Replacing my Car Stereo

wd40 · January 2010

In the past few weeks I have been considering getting a new car, but due to some financial diffeclties I bought a new car stereo instead

I bought this
CDX-GT690UI : Xplod CD Receiver : Car & Marine Entertainment : Sony Singapore
It is cheap but it beats my current tape/radio set

I thought installing it myself will be the same as installing a CD Drive .. easy, I will do it in 30 minutes

After struggling for 45 minutes I managed to remove the old one..
Now I have both the devices and the connectors are different – and the colors of the wires are different

So it turns out that it is not as easy as installing a CD Drive

ziggi138 · January 2010

Yeah, i thought the same thing when i went to replace a stereo. The bad part is i forgot to disconnect my battery and i ended up shorting out the brand new stereo. after that, i decided to have a pro take care of it.

tallicaman99 · January 2010

You need to buy a wiring harness for your vehicle. Once you have that, connect the wiring harness to the one that came with the deck. You will have to match up the colors. The harness should include a wiring guide so you know which color does what. Go for it!

tiersten · January 2010

Yeah. It isn't quite as easy as replacing a PC part. As tallicaman99 said, you need a wiring harness adapter. Replacing the stereo in a modern car isn't easy now for several potential reasons.

The old unit might not actually be a standard DIN size/shape or it may have a bezel attached that you can't remove but is necessary to fit the dash.

The old unit may be closely integrated with the car electronics. If the main display isn't actually part of the unit or if altering the dash controls like temperature makes something display on the stereo then its quite likely that its one of these integrated units. You'll have to work out something to keep the display operating.

The old unit may need a built in amp (which you've got so thats okay) or it connects to an amp elsewhere in the car which you'll need to bypass.

Search around for your particular make of car, model of car, year of car and the old unit. If its a popular model then there should be forums or sites that show what you need to do and the potential pitfalls. You'll need to do this anyway to get the correct wiring harness adapter.

wd40 · January 2010

Thanks all for the reply's

I took it to a professional, no advanced stuff here, he just stripped the wires and started checking with a simple wire tester.

then connected the the new connector in a "T" joint

it took 30 minutes at the cost of less than 15 US$

tiersten · January 2010

wd40 wrote: »

Thanks all for the reply's

I took it to a professional, no advanced stuff here, he just stripped the wires and started checking with a simple wire tester.

then connected the the new connector in a "T" joint

it took 30 minutes at the cost of less than 15 US$

Ahh. Great that its all working

Enjoy your new stereo!

Forsaken_GA · January 2010

I actually just replaced my head unit a few weeks ago so I could use my iPod in the car. I had the idea that I was going to install it myself as well.

Then I took a look at what I actually had to do just to get the current unit out (I drive a 2000 Honda Civic, you basically have to take apart a good portion of the dash).

I opted to hand my car over to a professional.

wd40 · January 2010

Thanks tiersten, I love it, much better than using my Nokia N97's wireless transmitter ..

Forsaken_GA
I managed to remove the entire middle console "I was willing to break the old one to get it out" but could not figure out the wiring.

I got this for the same reason, to connect my N97 through the AUX and it has a USB port that I can use, I do not think that I will need to use the CD player.

Replacing my Car Stereo

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