Sound Advice - Article 3 |
In the last article we talked about upgrading your head unit and whether or not it was
necessary. If you have decided to purchase an after market head unit then you'll either
have to pay a professional to install it or do it yourself. To install a basic in dash
head unit and connect it to your factory speakers will take a pro maybe an hour. The going
shop rate is *about* $45.00 per hour, so you'll be spending at least that
amount plus any taxes and needed installation pieces.
Ask yourself this question before you decide on attempting the install
yourself; "Do I feel comfortable working with automotive electrical
systems?". It's very unlikely that you'll hurt yourself but you could damage your car
if you are not careful. An improperly protected wire can short and cause a fire; fires and
automobiles don't mix. If you don't have a clue what electrical circuits are or don't feel
comfortable working with electricity then consider paying the pro to do it. The job will
be done properly (in most cases) and the store will be liable for damages. Another
point to consider is with regards to the warranty of the component you buy. Some
warranties will be void or the term will be reduced if they are not installed by a
certified installer. O.K. if you haven't been frightened off and still wish to try
the installation yourself; read on. P.S the usual disclaimer about " You do this at
your own risk and the writer assumes no liability" goes here....
You'll need some tools before you try and install any component.
The above tools will at least get you started. Once you get more
involved then your tool inventory will expand greatly. Things like drills, circular saws,
routers, jig saws, soldering irons etc. will make custom installs easier but it takes time
and money to get these items.
I'm most familiar with first generation cars. There may be some
differences in the following instruction to second generation cars. You should take
inventory of your present system before removing your old unit to determine if you need to
buy a mounting kit or not, or whether you feel skilled enough to fabricate your own.
The opening in the first generation cars is a double ISO size. ISO stands for
"It's Soon Out", just kidding....It's actually a standard that has been adopted
by the industry. Sometimes these are referred to as DIN openings but they are slightly
smaller and are often found on European cars (it's a German standard). O.K. so this
double ISO opening can have a few different configurations. 1) The top has a radio and the
bottom has a little pocket for storing change 2) The top has a radio and the bottom has a
tape or CD. 3) The top has a radio and the bottom has an EQ. The important thing to
look for is whether or not the bezel, that surrounds the radio, has a bar to
separate the components. If it does and you are putting in a single ISO unit in the top
then you can either put the pocket thingy in the bottom, leave the other factory component
installed (non functioning) or buy/make a block off plate to cover up the
opening. If it doesn't have the separator bar, and you are only installing a single ISO
radio, then you will have to buy an installation kit or fabricate your own to cover the
hole and support the radio. i.e. you are not going to be able to install a single ISO unit
in the double ISO opening without a kit of some sort. An alternative would be to buy a
factory bezel, with the bar separator, either from a scrap yard or the dealer. If your
replacement radio is ISO and a half ( or DIN and a half) then you'll likely be
fabricating your own cover. A double ISO replacement should fit the bezel that has no bar
and can be made to fit the ones that do have a bar (cut and file).
Make Sense??? O.K. Let's continue....
The first thing to do is removal the bezel around the factory head
unit. It is held in place by four spring clips. GENTLY pry the bezel using a flat
screwdriver. You must pry gently or you'll mark (actually leave small indentations) in the
black center dash portion. Once it's removed you'll see four screws that hold the radio
in; remove these and the head unit and brackets will pull forward. pull out the antenna
cable and unplug the wire connectors. The old head unit should now be fully free and can
be disposed of any way you see fit. I removed the front of my old one and used it as a
fake radio to put in place of the pullout unit when I leave the car.
Now you have to connect the harness from the new radio to the factory
wiring. You should have a wiring diagram with your new radio that will list the
connections. Usually you will need +12V constant, +12V ignition, ground, maybe a dimmer
control and power antenna wire. If you are using a power amp then you will likely need a
remote turn on connection, from the radio, to the amplifier. If you plan on using
the factory speakers (yuckkkkk!) then you can either splice into the wimpy factory wires
or run thicker stuff yourself. That way when you upgrade your speakers the wiring is
already inplace. So, how do we connect the wires from the new radio to the harness from
the old radio? Well, there are a couple of options. You can buy a wiring adapter that
connects the factory sockets to the new radio's harness. Or, you can splice directly into
the factory harness using crimp connectors, the trick is finding the correct wire! This is
where the multi meter comes in handy.
I'm going to assume that you have never used a
Multimeter before, if you have, skip this section.
First things first, assemble the meter. Put the probes in the CORRECT holes in the meter.
Some meters will have three holes. One is "usually" for the red probe and the
black probe could go into one marked for Current or one marked Volts/Ohms. It is the
latter we are interested in. If there are only two holes then it's simple; red to
(+) black to (-). Now select DC volts with the dial and choose a scale of up to 20
volts or so. If you pick a scale that is too low then when you find a wire with +12v you
will peg the needle and possibly damage the meter.
So now we have a meter set up to read volts and have a scale chosen
to read 12 volts safely. The smoke, ummm, fun now begins!
Take the black probe and connect it to a good metal piece on the car
frame (the metal behind the radio is a good choice). Now, with the red probe we are ready
to hunt for the wires that have both switched and continuous +12V on them. Grab one of the
factory connectors and start probing the metal contacts at the end. When you find one that
reads about +12V take a piece of masking tape and mark it +12V continuous. This will be
connected to the appropriate wire on the new radio which is usually yellow or red
and has a fuse connector. It's likely labeled +12V or something. Next up is locating the
+12V that comes on with the ignition. Put the keys in and turn it to ACC or START. Now
start probing again until you find another wire that reads +12V. To verify it is switched
+12V, turn off the key and remove it. The meter should drop to 0V. If it does then it is a
switched source, if it doesn't then it is not. If your new radio has a wire for a dimmer
control then you'll need to find that next. Turn the headlights on and start probing again
but with each attempt turn the dash dimmer knob. You'll know when you've found the
right one because the voltage reading will VARY when you turn the dimmer knob. Mark that
wire also. You won't have to worry about a ground because you can directly attach the
ground from the new radio to a good point on the car frame (there are lots of handy bolts
behind the side panels of the console).
If you want to use the factory speakers or just the factory wires then
finding them is the next task. The procedure is different from the one we used to find the
+12V wires. You'll need to first change from Volts to Ohms with the knob on the meter.
Choose a scale setting to read up to 10 Ohms or so. Take the two probes and touch the tips
together, the meter should move to the right and read 0 ohms. If it is off slightly there
is often a small screw that can be used to "zero adjust" the meter.
"Most" factory speakers will have a nominal impedance of 4 to
8 ohms so we will use this piece of information to hunt down the correct pairs of wires.
Take one of the probes and put it in one of the factory contacts. Now start probing with
the other probe, "usually" the speaker wire pairs are next to each other and
towards the outside of the connectors so start probing close to the other probe. You'll
know when you've found a pair because the meter will move and read somewhere between 4 and
8 ohms. Once you've found a pair mark them. Continue probing until you've identified all
the pairs. Now take that 9 volt battery and connect a piece of wire to the( +)
and one to the( -) . Put one of the wires into one of the two contacts that you
think are a pair and with the other wire TOUCH the other contact. You should hear a
pop from a speaker. Locate which speaker is popping by tapping the contact with the
wire. The speaker will pop each time the wire touches the contact. WARNING! Do NOT keep
the 9V battery hooked up for long periods of time to a speaker! Just momentarily touch it!
You could damage the speakers voice coil if you fail to heed this warning! Label the
pair with tape (e.g. front left) and continue until all the pairs are
identified. Now, we have to determine, on each pair, which is + and which is
-. Look for clues! Is one wire solid in colour and the other striped? If you can pick up a
pattern it doesn't matter which you pick to be positive or negative as long as you
maintain the pattern. For example if each pair has a solid colour and a striped wire then
either can be chosen to be + or - as long as you don't change your choice. If you do
change then some speakers will be out of phase with others and the sound will suffer. You
can use the 9V battery to check but you will likely need a friend to assist. Take a
speaker pair again and repeat what we did previously i.e. make the speaker pop. Have your
friend watch the speaker cone (this might not be an easy task if it's behind a grille) as
you touch the wire to the contact. Note which way the cone moves when you "pop"
it. You want all the speakers to move either toward you or away when you "pop"
them. You have to keep the same polarity with the battery on each pair. When the speaker
moves note which wire the (+) of the battery is connected to. Is it solid or
striped? If all of the cones move toward you when you touch the (+) of the battery
to a solid colour then choose the solids as (+).
I prefer to run new heavier gauge wire to each speaker. This is more
physical work but you don't have to worry about finding the factory wires and the system
will be ready for future upgrades. The worst part is trying to get the wire through the
rubber tube that connects the door to the frame. I'll leave that up to you to curse and
swear over! Hint: pop the tube out at each end then pop it back in again after you have
pulled the wire through the tube. Use 12 to 16 gauge wire to help with getting all of the
available power to the speakers. After market speaker wire is usually marked to
differentiate (+) and (-) so it's easy to connect to the appropriate head unit
connections. You might want to plan for the future at this point. If you
know you will be adding an amplifier(s) later then run sufficient wire to connect the
speakers to it (the amp). You don't want to go through the trouble of running wire,
then, have to either, run more later or splice because you didn't leave enough to
reach the amp. You can coil the excess up under the console or dash. When you add the amp,
at a later date, you just disconnect the speakers from the radio, pull out the
excess wire and re-route to the amp.
I believe that's it for finding the wires. Now we connect the new radio
to the now identified factory harness wires.
Before we can join any wires we have to first cut them from the factory harness. Use
the cutting section of the crimp tool and cut the wires about 2" away from the
factory connector. By cutting here you can always reconnect the factory system at a later
date. This is handy if you ever sell the car and want to remove the after
market system.
If you know how to solder then that is the strongest and most
secure method to use, just be sure to use heat shrink to protect the connection. An easier
method is to use solderless crimp connections. For joining the radio wires you'll be using
the red "butt" connectors. These are little tubes, which, when crimped at each
end will permanently join the two wires together. You put the new wire in one end and the
factory wire in the other and squeeze. Presto! You've got a joined wire! You can also use
"bullet" connectors which are similar to the "butt" connectors except
you can easily pull the connection apart to remove the radio at some point. You
basically crimp a bullet on each wire and then insert each into a special tube to join the
two.
Avoid just twisting the wires together and using electrical tape. The
tape, after time, will become a sticky mess and will likely slide away from the join
leaving exposed wires.
To use the crimper first strip about 5 mm of insulation from each wire
to be joined. You can use the strip portion of the tool to do this. It's often close
to the handle and will likely be labeled to show different gauges of wire that can be
stripped. Now take a butt connector (or bullet) and stick one of the wires in the end, you
want the end of the wire to be about half way. Get the crimper and look at the end of the
tool. You should see three crimp sections each marked with a coloured dot. Simply use the
section that is colour coded to the connectors you are using. In our case you'll be using
the red section. Open up the crimp tool and put it over the butt with the wire in it. You
want to crimp it about half way between the middle and the end of the butt. If you crimp
it to near the end then you are only crimping the insulation and if you crimp it to close
to the middle you'll have difficulty getting the other wire in. Now put the other wire in
the other end and crimp it it the same manner. After you have both wires crimped together
it is important to give them a tug to check the strength of the connection. If one wire
pulls out then you'll have to cut the butt connector from the other wire, re-strip it and
use another butt connector to try again. Repeat for all wires identified earlier,
including the speaker wires. If you are running new speaker wire and are using a larger
gauge then you will likely need to use the blue connectors. This can pose a problem when
you come to join the wire to the relatively thin speaker wire coming out of the deck. In
this case strip twice as much wire from the thin wire and then bend the stripped portion
in half so that you have effectively doubled the gauge of the wire. You should now be able
to crimp the thicker speaker wire and thinner deck speaker wire together using a blue
connector. At the speaker end you can either a) solder the new wire to the speaker
terminals b) crimp a female spade connector on and slide it over the speaker terminals or
c) cut the factory connector off and splice using the butt connectors.
O.K. You should now have all your radio's wires connected to the
factory harness and/or new speaker wires. The only task now is to install the radio in the
dash opening.
Most radios manufactured today will come with a metal sleeve to facilitate ease of
installation. If you are installing a single ISO unit and have a bezel with a bar
then installation is relatively easy. Simply slide the sleeve through the bezel from the
front until it sits flush. You'll notice that the sleeve has numerous cutouts around
the perimeter with small tabs in them. These tabs are designed to be bent out so
that the sleeve is secured in the opening, in this case the bezel. So, from the rear bend
up some of the tabs so that the sleeve doesn't move at all in the bezel. As I mentioned
earlier if you have the bar in the middle of the bezel, and, don't plan on installing
anything in the lower half then you'll have to either buy a block off plate or fabricate
your own using plexiglass. It's a relatively easy thing to make. First, cut some
plexiglass to size (it has to be bigger than the opening). Second, paint it black
(trim paint from Canadian Tire works well). Third, either glue it to the front of the
bezel or from the rear, it's your choice. You might want to try an epoxy glue or something
that will bond different plastics and has good strength .As an added bonus the block
off plate is a great place to install an after market gauge or two e.g. boost gauge. If
you don't want a block off plate then you can put it in the storage pocket or leave the
old lower component installed but non functional. In this case you will have to re-install
the component using the brackets you removed earlier. With no bezel bar you'll have to use
an installation kit, available from most car audio stores or fabricate your own once again
using plexiglass. It's a lot more difficult to make this plate as you have to cut the hole
in the upper half for the sleeve. The opening takes up most of the room and leaves a thin
border that can break easily if you are not careful. A double ISO unit should fit the
bezel the same way as the single ISO unit does, unless you the one with a bar. In this
case cut the bar out and carefully sand/file the edges.
I think we've covered all options now. You now have a bezel with a
metal sleeve firmly held in place with those tabs. Now, snap the bezel back into the dash
opening. Pull the wiring harness, along with the antenna wire, through the metal
sleeve and connect them to the radio. You might need an adapter for the
antenna wire depending on the size of it. It should fit nicely into the radio. If it is
loose or will not fit in the hole then you need the adapter which is available from most
places, including Canadian Tire. Now before you slide the radio into the sleeve; test it
out. Turn the key to ACC and turn the radio on. Either pop in a CD or tune to a station.
Exercize the balance and fader controls and make sure the sound comes out the correct
speaker. If it doesn't you've likely got the speaker wiring wrong. If you have no sound
then you'll need to do some investigating. Does the display light up and can you tune the
radio? If not then it's a wiring problem in the power connections. Recheck the connections
and the crimps, you may have a bad crimp or a wrong connection (including a bad ground).
If everything checks out ok then slide the radio onto the sleeve until it locks into
place. The next step is up to you to decide whether or not you think it is necessary. It
is "recommended" that the radio be supported with a back strap. However, with
the installation in my car and the others I have done I don't believe this required
in all cases. The metal sleeve distributes the weight over a bigger area and the bezel
clips are fairly hefty. If you decide you need it then remove one of the console
side panels and bend the strap (supplied with the radio) until you can screw it to a
supporting brace or something. You'll likely decide in short order that it's more trouble
than it's worth.
Well, that should be it! Sit back and enjoy! You've just installed your
first after market component! Remember, please email me
if you find these articles useful or not and for any corrections or obvious mistakes
(spellling/grammer not included :-) ). If, you attempt this installation and run into
problems let me know and I'll see if I can lend some insight.