I have the typical P71 AM/FM radio and I really want to upgrade a media receiver or navigation unit and I'm looking for the right connector to match to the new head units wiring harness. What one do I need? I keep searching and I see so many different types. I want to get the right one, the first time around.

P71s are funky. While the rest of the Panthers had gone to the newer Ford "world" plug around '03, the P71s rocked the '98 style connector for several years after. I ran into this with my buddy's '05, his car needed the '98 connector while every book we'd looked at said it needed the newer, larger, plug. Might have to pull your radio and see which one it has, maybe Ford finally made the switch by '09.

What BigMerc said, I've installed a ton of radio decks in P71's over the years, and even the 2011 models use the 1998-2002 style connectors for the civvie cars. Probably because the civilian cars wouldn't ever be purchased if they rolled into the lot with just AM/FM radio! I buy mine local at Wally world for as little as 9 bucks Canadian, which is about 7 USD at this point. However, eyeballing it online, I'd say these are the ones you want: https://www.amazon.com/Stereo-Harness-Vi...+wiring+harness

If you're not a yank, and are a fellow Canadian, it somehow costs double on Amazon.ca, but here it is: https://www.amazon.ca/Stereo-Harness-Vic...+wiring+harness

Picture of my latest install using a similar looking harness: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzT6Cg2bR_BjUWtzQjFuRnJJVlk/view

I think the last one I got at walmart came with both styles of plugs for $14 or something like that.

You'd think it would have been cheaper for Ford to just use the new style plug in them because don't P71s with the better radios have it anyway and it's only the am/fm that have the old style one?

Nope, not a Canuck.. Even thouogh I spend more time there than I do in the USA. Revelstoke/Kelowna area...




Thank you for the links. I can't find that connector at any Walmarts, Best Buys or Frys Electronics.. :/

Those are the ones I get, really convenient for a first-time installer or if you just want a single DIN deck. You need to trim them to get it to fit with a double DIN deck. All the extra female plugs take up too much room, and it's a pain to cut and tape all those wires, much easier to just buy the right one online if you plan to do a GPS deck install.

As for Ford, the fact that even 2011 CVPI's come standard with only AM/FM is atrocious. Heck, I think Honda and Toyota had quite a few cars with standard backup cams and GPS in 2011, so they really dropped the ball. Not as though the "fancy" crown vic radio deck is much better, you can play CD's and tapes (if you can find one). Whoopdee do. I agree it seems like a waste of money to have two different harnesses to save maybe $50 on the cheaper deck.

Oh yeah, it's a nice area over there, I'm in Victoria on the coast, it's nice not having boiling summers or to deal with snow in the winter (especially driving a CVPI).

No problem with the link, just remember if you plan to do a double DIN touchscreen deck, you will need to trim down the dash bezel panel to get the radio to fit in. It's not hard and I guess you COULD sand it away, but a dremel makes it a 10 minute job. The top and the bottom lip are a little too big, so shave a couple millimeters off at a time until you get a snug fit, but don't have to force it.

Weird how you can't find it at the usual box stores, they often have tons when I got looking.