Ok, so i recently bought a 2000 Mustang GT. The previous owner tried to use an aftermarket deck/head unit with the stock mach 460 stereo system. It wasn't working and CarToys informed me that you cannot use aftermarket decks with the stock stereo system without the difficult procedure of bypassing the amps. They reccomend to buy a used stock mach 460 head unit and everything should work fine. My question is, Do these head units have any security/anti-theft features on them that make it so they won't work if they aren't powered up for a certain amount of time? I have heard that this happens with many European cars but I'm not sure if it hold true with mustangs
'00 Mach 460 Stereo
- Thread starter HunterNewEdge
- Start date
mransr
Founding Member
find a different audio place...
I've used 2 different aftermarket head units with my Mach 460 stereo...a Blaupunkt and a JVC...both worked fine with the stock amp and speakers
I've used 2 different aftermarket head units with my Mach 460 stereo...a Blaupunkt and a JVC...both worked fine with the stock amp and speakers
BlackGT4.6
New Member
agreed my kenwood is doing fine with the mach 460 find. There is a wiring harness the plugs right in.
Well the guy had a pioneer deck in it and the deck lights up and everything but no sound 
. The guy i bought it from told me that he had tried to wire in an aftermarket sub and that the stereo was cutting in and out, like working sometimes and not working other times. Do you think he screwed up the wiring? Would it be worth the $500-$700 to just have CarToys or Circuit City rewire and put a whole new system in or what should I do? If you are saying that the aftermarket decks have worked for all of you then wouldn't it mean that the amps in my stereo system are shot or there is shotty wiring?
. The guy i bought it from told me that he had tried to wire in an aftermarket sub and that the stereo was cutting in and out, like working sometimes and not working other times. Do you think he screwed up the wiring? Would it be worth the $500-$700 to just have CarToys or Circuit City rewire and put a whole new system in or what should I do? If you are saying that the aftermarket decks have worked for all of you then wouldn't it mean that the amps in my stereo system are shot or there is shotty wiring?
2000fordstanggt
Member
its really simple. they charge way too much money for what they actually do IMO.
all you need are 4 speakers and some speaker wire. i run these speakers and i have never distorted them. thats $100 plus shipping.
http://www.millionbuy.com/piotsa6871r.html
first unhook the negative battery cable and pull the radio out
running the speaker wires requires removing some interior panels, sn-95's have a pretty easy interior to take apart.
both trim pieces along the bottom of the door jam need to come off. they're held in by clips so pull straight up from the front to the back, at the end closest to the backseat there are tabs that keep it straight, be careful not to bend these.
take out both kick panels after trim is up. (the trim helps hold it in place)
remove bottom of the back seat
remove the top of the rear deck cover via two bolts holding on the top of the backrest.
next remove the rear deck cover itself by kinda folding/working it out.
now drop the 460 amp rack by the bolts now exposed on the rear deck.
disconnect all wires and tuck them in behind the trunk liner for future possible use
now your door panels need to come off. take out the door cups by prying at the top with a flat head again being careful not to break any clips. there will be two screws under it that need to come out. the last fastener is in the front of the door, its a plastic push pin type deal (like on the kick panel)
now just lift up on the door panel more or less to remove it.
now its time to run your wires. i would run the back wires along the passenger side. the door wires need to be ran through the rubber gromet accessible by the kick panel.
you might need to download a radio manual to identify wire colors.
reassemble in the reverse order. and save $500
all you need are 4 speakers and some speaker wire. i run these speakers and i have never distorted them. thats $100 plus shipping.
http://www.millionbuy.com/piotsa6871r.html
first unhook the negative battery cable and pull the radio out
running the speaker wires requires removing some interior panels, sn-95's have a pretty easy interior to take apart.
both trim pieces along the bottom of the door jam need to come off. they're held in by clips so pull straight up from the front to the back, at the end closest to the backseat there are tabs that keep it straight, be careful not to bend these.
take out both kick panels after trim is up. (the trim helps hold it in place)
remove bottom of the back seat
remove the top of the rear deck cover via two bolts holding on the top of the backrest.
next remove the rear deck cover itself by kinda folding/working it out.
now drop the 460 amp rack by the bolts now exposed on the rear deck.
disconnect all wires and tuck them in behind the trunk liner for future possible use
now your door panels need to come off. take out the door cups by prying at the top with a flat head again being careful not to break any clips. there will be two screws under it that need to come out. the last fastener is in the front of the door, its a plastic push pin type deal (like on the kick panel)
now just lift up on the door panel more or less to remove it.
now its time to run your wires. i would run the back wires along the passenger side. the door wires need to be ran through the rubber gromet accessible by the kick panel.
you might need to download a radio manual to identify wire colors.
reassemble in the reverse order. and save $500
snidehockey
New Member
it's not too good...I had an aftermarket HU through the stock amps etc and sounds bad when you would turn it up even a little bit.
I tore out the mach and it's amps and huge rack back there...wired the head unit through 2 inexpensive aftermarket amps to the stock speakers and now it sounds very good.
Anyway, yeah save yourself a headache and run new wires straight from the head unit bro...its very very straight forward and takes out so much hassle and confusion. Those amps seem to distort an aftermarket HU signal
I tore out the mach and it's amps and huge rack back there...wired the head unit through 2 inexpensive aftermarket amps to the stock speakers and now it sounds very good.
Anyway, yeah save yourself a headache and run new wires straight from the head unit bro...its very very straight forward and takes out so much hassle and confusion. Those amps seem to distort an aftermarket HU signal
2000fordstanggt
Member
this is because you are sending 50 watts (30rms) per channel to a low level input, just like rca wires going to a subwoofer amp, those are low level.
ok but say i just want this thing working for cheap with no hassle. I'm 17 and I don't want to worry about screwing anything up by trying to wire a stereo system myself. I read on one of the stickies that a moderator posted that if you are using an aftermarket deck with the mach, you need to put ohm resistors on some wires to prevent the tweeters from blowing out. I'm wondering if running an aftermarket deck to the mach stereo system without a bass resistor on the wires going to the tweeters would blow them out?
2000fordstanggt
Member
im my case since i have a one 12 inch sub and my radio has a built it high pass filter (aka: only letting highs through, no bass) i just turned that on. if you dont want a sub they're called "cross-overs." one will mount in each door inline with the speaker wire.
the easiest thing to do is to get rid of that horrible 460 all together.
snidehockey
New Member
yeah dude...when I was 18 and got my first POS 4 banger mustang I installed a head unit and speakers myself...and I knew nothing about it...
I didn't know about "din's" and gouged the factory head unit out w/ a big flat head screw driver lol. anyway though it really isn't difficult. Crimp two wires to the HU harness...pinch them in the terminals on the speaker (repeat those steps 3 more times)
I didn't know about "din's" and gouged the factory head unit out w/ a big flat head screw driver lol. anyway though it really isn't difficult. Crimp two wires to the HU harness...pinch them in the terminals on the speaker (repeat those steps 3 more times)
