Our Escort stereo wiring diagram is a complete guide to your radio wires and Escort speaker wiring. Whether you are looking to upgrade your Ford Escort sound system, or want to reinstall a factory Escort radio, this guide can help. The Ford Escort was available through three generations, and today I’ll be showing you our Escort stereo wiring schematic from 1980-2003.
Installing an aftermarket radio or completing your Escort stereo install is easy with this Escort stereo wiring guide. This car audio wiring guide can also help you install a navigation system or a MP3 player of your choice. Of course if all you need is a FM translator to upgrade your Escort radio, we’ve got one of the best values in our online store.
To start our Escort stereo wiring guide we will start with the first generation Ford. This vehicle spanned the year range of 1980 to 1990, and it’s one of the simpler Escort stereo wiring diagrams in our guide.
You will find that the earlier model Fords made it much easier for a Escort stereo install. That’s because later model Escorts included a special factory Ford radio and housing that required aftermarket parts. These parts are also called Escort stereo install kits.
First Gen Escort Stereo Wiring 1980–1990
The earliest model of Escort on our car stereo wiring guide, the first generation was also one of the easiest. Because of the early dashboard and center console layout, accessing the stereo brackets were easy to get to.
Car Radio Battery Constant 12v+ Wire: Light Green/Green
Car Radio Accessory Switched 12v+ Wire: Yellow/Black
Car Radio Ground Wire: Chassis
Car Radio Illumination Wire: Blue/Red
Left Front Speaker Positive Wire (+): Green
Left Front Speaker Negative Wire (-): Black/White
Right Front Speaker Positive Wire (+): White/Red
Right Front Speaker Negative Wire (-): Black/White
Left Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): Pink/Red
Left Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): Pink/Blue
Right Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): Pink/Blue
Right Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): Green/Red
The front Escort speakers were found in the dashboard, which complicated matters when you wanted to upgrade your Escort speaker system.
Second Gen Escort Stereo Wiring 1990–1996
There are several upgrades and changes to the next generation of Ford Escort. These changes made it slightly harder to upgrade the Escort stereo, but with the right car stereo install kit it wasn’t too bad.
Car Radio Battery Constant 12v+ Wire: Blue/Red
Car Radio Accessory Switched 12v+ Wire: Blue/Black
Car Radio Ground Wire: Black
Car Radio Illumination Wire: Red/Black
Because of the oddball location in the center console, removal of the cigarette lighter and ashtray was required.
Once you had the center console taken apart, you can easily remove the single DIN style factory Escort radio.
Left Front Speaker Positive Wire (+): Violet
Left Front Speaker Negative Wire (-): Blue/Orange
Right Front Speaker Positive Wire (+): Blue/White
Right Front Speaker Negative Wire (-): White
This year range of Ford Escort was the last one to use this kind of layout. After this upgrading your Ford Escort stereo became a lot more complicated.
Left Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): White/Blue
Left Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): Red/Blue
Right Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): White/Green
Right Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): Blue
Installing a navigation system or MP3 player into this year range does not require a custom install kit, although one is recommended if you are installing a motorized face. This is because of the Escort stereo layout, and how the climate controls may get in the way of a aftermarket radio install.
Third Gen Escort Stereo Wiring 1996–2002
Easily one of the hardest factory Escort radios to upgrade, this year range shares a lot in common with the Ford Taurus. The custom Escort stereo came in a circular design which makes a radio install kit required for any aftermarket Ford Escort stereo install.
Car Radio Battery Constant 12v+ Wire: Blue/Red
Car Radio Accessory Switched 12v+ Wire: Blue/Black
Car Radio Ground Wire: Black
Car Radio Illumination Wire: Red/Black
Because the Escort radio is so carefully integrated into the dashboard, this made any aftermarket Escort stereo install difficult. You will need a install kit that replaces the face of your factory Escort radio with a panel that can be cut to fit your single DIN radio.
Left Front Speaker Positive Wire (+): Violet
Left Front Speaker Negative Wire (-): Blue/Orange
Right Front Speaker Positive Wire (+): Blue/White
Right Front Speaker Negative Wire (-): White
Of course this doesn’t change the wiring layout if you want to install a car amplifier into your Ford. Accessing the Escort speakers in this year range is significantly easier because of the placement in the doors.
Left Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): White/Blue
Left Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): Red/Blue
Right Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): White/Green
Right Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): Blue
Have any questions about our Escort stereo wiring guide? Leave us a comment below and let us know!
How can you bypass the factory amp in ford escort zx2 2001, and it’s under the driver seat?
Hi Jennifer, are you installing an aftermarket amp in your Ford Escort? If so you can bypass the factory unit with a flying loom or loop harness! Thanks for commenting on our Ford Escort wiring diagram!
Hey guys….
I’ll try to explain this issue as quickly as I can but I’ll try to give you all of my problems as well…
Here it is…..
Ok…I’ve got a 1996 Ford escort lx hatchback and
I used your AWESOME site for my wiring diagram and color codes. Ok , so I’m installing a DUAL XR4115 head unit only. I completely followed each and every direction and each step absolutely perfectly and the new stereo was operating beautifully. As I was inserting the unit into the mounting bracket/box it completely , absolutely , shut down.
I went over each fuse inside as well as under the hood and the fuse on the back of the stereo itself…. ALL ARE GOOD. So… I’ve gone through each and every wire connection 4 separate times making certain nothing is touching….ALL IS 100 % CORRECT according to site. Now….all I can get is power to the unit itself…but I’ve got extremely , almost non-existent Illumination…..and I can’t get any sound from any speaker front or back.
As I’ve said , I’ve checked over ANYTHING I think it can possibly be and I am stumped…..guys I’m whipped on this (what should be) simple install…..
HHHEEEEELLLLLPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi David, thanks for reading and sorry to hear about your Escort problems.
Couple of quick questions. You say that the head unit powers on but you don’t hear anything from your Ford Escort speakers. What happens when you connect to an external speaker? I may be wrong but it sounds like there was a grounding issue and you may have shorted out the new stereo. Alternately, I would recommend you getting your hands on a multimeter and wiring the new Escort stereo into your ignition switch. Are you sure you are still getting 12v at the power wire?
Let me know and hopefully I can help! Thanks for commenting!
Daughter had her radio replaced on her 2002 ford escort and everything looks good, however, radio stays on when car is turned off. Why is this happening and how could it be fixed?
Hi Carmen, thanks for reading and commenting.
From the sounds of it there is definitely something wrong with the Escort stereo wiring. If you haven’t changed the wiring at all, and it was a simple plug and play proposition, I would check the pinout on the radio to ensure that the constant power wire and the switched power were not swapped from a different year Escort. Hope that helps.
I’m hooking up an after market pioneer in my 98 ford escort with out a wiring harness I’m having a problem with the wires and colors not matching ..help
Hi Erik, are you saying that you used my Ford Escort stereo guide but the wires don’t match? Can you take a pic of your harness?
John,
Kudos. You’re the only one I’ve found so far who got the color code right for my 95.
Thanks for the kind words Carl