So my friend and I are a bit into car audio/visual (it’s a lot of fun) and we decided to trade my original Ford radio for an aftermarket one.

We really didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into until we pulled out the old deck. The old junker (okay, not really a junker, since it’s an EATC temperature control module along with a CD player) was one big circuit board. This thing looked so old fashioned man could have gone to the moon with it (produced in 1974).

We pulled out the deck, bought an aftermarket dash kit from the local car audio dealer, and plugged in the new deck. THAT part was easy, but turning the EATC (electronic automatic temperature control) back on was worse than sticking a hot poker in the eye.

Here’s a tip for anyone looking to replace their stock car radios: NEVER cut wiring harnesses. That being said, finding another wiring harness for the beast that actually works has been next to impossible. None of the wiring diagrams on any website were of any merit, and Ford doesn’t have any that could be of any help to us.

On top of that, the aftermarket dash kit we bought had no knobs, they expected us to supply them from the latest heating system, and nothing to plug the knobs into. We could order the knobs – $12 each – order the switches – etc. The wiring harness was $80, the switches were about $100 for all three…so the total cost to repair this heater system would approach $500 when you factor in the cost of the aftermarket dash kit as well .

I don’t think it will ever replace the original radio in a Ford. At least if I do, it would have to be a model that Ford RECOGNIZES and actually has help regarding the model. Buying replacement parts from Canadian Tire just isn’t enough, they never work or fit, and when a Ford dealer can barely help you, you really wonder who can.

Long story short, with winter fast approaching, we fused two wires together to turn on the heating for the winter. Simple solution. Like when summer comes, we will merge a couple to turn on the air conditioning.

The only thing that bothers me is that I can’t turn the temperature up or down. But it’s on, so fix it.