Where would I found the amp distribution block ? I like to have the power lead "on" so my clock and setting from my double din doesn't reset every time the car is on/off

If would probably need one, PM me for it ?

Thanks

 

You won't have an amp distribution block as you do not have aftermarket amps.

That's the reason you have battery power (yellow lead), accessory power (red lead) and ground. So the radio will have back-up power all the time but only turn on and off with the car.

 

So is it possible that if we used the power from cigaret accesory (red) only? And we are not connected to the yellow lead for back up power?

 

No, the radio must have both the red and yellow wires connected to even turn on. He either has them wired backwards or they're both connected to the cigarette wire.

 

Thanks for your insight! Im going after work to have this fix,I bet they wire everything to the cigarette lead.

 

Probably.


In other news, I moved the HU to the lower DIN location and it works SO much better. Still won't go 100% vertical but it's close enough to work for now. I really liked how it looked in the upper location with the speedo trim removed so it would fully tilt back. I may have to get a spare and mod the living **** out of it. :D

 

I don't really want to spend $150 on that total kit. I'm on a budget.
I just took the radio out of my wife's car which is a DVD/GPS/etc etc.
So I will have a couple of those bump antennas and a lot of wires, ipod
interface, etc etc.

My point being is with the method of putting the old radio behind the speedo
are you cramped for space or is there still enough room behind the dash to
stick other stuff?

I might just get that $150 kit anyway. Time is of some issue right now.
I don't want to struggle wedging little boards and such.
I plan to install the amp I got two years ago too. so I'm already in this for
quite a bit of time.

Where can you get the special wire in a week not a month?

 

Ive got a cable available,what year is your car?
You can kit the metra kit for less tha $150.00
Google sonicelectronic

 

Or ebay. I got mine for 10 bucks.

 

By kit I mean the facia, antenna wire, and that electric gizmo that lets
you remove your radio.

It seems the facia and antenna wire can be gotten for $50 easily but can not
really find less than that due to shipping.

I do not want to order the wire from thailand.

 

True, these are the links where I got them from,
The antenna and the Metra kit 99-9309 - thats $50 and you can manage to get free shipping

 

Just an FYI, my girlfriend's 2011 MCS non-harmon radio had a 28 pin ribbon cable coming from the radio to the circuit board then a 50 pin ribbon cable going from the circuit board to the cluster.

 

What circuit board? The only ribbon cable I can see on my 2012 is the 50-pin that goes from the radio to the speedo cluster. If I could figure out how to get the front of the cd drive unit off I could look and see if I also have a second ribbon cable.

 

the 50 pin, which is reflective silver attaches to a small circuit board that is apart of the big black front where the eject button is.

Seen here:


The main radio circuit board attaches to the above circuit board by another ribbon cable (which is white). The pin configuration seems to change depending on the year and trim of the car.

 

Iam waiting on my cable, should be there any days now
Can someone explain to me how to fit the oem radio behind the speedo ?
what are the exact step to take and do it properly ...Thanks guys !

 

So there are TWO ribbon cables to deal with? The silver 50-pin AND the 40-pin white. Makes much more sense now. Crap. I guess that's what I get for selling it. lol Oh well, I have an inverted cable that should work ok.

Any tips for getting the face of the cd player off? Mine has 2 REALLY small Torx screws (smaller than my T10 which is the smallest I have) but other than that I can't see anything. Once the front is off it looks ike that board slips right out. Is that correct?

 

Sorry
So Iam just confused here...we need to cable to keep the OEM radio ?
Ive seen at least 3 to 4 ppl do this mod and no one can comment fully on what to really do with this relocation.

 

No one guys ??

 

Sorry, I tried to reply before but the log-in timed out or something and thus didn't post.

You can replace the radio without retaining the factory HU BUT the display will be dead in the cluster and you won't be able to change the clock in the car if your battery ever dies/gets disconnected, etc. so your maintenance reminded won't work/will be off and you'll have the exclamation mark on your tach stating the time and date needs to be set.

To retain the factory radio you need to do this.

Remove the cluster (radio included). There is the black front piece that the cd goes into. That piece has a 50 pin SILVER ribbon cable going from the "faceplate" of the radio to the speedo/cluster screen. This ribbon cable will remain the same.

Coming from the MAIN radio chassis will be a short WHITE ribbon cable (# of pins varies, my girlfriend's had a 28, some have 40, some have 38 or whatever, just count them). The WHITE ribbon cable is the one you are going to replace with a longer one for the following steps.

Remove the housing bracket behind the radio and cluster (IIRC it was 6 t-20s). Place the radio chassis behind the bracket and put the bracket back in place. Make sure the newly replaced WHITE ribbon cable and ran down to where the radio sat previously.

So the "faceplate" I spoke of earlier is going to be connected to the WHITE ribbon cable you just dropped AND the SILVER ribbon cable that goes back up to the cluster. mount it up and out of the way to ensure it will not touch the chassis of the new radio (as the chassis most typically will act as a ground).

 

When you pulled your OEM radio were both ribbon cables visible? The ONLY cable I see is the 50-pin cable. Even if I separate the cd drive from the speedo assembly. I'm sure I'd see the other cable if I could get the front of the CD drive off but it uses the smallest Torx drive I've ever seen. Smaller than my T10s.

Not being able to work on the car again until late June doesn't help anything either.

 

No, the ribbon cable that you have to replace is small and goes from the chassis of the radio to the faceplate. It's a t-5 or t-7. Go to a local harbour freight and grab this:

http://compare.ebay.com/like/3103389...Types&var=sbar

They have every bit imaginable. I am an installer so I already had these from a while ago (and paid more than what HF charges!). They are like $10 there.

This is the HF part number http://www.harborfreight.com/100-pie...set-68457.html

 

I finally broke down and got some stuff (after selling a bunch of stuff off my wife's car). I got the complete kit I am glad I did. I think it made it a lot easier ($144 on ebay). I never figured out the yellow and red wires though (I am very good with wires). Long story so I just used the yellow from the battery and the red from the ligher socket.

I have not finished the install or I would post pics up now. Sony something DVD player it barely fits and when I say barely I mean seats out I am pushing with all I got legs included and I still can not get all the screws in. It is the 6 inch double din model, $234 shipped, crutchfield.

Alpine something F545 amp I got used three years ago on ebay, $155. Mounted in the rear hatch. I think 500w. Sound ordanance flat style 8 inch sub 120w again
from crutchfield, $130 shipped. Mounted beside amp.

Six boston accoustics the lower model with only two speakers each bought five
years ago. I forget how much under $200 for sure.

I mostly use the XM Sportscaster input from the rear Aux. This has historically
not had the sound as good as say the normal radio or a CD. It's still really good
mind you I think it has to do with the way it has to be compressed and uncompressed.

Sounds great. I have to be careful with my ears I have some hearing loss possibly
due to military service but the radio goes to 40 and really if you turn it up to
about 16 the whole car everything in it including your head, chest, back,
and behind is shaking in and out back and forth.

I'll get pics when I tidy the wires and get the dash back in.

 

Has anyone done this on model with Factory Nav?

 

I just realized I missed a post.

Is it really true I can not now change my time and date?
I have actually not tried to reset it yet (been baby-busy).

man oh man what a f-up if this is true.

BTW, if I was doing this again I would get a single din DVD that the
screen pops out. It is such a tight fit with the double din dvd I swore
I would never ever take the dash out again, ever.

 

Just to confirm what others have said - I took apart my radio today, and the ribbon cable on my 2011 without Nav is a 50-pin.