2006 Stereo Harness issue - Crutchfield Stereo Replacement (double din)

[jmacres]

I ordered a new radio along with the already wired harness to make this a plug and play process. Unfortunately I believe I'm having issues with my stock stereo harness; symptom:

Stereo worked for a few days then started popping.

Stereo started popping when the truck was parked and the key was out of the ignition

After getting into the car with the key out of the ignition to check it seemed like the unit was powering on and off very quickly. I'm suspecting a cable in the harness is bad?

Crutchfield kindly did an RMA for everything including the custom made harness. The new gear was installed and now the radio won't go on. I've had the dash off this rig so many times I can have it off in less than 5 minutes.

My thought was do not use the harness for power but use the rest of the harnesses and wire something directly into the vehicle for power? Right now it's all installed but the power harness is pulled out.

Unfortunately the stock stereo got thrown away.

Another observation is the harness itself seems very stiff and brittle. I probably didn't help anything by moving it around everywhere troubleshooting

Any suggestions on what direction to go would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Password]

Is it subwoofer pop when you turn it off and on? You need a 12v to 5v down converter. Did the custom harness include it?

 

[jmacres]

When the stereo was working I did notice a pop turning on and off the ignition. Initially I thought it was just the sub popping but if you sit in there you can tell is all the speakers, the sub is just more pronounced. I'm not aware of a 12v to 5v down converter. Crutchfiled said they've done literally thousands of Expeditions and never brought this up

 

[Aspen03]

Did they send you the metra 70-5519? In every instance you need to step that 12v turn on down to 5 or 6v or the sub will pop and it's quite bad for it. You can use a 2.37Kohm resistor wired in series on that turn on wire and itll be fine if you cant find the actual part. They are quote common in most shops due to it being one of the resistor values used in a VATS system for when we do remote starts on GM.

FWIW what radio do you have?

 

[jmacres]

Thanks Aspen, I checked it out and it looks like it's only recommended for 01-03?

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_120705519/Metra-70-5519-Receiver-Wiring-Harness.html?

Metra 70-5519 Receiver Wiring Harness
Connect a new car stereo in select 2001-03 Ford and Lincoln vehicles

 

[jmacres]

Sorry, I forgot to mention it's a Jensen VX7288. I've attached a portion of my invoice

 

[johnboneske]

When the stereo was working I did notice a pop turning on and off the ignition. Initially I thought it was just the sub popping but if you sit in there you can tell is all the speakers, the sub is just more pronounced. I'm not aware of a 12v to 5v down converter. Crutchfiled said they've done literally thousands of Expeditions and never brought this up

actually that's not true. If your representative at Crurchfield told you that, they are an idiot.I have a friend who bought a stereo a few years ago from them and it did come with the 12v to 5v adapter

 

[johnboneske]

Here is the adapter on Amazon

Axxess Interface AFDI-5V Ford 12V to 5V Step Down https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00200K1X4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_keMEDb123MDDS

 

[R W Carpenter]

This is the harness I got when I ordered my new stereo for my 2006 Limited. As you can see it has the step down plug in it. Whoever sold you your kit did you a disservice or made a mistake.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_249FD60L/Crux-SWRFD-60L-Wiring-Interface.html

 

[Password]

This is the harness I got when I ordered my new stereo for my 2006 Limited. As you can see it has the step down plug in it. Whoever sold you your kit did you a disservice or made a mistake.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_249FD60L/Crux-SWRFD-60L-Wiring-Interface.html

I had that same harness in my 2006 EB, it didn't stop the sub pop, even adding an AFDI-5V before or after the crus converter, and trying a second AFDI-5V, I still had pop. I switched to a metra harness (with and AFDI-5V) and Axxess SWC and the pop went away. Both the Crux and Axxess SWC sometimes makes my volume go up instead of down if I push the volume down button.

 

[jmacres]

I'm on board with getting this in place to stop the popping. Crutchfield shows this doesn't fit my 06? I will give them a call

Thanks for all the replies!

 

[04EddyExpy]

I bought a touchscreen CarPlay stereo for my '04 from Crutchfield and I had nothing but nagging issues with it for over a year.

After the head unit was installed with their wiring harness, certain FM stations would produce static if I used the turn signals or stepped on the brake. My turn signals would speed up or slow down at random. I never heard any of the popping that's being talked about, but after a year the antenna adapter started having issues.

I finally got fed up, ripped the whole damn thing out and sold it lock, stock & barrel on Facebook. I put the original factory stereo back in (has the 6-disc CD changer). I still have a little issue with static and the turn signals, but it isn't as bad. I'm starting to think those gremlins are related to the LED flasher and LED turn signals & brake lights.

 

[R W Carpenter]

I had that same harness in my 2006 EB, it didn't stop the sub pop, even adding an AFDI-5V before or after the crus converter, and trying a second AFDI-5V, I still had pop. I switched to a metra harness (with and AFDI-5V) and Axxess SWC and the pop went away. Both the Crux and Axxess SWC sometimes makes my volume go up instead of down if I push the volume down button.

I haven't had an issue with sub lol. Guess I got lucky.

 

[R W Carpenter]

I bought a touchscreen CarPlay stereo for my '04 from Crutchfield and I had nothing but nagging issues with it for over a year.

After the head unit was installed with their wiring harness, certain FM stations would produce static if I used the turn signals or stepped on the brake. My turn signals would speed up or slow down at random. I never heard any of the popping that's being talked about, but after a year the antenna adapter started having issues.

I finally got fed up, ripped the whole damn thing out and sold it lock, stock & barrel on Facebook. I put the original factory stereo back in (has the 6-disc CD changer). I still have a little issue with static and the turn signals, but it isn't as bad. I'm starting to think those gremlins are related to the LED flasher and LED turn signals & brake lights.

My LED turn signals speed up once in a while too.

Don't get me started on the issues I had getting my LED headlights to function properly.

 

[04EddyExpy]

My LED turn signals speed up once in a while too.

Don't get me started on the issues I had getting my LED headlights to function properly.

I gave up on LED headlights. One would flicker for about 10 seconds after shutting off the lights and eventually burned out the LED within a few months. Insane. Never burned out an LED before.

Not to mention the stock headlamps aren't build for LEDs. They refract & scatter the light. You can see roadsigns pretty well but you also blind other drivers. Projectors are where it's at for LEDs, but they're expensive. So I stuck with Sylvania SilverStars in the headlights and put LEDs in everything else - interior lamps, side markers, brake/reverse lights, fogs, and high stop brake light. Getting ready to do the little ones over the license plate also.

 

[R W Carpenter]

I know what you mean about the flicker. My passenger side headlamp flickers when the truck is off periodically. I have had to replace the bulb once already. Lifetime warranty thankfully. Next time it burns itself up I may switch over to HID for the lows and leave the LED in the highs since most of the time I'm not driving into oncoming traffic when they are on.