I ordered a new CD receiver from Crutchfield, along with the adapter, rack, etc... Crutchfield is supposed to have very good instructions for removing and installing their equipment. I thought it would be smart to ask the members of this forum if there's anything I should watch out for, any advice, pointers, etc... to help me do this correctly.

I own a 91 GXE with the stock Bose unit.

you can see my original thread here:

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=519841

thanks,

John

 

If you plan on listening to the radio,you will need an antenna adapter..Walmart and/or radio shack have them..

 

Crutchfiled included an antenna adapter for free.

thanks,

John

 

Hmmm...nifty..

 

well, I received this unit and the instructions are kind of lousy. The removal instructions have left out a step. They mention removing 2 phillips head screws above radio opening. This is the first step mention after disconnecting the negative battery terminal. Well, there are no screws visible on the panel. I'm assuming I need to remove something prior to this step, but that step is not in the instructions.

Any help would be great.

thanks,

John

 

The screws are there and you have to point the screw driver toward the windshield then unscrew the two screws that are on either side of the radio frame. Then the frame around the radio and climate controls will come off. After that un-plug the wires form the panel and then unscrew 4 screws that hold the radio mount in the car. It will slide out the you can un-mount your old radio and re-mount your new radio.

B.T.W.- Dont drop the screws they are hard to find!

Good luck

 

A thin edged screw driver will also work..

Knife or your finger nail will get this out,remove wire harnesses



Remove the wire harnesses from the hazard switch/cig lighter..Be sure to replace the hazard switch harness,or your turn signals will not work..

 

 

Is the surrounding panel supposed to be popped off prior to this step? I don't see any screws at all, anywhere.

I apologize for being clueless about this but I've never worked on the stereo components of a car before.

thanks,

John

 

Surrounding panel on the shifter?

If yes,then no there is not any screws to be removed on it,just pops off

 

The only screws holding in the entire surrounding trim piece are located at the bottom, and are accessible when you remove the ashtray. Once you removed those... just slightly pry out on the edges of the trim piece, once you can get a good grab on a side, just pull the whole piece off, it should come off easily. Hah, I had those panels off in my car every week swapping stereo's and what-not.

 

well, once again this forum proves its awesome-o-ness.

I think the confusion sprang from the Crutchfield instructions. It listed the two screws that needed to be removed as being above the radio opening, which is all smooth.

thanks again,

John

I'm printing your photos now.

 

89-91's have 4 screws, 2 where Greeny showed you and 2 in the bar between the climate controls and radio. The 92-94's have a slightly different design and don't have a light there and those 2 screws.

~Alex

 

Alex is right, the instructions they gave you are for 89-91. 92-94 is a bit easier because it lacks the top 2 screws.
FWIW, I didn't use any screws on that surround when I reinstalled mine and it didn't rattle or make any noise.

 

well, now I realize I screwed up on my order, and this post. I should have listed my GXE as a 92, NOT a 91. Luckily none of the harnesses, etc... I got from Crutchfield are different.

thanks again,

John

 

BE CAREFUL. They sent my harness without a ground wire. Supposedly HUs can ground through the antenna. But mine (Kenwood) did not like it above 1/2 volume. It went into protect a few times before I realized what was going on.

Moral: Make sure you connect the black ground wire to a good ground in the car.

 

this guy knows his stit

 

O yeah I forgot those two bottom screws in my description! Way to come through with the pics greeny!

 

the aftermarket harnesses don't come with the ground wires on them anymore. if you look at your oem harness, there is no ground wire.

when i first bought my car, the first thing i did was change head units. back then, they still had the ground wire on the aftermarket harnesses. i installed at night, so didn't notice. then one day, i was removing my head unit to run some wiring back there. my head unit was using the antenna wire as a floating ground. also the chassis was grounded by the screws. as soon as i unscrewed it and unplugged the antenna to get more room, it died.

so it's actually better that they don't include the ground wire. this way you have to connect your own ground.

 

I'm pretty sure there are 2 grounds in my OEM Bose harness. One for each of the connectors.

I think it's pretty dumb not to include it--or at least nothing to say to make your own ground

The crutchfield info packet said nothing about making my own ground. And the documentation with the harness said the ground was not needed for the car. Silly me for believing it.

 

well -- I've connected the wiring adapter the HU and am close to trying to install it. One of the tech reps at Crutchfield discussed the grounding issue with me. He said to ignore the black wires on the adapter and try to ground the unit to the chassis, even if I have to splice and extend the grounding wire to reach. I'm very much a newbie at this but I'll try my best. I'll probably be piping up here soon to ask for more help

thanks again,

John

 

wish I could help.
I just used a test light on mine to check for power and ground.

 

Any metal around the radio is grounded.

Mine is soldered directly to the nearest metal to the radio. Works good. Then the main power is hooked up to an always on source, then the signal is connected to the factories radio power wire. And thats all there is to a aftermarket radio power...

~Alex

 

well -- the unit is in, working and sounding great.

The biggest unexepected hassle was three of the screws holding the original HU to the mounting bracket were frozen and had to be drilled out.

Now, as far as the grounding goes, I tested the unit once it was plugged in but not mounted and had the ground wire wedged between the metal that the bracket mounts to and the plastic front and it worked. Then I head scratched for about 1/2 hour trying to figure out how to make it permanent. Finally, after f-ing around with a soldering iron it dawned on me that I could just snake the ground wire around the front of the unit and screw it behind one of the mounting screws when I re-installed the unit.

It worked so far. thanks for all the help.