Radio removal/installation

[nike13857]

1. Set the temp controll to all the way on Cold. Unhook the Temp Controll Cable Next to the Gas Pedal.
Theres a white Tab Sticking out push on it the cable will come of with ease.

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n172/nike13857/teamzx2%20how%20to%20pics/cdplayer1.jpg

2. Insert the approperate U shaped Ford Radio Removal Tools into the radio push them both in at the same time untill the radio disengages from the Dash.

That was the easy Part.

3. Pull the radio out Gentely! Untill you can see all the wiring harnesses. Dissconnect the harnesses(the ones to the radio and the ones that goto the heater controlls(just enough to get the Unit free you will remove the knobs later so dont try to dissconect those now), along with the antenna wire. If you have permium audio Refer to the approperate How To for rewiring that. And be aware that theres a differnent harness on the power harness that goes between the standard Wiring harness and the Radio, unplug this and save it with your orginal Head Unit incase of later reinstallation.

4. The unit should be free now, Take it out put it on a table on something where you can work on it easily.
Remove All three knobs(make sure you set all the knobs to to one extreme or the other and install them in the same position you removed them, The outsides ones will be a peice of cake the middle one might take some elbow grease to get free. Once those are off diss connect the units that are behind the knobs on the back side of the radio. Theres small Torx Screws remove all the screws and they should be free.

5. Reinstall the knobs on the new Dash Kit of your Choice reusing the original screws, I prefer the scorche kit because it has a more "factory look" But the Metra Kit works fine also.

6. Wire up the new head unit to the harnesses Supplied with the dash kit(be sure to use the harness that is included or the illumination for your dash kit may not work.

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n172/nike13857/teamzx2%20how%20to%20pics/cdplayer2.jpg

7. Hook up all the connections for the heater/ac controlls, slide the heater controll cable down by the gas pedal(dont hook it up yet because you might have to pull the dash kit back out to screw with it somemore.

8. Install The dash Kit in the Dash(install the radio cage before you put the kit in if you have a difficult time getting the kit to snap in remove the cage so you can get your hand in back and pull on the supports to get the kit to snap in), it maybe difficult to snap in you might need to get creative to get it to snap in i had to grind down some of the supports for the radio behind the dash.

9. Time to slide the radio in, hook up the wiring harnesses for the power, sound and the antenna adapter. Power the HU Up make sure its working if not check your wiring) Start to slide the radio in, (make sure you push the harnesses out of the way of the radio so it slides in easily)

[ImCrazy]

wow sweet how'd you get your hands on this??

[nike13857]

I'm taking care of all the how-to's. I have about 20 of them that were sent to me. It's kinda tough, cause I have to edit alot of the characters, copy and paste the pictures, upload them in photobucket, then link to them.

[ilarson007]

just for anyone installing a radio, i would recommend soldering the wires than wrapping electrical tape around the connection, because every time I've tried crimping, the d@*n things fall apart.

my 2 cents on radio installation.

[nike13857]

crimping always fails for me too. I usually twist the wires, then use shrink wrap. Never had a problem with it.

[ilarson007]

right, but eventually if you don't solder it the connection could become crappy (like staticky, and whatnot).. IMO for how hard it is to solder, i just say solder the thing and be done with it, ya know, lol

[Spyware]

Not only does soldering help keep better connections, it also makes a strong bond. For as little room as there is behind the HU in a ZX2, for someone who might need to get in and out of there once or twice you're better off with a stronger hold. I had mine twisted at first for a quick install, went to install my first sub and amp.. Connections came loose. Crimped them, got a new subs and a new amp, connections came loose again. Solder FTW for more than a couple reasons. =P

Also, I'm not sure if they'll fit or not, but '03s come with a faceplate which doesn't require an aftermarket faceplate to install a new head unit. Took me a bit of patience but mine installed. So if you can get your hands on an '03 faceplate or have an '03 you can have a super-stock look.

[ilarson007]

good point... another thing... don't forget to hook up your heat control again, .... like me, because... well, yea. no control. but my a/c doesn't work anyway, so i guess it doesn't really matter.

[rond201]

i am trying to add a sirius radio to my 99 zx2. I want to add the direct connect antenna but can`t find the connector to the radio. I tried to remove the radio with bent coat hangers but no work! any help would be appreciated

[nike13857]

You need a pair of theses:

http://www.gbxdirect.com/store/images/products/ford_din.jpg

They can be found at most part stores. I found them at Wal-mart for $4.00. Once you get the radio out, you'll see the antenna cord on the right side (I believe)

[Buster]

Or a wire coat hanger cut like those. :)

[rond201]

Thanks for the replies. I have the coat hangers bent similar, but not exact. I will try the parts stores. thanks again

[Jesusfrk611]

So which way do I push the white tab to get this off? Don't want to break anything, but was trying for awhile and it wasn't coming off... Getting anew head soon, so I figured I'd try to see how to get it off before the new head gets here.
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n172/nike13857/teamzx2%20how%20to%20pics/cdplayer1.jpg

[dareall]

move that tab away from the center and pull the temp control cable away from the unit. It only takes a small amount of movement of the tab to allow it to be removed.

Before you install your new head unit, trade me factory radio adapters instead of cutting yours so that I can go back to the stock radio in my 03. Mine has already been modified to accept din size radios. pm me for more details.

[Jesusfrk611]

Thanks for the info, I'll try it later when I have time.

I'm actually getting the whole thing, head unit and already fit radio adapter from DOUGIESTYL. He parting out his '98 Zx2, and he told me about his stereo and I'm getting the adapter with it. I like the different shape and texture of the '03 adapter still though, so when I get the new head, I might take you up on the offer.

[Buster]

If you have trouble with the AC connector down there, insert a small (really small, skinny) screwdriver in the middle by the tab and push very gently. It will pop right off.

[rond201]

Got the tool at autozone it worked fine.the antenna is in the back.I did drop the glove box for more room.The sirius works great now. Again thanks for the help.

[Carbine]

I just tried to hook mine up. I got the harness and wired everything together, but there was a blue, blue w. black stripe and a orange one that says "Illumination" I dont know what to do w. them. And when I hooked it up I got no sound at all. Im about to throw the fucking thing out the window.

[Cheese302]

finally got the right harnesses soldered up for the premium sounds setup, if we could get some better pics of the bypass and the harness like this one. looking forward to getting my unit installed tomorrow.

[nike13857]

I just tried to hook mine up. I got the harness and wired everything together, but there was a blue, blue w. black stripe and a orange one that says "Illumination" I dont know what to do w. them. And when I hooked it up I got no sound at all. Im about to throw the fucking thing out the window.

If I remember correctly, the blue one doesn't get hooked-up at all. The orange illumination one should be hooked-up to the other illumination.

[Buster]

If I remember correctly, the blue one doesn't get hooked-up at all. The orange illumination one should be hooked-up to the other illumination.

You're right. Blue is for a power antenna (which our cars do not have). If doing a basic radio+speakers setup, you won't use it. If hooking up an amp, you'd use that as a remote turn-on wire for the amp.

Also, the radio and harness illumination wires don't always match in color, so you'll just have to put them together, like Nike said.

[Carbine]

So I checked everything over and it still doesn't work. The blue one is labed "Power antenna" so that stays un hooked. The blue w. black strip is for the amp tuner or something. But I can't find where the illumination one connects to. But I still have no sound to my speakers. The circuit city guy said something about jumping the amp or something.

[Carbine]

Well I put my factory stereo back in. I think i'm gunna go pay to have it installed.

[Buster]

So I checked everything over and it still doesn't work. The blue one is labed "Power antenna" so that stays un hooked. The blue w. black strip is for the amp tuner or something. But I can't find where the illumination one connects to. But I still have no sound to my speakers. The circuit city guy said something about jumping the amp or something.

Do you have premium sound? If so, you will need to jumper the factory amp so the rear speakers work.

[Carbine]

Yeah I have premium sound...But I get nothing to my speakers at all. The HU comes on has signal and all that just no sound...And the illumination on my dash dont work.

[dareall]

Well I put my factory stereo back in. I think I'm going to go pay to have it installed.

what you need to do is go to autozone and pay the $17 for the premium sound harnesses. This kit includes the jumper for the amp. You cannot just disconnect the speaker harness from the return plug and expect it to work, which it sounds like the problem is. :judge:

[Buster]

^Or use about 8 inches of speaker wire and jumper it for free.

I couldn't find the photo of a jumpered amp we used to have on this site, pre-nuking.

[Carbine]

I went all over from advance to autozone and they didn't have hardly anything. The guy at circuit city went out to my car (I pulled the stereo out) and we tried the ford harness' and found the right one. But yeah I think I still need to jump the amp. I think I might have it installed for $40.

[raceguy246]

I want to thank you, nike13857, I could not for the life of me figure out how to take the cable off until your pic and directions. So thank you. I am enjoying my new stereo in large part because of you, so thanks. However I did try to remove the original deck before I cam across your post and in doing so I broke the little white piece of plastic. I was wondering if there was anyone out there with one they could sell me.

Thanks!

[nike13857]

I didn't write up the how-to. Someone else did, and I posted it, since I'm a moderator, and had access to making a new thread in that section.

What white piece of plastic are you talking about? I have an extra radio in the garage, so I might have the part.

[raceguy246]

Well, in any case thank you! The of plastic that I am looking for is the white one that is screwed onto the radio and has three clips that snap onto the rest of the temp cable

[nike13857]

That's broken on mine.

[raceguy246]

Well, thank you for looking. I appreciate you spending your time.

[dareall]

.......so I broke the little white piece of plastic. I was wondering if there was anyone out there with one they could sell me.

Thanks!

$5 shipped. Just pm me your address and I can have it out in tomorrows mail.

[JoeBrooks]

I tried this and the new radio works, but now the temp cable won't reach from the new climate controls to the spot down by the gas pedal. It's a couple inches short. Plus my AC now turns on but doesn't blow out.

[dareall]

I tried this and the new radio works, but now the temp cable won't reach from the new climate controls to the spot down by the gas pedal. It's a couple inches short. Plus my AC now turns on but doesn't blow out.

double check your connections for the vaccuum lines on the switch, you may not have plugged it in all the way. As for the temp control cable, the metra, scosche and americanal internation adapters all use a similar mounting location for the cable and have no problems with fitment when used. I suspect that the routing of this has not been done in a way that would allow the cable to reach. Pull out the adapter and make sure that your cable is below the wiring harness for the climate controls and you should have enough length to install. Also check to make sure that it is installed as far left as possible to ensure that it is not going around any unnecessary items.

[Buster]

I tried this and the new radio works, but now the temp cable won't reach from the new climate controls to the spot down by the gas pedal. It's a couple inches short. Plus my AC now turns on but doesn't blow out.

It barely reaches when routed properly, so that has to be the problem. Maybe it is routed wrong, maybe it is just caught on something inside. Pull the radio and cable and re-do it. It should reach then.

[Carbine]

Yeah and you have to start the car to get the compressor to start working, I was putting mine in and started checking everything to make sure it worked and my ac and heat would only blow out my defrosters. I got scared thinking i messed it up. You probably already knew that but I'm throwing it out on the table. I still haven't installed my radio, I gave up.