Installing Car Cd Player

opinionated

I am currently wanting to put a new cd player in a 99 corolla hatchback. The one that is in it has only a tape. I was looking at this: Sony MEX-BT2500. I am a complete novice at car stereos but would like to learn. What considerations should I take into account before buying and how the hell do I install it. Thanks.

Gadgetman496

opinionated wrote:

I am currently wanting to put a new cd player in a 99 corolla hatchback. The one that is in it has only a tape. I was looking at this: Sony MEX-BT2500. I am a complete novice at car stereos but would like to learn. What considerations should I take into account before buying and how the hell do I install it. Thanks.

Hmm, I've one just like that installed in a '98 Liftback Lovely unit.

The HUMP in the top middle of the dash has to come out & your existing stereo is attached to that. Once you remove the hump piece it is very easy to swap them out.

How to remove the hump section of the Dash:

In order to do this you must first remove the two(2) air vents directly below the stereo unit by facing them fully down & using a screwdriver to gently prise them out. This can be achieved by prising from the side or the top of the vents, the top worked best for me. Warning! Be very careful when doing this as there is a bit of a knack to it, just take your time so as not to damage the plastic vent or mark the dash. A light cloth around the screwdriver might help but can tend to get in the way.

Once you have the two vents removed you will see that the HUMP is actually held in by two(2) bolts, they are situated at the underside roof of the HUMP. Remove these two bolts using a Ratchet & extension bar with socket.
Once the two bolts are removed you need to use the hard part of the palm of your hand (Down near your wrist) to give the hump a "Sharp , Hard, Fast slap, upwards towards the windscreen in order to dislocate it from the the dash. Now you should be able to remove it along with the stereo attached. (Mind the wires)

Once away from the dash you can disconnect the wire loom & aerial plugs.

Remove the screws holding the stereo (at each side) to the mounting bracket.
Slide out the old unit & slide your new unit in & replace the screws.

Wiring:
Odds are that the plug on your new unit will not mate with the existing plug in your dash so you will need to cut the plug off your new stereos wiring loom if it has a plug on both ends. Make sure to cut the plug that should go to the dash & leave the new plug for connecting to the back of your new unit.
It would be very prudent to leave the original stereo plug on the loom in the dash in case you ever want to put the original unit back in (For resale or whatever) that way you can still plug your old unit back in with ease if you ever need to. What I done was cut each wire individually behind the existing plug in the dash (about 1.5" back from the plug) and using connectors I spliced the new radio wire loom into the cars original loom. Ordinary household strip connectors work just fine if you break the blocks into individual pieces, or you can go to the trouble of getting connectors from your Auto Factors ( the standard strip connectors actually make a better connection & are easier to use).

All Stereo systems now have a standard wiring colour coded system so here it is.

I hope this will help to get you sorted:) .

opinionated

Thanks for that...I will give it a go in a month or two...

ZENER

Don't cut the original cables just buy an adaptor to suit the car and stereo. This are available from most motor factors or from SafeSounds in Drumcondra or on the interweb

ZEN