I recently purchased a '95 Mercury Villager, Nautica edition van with all original equipment. The sound from the single subwoofer (on the inside passenger rear panel) was terribly distorted. I obtained the removal instructions from a Mercury technician site online & proceeded to remove the rear seats, slide the rear bench seat forward & removed the inside trim panel to get at the speaker. Not an easy task for a 100 lb female (those rear captain seats are very heavy), but i managed to get the sub out. It's a tiny little thing - the opening in the OEM sub box enclosure for it is only about 5.5" in diameter. I may have to modify that box to make the 6.5" sub fit. Luckily, it's very low profile, so rear clearance won't be a problem. I can't even buy a replacement sub from Ford/Lincoln/Mercury - there are none in stock anywhere in the US... I checked.
I have to mention here that not ONE online wiring diagram includes any mention of the subwoofer or a wire color code for this model of Villager!
I did read something somewhere online that said this particular model has a 92 watt sound system and a subwoofer. The head unit is the one with the AM/FM, cassette (with the word "Automatic" printed on the door), and CD player. The owner's manual for the van refers to it as a "High-Level Audio System" - so is that a "premium" sound system? All that I found on the back of the sub was numbers.
I'm concerned that the OEM sub is only rated at 2 Ohms (printed on the back of the magnet.) I couldn't find one like it - so will the 4 ohm replacement work okay or am i only going to have 1/2 the volume? The other speakers include two pairs of 5"x7", plus 2 separate tweeters in the back - there may be two in front also but I don't know how to get the door panels off yet. I haven't removed those 5"x7"'s so I don't know if they are 2 ohms or 4 ohms or if they are powered by the amp or the head unit.
I can't find the damned amp - if there is one, I'd like to know where it is & whether or not it's going to be a problem for me to put in a 6.5" sub that is rated at 4 ohms to replace the old one. (Yes - the old one was obviously completely shot.) Also, the old sub had the old style tab wire connectors on it. The (probably 18g) speaker wires have the female connector end still attached, but the new sub has round connectors - they sort of look like female RCA connectors in the pictures. I'm not sure if they are spring-loaded (or twist-to-tighten) types or not, but hopefully I can connect without having to do any cutting, splicing or soldering.
Does anyone here happen to know where the OEM amp would be mounted in a Villager? What does it look like? Has anyone got a part number or an output rating for it?
I can't afford expensive speakers or amp replacement right now & I'm trying to work with what I've got & I hope the 4 Ohm, 300 watt max power handling & 150 RMS will work well enough to get by & won't cause any problems. (it's a very cheap brand, so i seriously doubt that their rating is accurate) I'll be content just to have some base in my tunes again for now... until I can afford an upgrade.
Any help, information, or advice you can provide will be greatly appreciated!! I nearly went nuts just trying to figure out how to get at that damned broken sub. The replacement won't arrive until next Tuesday & in the meantime my van's interior is a disaster. I don't want to have to go thru this again anytime soon - I want to get it right the first time!
Post your reply or email me directly at: lisa.elaine@comcast.net Thanks!
What a great thread. Did you follow the wiring coming out of the head unit in an attempt to find the amp(if it's not in the HU), there's a chance it's under the seat as that's where they like to mount them.
Here is the wiring information for that vehicle-
Constant 12V+ Green/Purple Switched 12V+ Yellow/Black Ground Black/Light Green Illumination Green Dimmer n/a Antenna Right Front Front Speakers 5" x 7" Doors Left Front (+) Orange/Light Green Left Front (-) Light Blue/White Right Front (+) White/Light Green Right Front (-) Dark Green/Orange Rear Speakers 5" x 7" Side Panels Left Rear (+) Light Brown/White Left Rear (-) Light Brown/Yellow Right Rear (+) Light Brown/Green Right Rear (-) Brown/Pink
If all of these check out and you have extra wires it shouldn't be too hard to guess what they are. I do know about that baby sub though, I had one of them that I used at work for F'ing around out of a Ford ExPLODER.
Ah-ha! Re-read through that wiring diagram & you will see for yourself that the sub isn't listed on there just like the others I've found on the web. I didn't even know what size it was until I tore the trim panel off. The tweeters I discovered in the back aren't on that wiring diagram, either. The setup is more like a component system.
No, I haven't pulled out the HU yet, mostly because it's working fine & I don't want to mess with it unless i absolutely have to. It would be darn near impossible to trace wires without taking everything apart & it's enough of a disaster area already. lol
I will probably poke around in there a little more later today & see if I can find the amp tucked away somewhere. I'll grab a small mirror & flashlight & try to take a peak at the back of the head unit, but it's mighty tight in there - I may not be able to see much. I'm really not in the mood to take apart the center dash console today.
I'm looking forward to trying the new sub on the existing wiring; hoping it won't sound like crap; very anxious to put the rear 2/3 of my van back together again IF that 4 ohm sub will work okay. It's supposed to arrive on Tuesday.
FYI, I found out from the Ford/Mercury dealership that, when they still had stock on those little replacement subs, their price was $127.12 each. Hell, nowadays you can get a low-end, 8" sub in an enclosure & with a built-in amp - all in one unit - for that much! lol
