and tried to figure out how to remove it from the back seat, but can't figure out how the hell it's attached, and really dislike the thought of having to remove the back seat just to see IF it is bolted to the sheet metal.

So, PP (since your familiar with Ford/Lincoln) any ideas on how to remove that control unit so I can inspect for internal damage? This is a part that runs $200 on ebay easily (output of 150w surprisingly), and I rather try to fix it than replace it, but before I can do anything, it has to come out. It's the unit that is attached to the back seat, passenger side, virtually no room around it at all what so ever as well, tried tugging, shifting it around, nothing.

Really want to avoid going aftermarket as that will make things become far more expensive than we currently can afford, as we would need tons of new wiring, a head unit, control unit for steering wheel controls to interface with head unit, new speakers, and new sub as well as a new amp to power all the speakers and subs (never will I run speakers straight off a head unit), as well as a replacement disk changer.

 

[PP Mguire]

If it's anything like my Mach, all I can say is GOOD LUCK. Ford makes some of the most ridiculous systems I've ever seen. Anyways as to mounting, yea I'm betting it's either welded or screwed on from the backside. Mine is screwed on to the deck lid and requires the seat and rear deck to be removed just to get at it. I'm going to guess this is the case here.

If you can't fix it, my best advice is to call Crutchfield and talk to a tech there. There are all kinds of adapters to bypass such things and if the system is popular like my Mach then odds have it they have it at the ready for you. Although I'm lucky my antenna is attached to the back of the radio.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Bad news, got it out, had to rip the back seat out, once I got the unit apart it look like it had some sort of short on the control board that takes the ACC (for the disk changer) and AM/FM antenna connections, it's fried fried. So, now I am looking at replacing it, and I have come to the next pit-stop, I actually just called Crutchfield and they don't know where to go either. I need a dash install kit for this car that will take a single DIN radio instead of double DIN. Already have the bypass kit and everything else waiting to be ordered, but it seems no one makes dash install kits for a 97 town car these days.


EDIT: FINALLY, after searching for an hour, I found the kit.. Apparently it's no longer exactly manufactured either, so I am grabbing one of the last few I can find.

PP, further help since you have kept up with this stuff more than I have, I am planning on keeping the rear and front speakers, since they sound OK, but the rear sub is being replaced as is the rear amp since they need the factory control unit to operate and that thing will only sit there for the rear defroster... Strange to have the rear defroster go through the control unit, but apparently the defroster is ALSO an AM antenna, while the FM antenna is just above that in the freaking glass.

This is what the Amazon cart looks like currently, got suggestions, cheaper would be better, but I also don't want something that's going to sound beyond absolutely horrible. Trying to keep prices as low as absolutely possible while pleasing my 70 year old mother, and I know the selection I have sucks, but, well, there is a point for as little cost as possible.

 

[PP Mguire]

What you have there looks fairly decent. I don't suppose she listens to heavy rock, rap, or hip hop so any major power or bass beaters wouldn't be necessary.

The only other suggestions I can make are go ghetto with certain things. Coat hangers for the DIN removal (did that on my V6 Mustang), depending on the dash setup super glue a place holder for the second spot DIN and then use zip ties to hold the radio up. The rest all looks necessary and wtf that's such a weird setup going on. Although, antenna in the glass is pretty cool.

Only other thing you could do to save a bit of cash is grab a DUAL from Walmart =/ I got one in my GT. It sucks, but gets the job done and doesn't sound too terrible.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

What you have there looks fairly decent. I don't suppose she listens to heavy rock, rap, or hip hop so any major power or bass beaters wouldn't be necessary.

The only other suggestions I can make are go ghetto with certain things. Coat hangers for the DIN removal (did that on my V6 Mustang), depending on the dash setup super glue a place holder for the second spot DIN and then use zip ties to hold the radio up. The rest all looks necessary and wtf that's such a weird setup going on. Although, antenna in the glass is pretty cool.

Only other thing you could do to save a bit of cash is grab a DUAL from Walmart =/ I got one in my GT. It sucks, but gets the job done and doesn't sound too terrible.

It's strange because my Impala has the antenna in the rear window, just never thought that Ford split everything up, yet have so much stuff running together... The fun part is, I found if I skip the sub replacement, that box alone is highly wanted by Crown Vic owners that want a factory style sub since it ports straight into the cabin, can get a nice penny from that chunk of plastic.

 

[PP Mguire]

Well good luck. I've decided with my car and the Mach system I'm just going to leave my radio alone and maybe just take it all out and use the DIN spots for gauges or something. I don't feel like messing with it all.

 

[carnageX]

Well good luck. I've decided with my car and the Mach system I'm just going to leave my radio alone and maybe just take it all out and use the DIN spots for gauges or something. I don't feel like messing with it all.

Throw a tablet in there .

 

[PP Mguire]

For what?

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Strangely, a lot of people use tablets with an OBDII hookup for real time stats on the car... I thought about doing that with my Impala, but dedicating a good tablet to that... On the bright side it might be better than gauges?

 

[carnageX]

Strangely, a lot of people use tablets with an OBDII hookup for real time stats on the car... I thought about doing that with my Impala, but dedicating a good tablet to that... On the bright side it might be better than gauges?

I use a spare Android phone for that exact purpose. Mostly use it for mileage / stats tracking. I have it set to save to a file and then I can upload the stats to my server's database. Or if it's connected to the internet, it'll connect directly to my server and auto-upload as it saves the data. I also made a web GUI that lets me select all the logged sensors, and generate a chart to show the values vs time driving. Neat to see the RPM/MPG graphs of a several hour long trip. I just put some velcro on the back of my phone's case and on a spot on my dash, and then stick it to it while driving and I can glance down quickly.

If I get into drag racing with in the street class next year with my car (nothing special...but would be fun to see how well I do since it's just all dial-in times), I'm planning on having my tablet up with Torque to read my OBDII info since it as a track cam plugin and 1/4 mile time plugin.