Not sure on specs. I have the Taurus JBL system and would wholeheartedly agree it's a big improvement over the Mach unit.

 

It's incredibly loud! I wish I could get some of that low end back though - I am going to try swapping in a 4 ohm in the rear and see what happens

 

Rock on vulcandude, lol!

 

Here are some pictures as promised!

Everything bolted in perfectly, except the sub amp - Since I don't have a 3rd brakelight, I have the spoiler, I drilled two holes and mounted it under where the brake light would go.

You can see the difference between the 2 RCU - they are both the same size.

The only thing that doesn't work right is the scan feature of FM - it won't autotune into stations, but if I manually tune them, they come in clear and in stereo. The lincoln RCU has 2 antenna plugs, one male and one female. On the TC there was an extra module that ran to the "Window Antenna".

Suggestions on that?

 

The only thing that doesn't work right is the scan feature of FM - it won't autotune into stations, but if I manually tune them, they come in clear and in stereo. The lincoln RCU has 2 antenna plugs, one male and one female. On the TC there was an extra module that ran to the "Window Antenna". Suggestions on that?

Interesting. The JBL RCU I got out of a 98 TC only has 1 antenna input. The TC I got mine out of had another module that had 2 antenna inputs and 1 antenna output. I can't vouch for the autotune yet. It scans. But, my power antenna no longer works. So, no radio reception at all. Any thoughts on the power antenna?

 

I will post model numbers tomorrow in case anyone is interested!

Definitely interested. Probably easier to find than a JBL setup.

 

More details please vulcandude1 . I am very interested!

 

Hey guys!

More updates - Today I dropped in a Kicker KS69 6x9 speaker. What a difference in low end over the JBL speaker I found. I need to figure out a way to reinforce the rear deck now!

There were no stickers besides "JBL" on the RCU, so I took it apart and found this model number printed on the pcb - F5VF-14A608-GB (PWB2923). It is dated 08-19-94.

This particular RCU and subwoofer amp came off a 95 town car with the jbl system. Completely plug and play, except you need to find a place to mount the sub amp (see above post), and run power to it - don't forget all connectors and the short 4 pin wire that runs from RCU to sub amp. Right now I am planning on tapping into the +12v that feeds the RCU. Haven't had a chance to yet, so right now I just have a wire running from the 12v plug in the dash.

It appears that the '93 Explorers with JBL system had a similar sub woofer amp, but when I tried it, I got very little output from it, so either I wasn't compatible, or it was blown.

It would be interesting to see if someone with a JBL in their taurus, could find a TC sub amp and see if it is compatible. I have read that it puts out somewhere around 70w at 4ohm. I have also read that the TC RCU puts out 30wx4 speakers. I am waiting for confirmation on that.

The only thing that doesn't work correctly is the autoscan feature on the radio. It will not find any stations unless I manually tune them.

 

Since I have obtained a JBL RCU and sub-amp from a 97 Town Car, I'm wondering about the output of the JBL sub-amp. The Explorer forums say 85W @ 2 ohms for the 97 vintage. I don't know if the TCs were different.

I want to put two 6-6.5" subs in the rear hatch of my wagon. But, I need to know what type of load the sub-amp can drive, 2 or 4 ohm. That'll determine if I get 4 or 8 ohm subs.

 

There is a misunderstanding about those amps. The power that is listed is the absolute maximum power (for example running at 18V and 2 ohm speakers), not the maximum that you will get at 12..14V and 4 ohm speakers.
So, for example at 13V (car battery/alternator) you have a maximum power of 32 Watts. 14V will give a maximum of 38W.
See below extracted graphs from two auto integrated amps: TDA7391 (similar if not identical with what is in the JBL unit) and improved version TDA 7396. The only difference is how low impedances can they drive and that determines the maximum power.
Note that with 4 ohm speakers, the maximum produced power is equal...
And no, installing speakers labeled 100W, 250W won't increase the power either. That's the laws of physics/electricity...

Now, where is the 20W coming from??? Well, the above numbers are maximum, with 10% distortion. That's too high for music, but not relevant for a subwoofer that rattles panels in the car.
If you care of how music sounds, and you limit the power at 1% distortion, those limited 'nominal' levels will become much smaller than the absolute maximum - at 14V, this 'nominal' power will be 20W. And both chips have the same values here, because this distortion is supply voltage limited (clipping).
That's why subwoofer amps are rated higher than normal amps - they are rated for 10% distortion. Still, they cannot go past the 38W limit (at 4 ohm) respectively 63W (at 2 ohm).

Note that the bigger brother 7396 will do better when speaker impedance is lower than 4 ohm. Some of the speakers on the market will be labeled 4 ohm but, in order to sound 'louder', the manufacturer makes them will lower impedance (like 3,6 ohms). The stock amplifier will have higher distortions with those speakers.

See the attached.

 

I agree with Sonic - I hooked up my meter to the amp and at 8ohms the most I could get out of it was ~20 watts

I ended up buying a bigger amp that puts out around 50w at 8ohms

Just with my 6x9 in the rear deck it puts out more than enough low end for me. I need the trunk space so this is a perfect compromise. The JBL RCU has a decent crossover that does a great job of separating the low end from the rest of the speakers.

 

Mine is still working, but is "complaining". I am tempted to raise it and pull the fuse after that to remain like that.

 

There appears to be a power control line that goes to the sub amp in the JBL system. Did Ford route the power antenna signal (Town Car doesn't need it) to the amp power control line within the RCU, thus disabling the power antenna output at the RCU connector? If all I need is a +12V source that's switched on when the radio is on, then maybe I can use that for the power antenna.

 

See attached.

 

Found a 98 Town Car with a JBL in the JY today. No electronics, but the subwoofer was still there. I check the DC resistance on it, 5.7 ohms. So, probably a 6 ohm impedance speaker.