what does the yellow "MEM" wire connect to, that's the one that puzzles me...

This is 12-volt permanent ("always on") power. It is the main primary power feed to the empeg car player. All of the power the empeg needs to get its job done comes from this wire.

On most aftermarket adapter harnesses, it's called "mem" because most other stereos get only the power to memorize the clock and radio station presets.

This should not be connected to the same wire as the ignition-switched wire (red on most aftermarket harnesses, orange coming out of the empeg). That wire should be 12 volts only when the car's ignition key is on.

Yep, that page looks just like it. It sounds like you're all set with what you need to hook the empeg up.

In other good news, my truck came in! And I love it. In other bad news, I can't pick it up till probably the middle of next week, because it may have a defective check valve in the automatic tranny cooling system (50 cent part crippling the whole truck), and I refuse to take it till they swap it out. If you have an auto and a diesel in your truck, make sure to read the couple threads on the TDR in the 3rd Gen forum about a possible 2003 recall (it's not a recall yet though).. If that valve gets stuck closed, your tranny gets no cooling and will melt. So it'll be sometime next week (I hope) until I can check the stereo connectors for you. sigh..

Heh, I got a call from the dealership about the TSB for that this morning, going in Monday for it... I'll be attempting the swap of the HU with the empeg Sunday I think with or without the elusive Metra 71-1784 harness...

In reply to:

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with or without the elusive Metra 71-1784 harness...

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Well I had a quick look yesterday, and it appears the harness is not where I thought it was, but I checked with she who knows everything and she confirmed I do have one, it's just we don't know where.

So it looks like my task for the weekend is tearing the apartment up looking for it, so I know where it is if you decide you do actually need it.

Mark.
20GB MKII 090000916

I decided to pick up the truck this afternoon, I am pretty convinced mine was built with the revised part.. Though we'll change it out next week just to be extra sure. So I'll see if I can get the dash apart tomorrow, and let you know how it goes.

For any more info on your truck check out dodgetrucks.org or dodgetalk.com, tons of useful info, I just sold my 2001 dodge and am waiting on my 2003 2500 Hemi, so I have been getting all the info I can so I can put my empeg in as soon as possible

Got the truck and I love it, but I'm not going to have time to try installing the empeg until Sunday. I'll post how it goes though.

..It went badly. Got the dash apart and the connectors have changed. Instead of the 2 connector setup there was in the 2001's with infinity, now it's a single high density connector, and some different type of antenna plug too. So now to see if PAC has a different pigtail for these..

Doesn't look good so far. Here's a page about the 2002 Ram 1500 (should be the same as ours):

http://www.tune-town.com/Cars/stuff/Dodge/2002%20Ram%20Pickup%201500%20car%20stereo%20installation.htm

Lists the OEM-1 adapter as unavailble. They do have the antenna adapter at least. I'm going to talk to PAC this week and see what they have planned..

Talked to PAC today, they have a solution but it's not an easy one. Here's what he had to say:

Unfortunately we have not had the time to update the 2003 Infinity system as of yet. We are aware that the harness is different though. If you are looking for an integration piece, our universal OEM-2 will work just fine.......but is NOT Plug and Play. So a strong installation background is critical.

So I asked if/when they will have a 2003 infinity harness out. He said:

Unfortunately, we have no plan for a new production just yet. But, if I had to guess, I would say early spring if at all. Sorry.

So we can either wait and hope, or switch to the OEM-2 which is universal, but not plug and play. I've got to give it some thought, but I am pondering going with the OEM-2.

What does "strong installation background is critical" mean? Is it trimming, matching and soldering wires together?
Seems like a simple enough solution, or is there something more involved here? (Damn I asked that question earlier in this thread...)
I mean is it just matching the correct wires on the empeg to the OEM-2 and the same for the car side then setting the OEM-2 gains?

edit
Crutchfield has the OEM-2 for $29.99 plus 3 days shipping for 3 bucks. If it's as easy as I think it is, I'm doing it.

It seems that simple to me. I did notice that the pinout of the new infinity connector is printed on a sticker on the backside of the factory head unit.

You'd also need an adapter for the antenna (if you have a tuner module) and a pigtail for the new infinity plug.. I think I'm going to go with the OEM-2 also. I miss my empeg.

What I would do is just get some colored tape and when you identify each wire, mark it. Once that is done if you need to reconnect for any reason, all your wires are premarked.

I ordered the OEM-2 from Crutchfield. I'll give it a go this weekend... I, too, miss my empeg.

Well I got it in with the OEM-2 adapter. The face plate adapter to fill in the hole looks terrible. The empeg sits about 1/4" back in it and it's not a clean, tight fit in the opening. I even made sure I put it in the right way as the curves are different on top and bottom. And getting all the wiring and a tuner module in there was like putting 10 pounds of crap in a 2 pound bag!
I ended up breaking the rear connections off the sled on accident and that pissed me off enough to go find the extra sled I had laying around somewhere, well I found it in two minutes! (Looked for 3 days previously to find it.) Then I lost the tuner moduel for a bit as I was going to loan it to a friend but never got it to him. Go figure I found it immediately after I put the dash back on... All is well now and all I need is a better faceplate ring. How'd your install go?

I haven't ordered the OEM-2 yet, though I'm sure I will this week. But my faceplate looks pretty good I think, it's a Metra 99-6503. I haven't put it in the dash yet but the empeg sits in the faceplate quite nicely.

So, what did you get besides the OEM-2? An antenna adapter and a pigtail to go to the new infinity plug I assume? Any chance you could post the part numbers if it's Metra stuff? Thanks..

Pigtail - Metra 40-CR10
Wire harness - Scosche CR02B
You'll also need an RCA to bare wire adapter as the RCA plugs on the OEM-2 are on the output side of the unit. I bought a cable and cut it.

I tucked the OEM-2 into the cavity on the right wires from the emepg were tucked below the unit and the tuner module up and back in the cavity on the left. It took some packing to get it all in there but it's possible.

I think I'll go look for the Metra faceplate today... Mine is an American International. Got all three parts from Best Buy, I don't know why they don't carry all Metra or Scosche, etc...

Oh yeah I used the wires with red stripes for inputs (low power) on the OEM-2, There are two input wiring options high power or low power, 20 watts and above or below 20 watts. from the HU.

Sounds good, I ordered an OEM-2 yesterday. So maybe I'll have something to report this weekend..

So, how's it working? I've finally got all my parts and am wiring things up..

It works, but I need to adjust the gain on the PAC-2, I can't get it loud enough for my tastes. I miss the 400 watts of PPI power I had in the old RAM. I think I need to go back to that set-up...

Dave,
did you ever turn the gain up? if so how did it sound?
I just got my 1500 Hemi with the infinity system and am looking at installation options

No not, yet. It was tough getting everything packed in there, and I dread doing it again. But the FM band on my tuner module is dead so I guess I should pull it out and adjust the gains at the same time... I'll try to get to it this week and post back the results.
How do you like the Hemi? That's what got my interested in a new RAM, so I went and looked at them. I had a 360 in my 98 RAM, but I wanted a diesel for my next truck. Now I won't go back to gas!

The hemi is awesome, I have a 4x4 Quadcab, and this has got to be the fastest Stock Truck I have ever driven, its got the power and sound of an old muscle car like a cuda.

finally got my Empeg in mine, its not exactly the sound I was looking for, but I still have some tweaking to do, its nice to have it back though. listening to the radio for the last month was driving me insane. Oh and Dave if you are looking to get the Metra faceplate it looks real good with the empeg sitting in it.

its not exactly the sound I was looking for,

Believe me... with the options you have for ripping and encoding files (CBR, VBR, high/low bitrates, normalization, MP2/MP3/WMA/WAV files, etc.); the 20-band parametric equalizer; the 11 different Loudness settings; fade and balance controls; your choices in amplifiers, crossovers, gain settings, and speakers; you can get virtually any type of sound you want.

As you pointed out, it's just a matter of tweaking, and the empeg has enormous tweakability, more than any other head unit you could install.

My system has been together for eight months now, and I'm still tweaking on it.

tanstaafl.

Oh I realize the ability of the Empeg, but even with the Gain of the OEM -2 all the way up, and the empeg juiced Its not that loud and not as precise sounding as the stock unit pushing the infinity system, its no big deal, it just means I will have to save my money and go aftermarket. Thats what I did with my last truck and it was the best sounding system I have ever had.

Yes, Tod and I noticed this with the infinity system and the OEM-1.

However, we did notice that the empeg sounded BETTER than the stock system, just not as loud. Note that this is the OEM-1's problem, not the empeg's problem. The PAC OEM units are just tiny little amplifiers, and it simply isn't strong enough for the infinity system, at least not strong enough if you want it as loud as the factory system was.

On the good side, Tod can cap his volume at 0db and spin the knob to crank it, and not worry about distorting his speakers.

edit: I see I already said this earlier in the thread...

Its not that loud and not as precise sounding as the stock unit pushing the infinity system

I totally agree! I saw that JL Audio has a subenclosure for the rear passenger storage bin now. But I have the fold flat floor option, won't work with that...

Yeah I saw that, but I still think Im goin to go with the new probox, it looks sweet and my JL 10s I have now will work well with it, even though it means I will have to remove the load floor.

I think with adding my subs in and some nice tweets should even the sound out, and if it doesnt, I guess its back to the blueprints