Toyota Stereo interchangeability

Toyotafanboi

So, as i posted in the chat thread the other day, i picked up a runaround yaris for mam to drive around in. cars going well, but for one thing.

no FM frequencies. seemingly a problem with yaris and some corollas, water weeping through the co-axial cable, or something like that.

Just wondering could anyone recommend another toyota that i could remove a single din stereo from that would fit straight into the yaris, without need for an ISO adapter etc. and one that isn't affected by this water leaking issue? i was thinking a 98-00 corolla?

bitburger

well if the coaxial cable in the car as at fault another stereo wont cure it, the coaxial will need replacing, somthing i dont think i would fancy doing

Toyotafanboi

bitburger wrote: »

well if the coaxial cable in the car as at fault another stereo wont cure it, the coaxial will need replacing, somthing i dont think i would fancy doing

i understand that. theres not too much heartache to changing one in a yaris, and they are available spurious. just want to keep the dash original enough looking with a toyota head unit

Eric Cartman

as to why youd want to put an ancient tape / single cd only deck from a corolla in is beyond me, spend even 120 euro and youd get an ISO adapter and a cd / usb player , possibly something with bluetooth or ipod control if you looked about a bit, if its a problem with the coaxial cable (never heard of water leaking through one.... then that might need to be replaced, my bet however would be on it just having coroded where it joins the antenna on the roof , worst case new antenna, cable , head unit and ISO adapter - 150 or so to fix and have a decent setup

dgt

A chap I once bought parts from had a Vitz and had an aftermarket radio in it.

Something similar to this


If the co-ax cable is shot, only way to get decent reception is to replace it

colm_mcm

dgt wrote: »

A chap I once bought parts from had a Vitz and had an aftermarket radio in it.

Something similar to this


If the co-ax cable is shot, only way to get decent reception is to replace it

Far as i know, post 03 don't have the problem. Dunno about interchangability with pre 03

dgt

colm_mcm wrote: »

Far as i know, post 03 don't have the problem. Dunno about interchangability with pre 03

Twas a 00 reg car. It had a set of analogue gauges

bitburger

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

i understand that. theres not too much heartache to changing one in a yaris, and they are available spurious. just want to keep the dash original enough looking with a toyota head unit

I would say the original stereo is ok if its working fine and just not getting a signal, no idea what other headunit would fit though

Toyotafanboi

Eric Cartman wrote: »

as to why youd want to put an ancient tape / single cd only deck from a corolla in is beyond me, spend even 120 euro and youd get an ISO adapter and a cd / usb player , possibly something with bluetooth or ipod control if you looked about a bit, if its a problem with the coaxial cable (never heard of water leaking through one.... then that might need to be replaced, my bet however would be on it just having coroded where it joins the antenna on the roof , worst case new antenna, cable , head unit and ISO adapter - 150 or so to fix and have a decent setup

the whole car only cost €550 euro, so couldn't justify over a quarter of its value on a stereo, wouldn't be good bangernomics but cheers

dgt wrote: »

A chap I once bought parts from had a Vitz and had an aftermarket radio in it.

If the co-ax cable is shot, only way to get decent reception is to replace it

the look in that photo is basically what i'm trying to achieve, i have a fascia adapter here and the making of what i need from my old Vitz RS

bitburger wrote: »

I would say the original stereo is ok if its working fine and just not getting a signal, no idea what other headunit would fit though

i think the stereo is shagged. or thats the impression i get. water travels down the inside of the cable, and into the back of stereo (how i can only imagine) but it seems to be a common fault and ruins both the co-axial and stereo.

so yeah, any auld stereo will do. just want to get one from a scrapper thursday, only want to know which stereo to look out for value for money wise.

bitburger

can get a nice enough aux/usb/sd card stereo in argos for about 60 quid,had one in my old car and theres one in my current car now, think a cd player from the scrappy can be had for about 20 notes.

joujoujou

Well, more than likely FM part of stereo's died. I already have 2 radios with the same problem.

It's actually easy to check if there's a problem with radio or aerial - take the radio out and plug in other aerial. If FM works - it's aerial's fault. If not - get another radio. Plug and play option would probably be only the same model from dismantlers (or dealer ). To make sure - post a photo of it.

mgbgt1978

Better off with a new Radio/Cd unit from Argos or Halfords.
Have a look at the audio clearance section on the Halfords site (but don't get too excited when you spot stereo's for €7 or so.....they are very hard to get as there might be only 1 in the whole country).
I changed the one on the wife's yaris because she really missed a Cd Player.

Step-by-step guide here ;

http://www.fitaudio.com/?View=entry&EntryID=45

Toyotafanboi

joujoujou wrote: »

Well, more than likely FM part of stereo's died. I already have 2 radios with the same problem.

It's actually easy to check if there's a problem with radio or aerial - take the radio out and plug in other aerial. If FM works - it's aerial's fault. If not - get another radio. Plug and play option would probably be only the same model from dismantlers (or dealer ). To make sure - post a photo of it.

same. the yaris had a stereo in it with no FM frequencies. had a spare head unit from an older yaris in the garage, put that in and still no FM frequencies :rolleyes:. Are you suggesting that there's a circumstance where i might not need to replace the co-axial cable?

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

Better off with a new Radio/Cd unit from Argos or Halfords.
Have a look at the audio clearance section on the Halfords site (but don't get too excited when you spot stereo's for €7 or so.....they are very hard to get as there might be only 1 in the whole country).
I changed the one on the wife's yaris because she really missed a Cd Player.

Step-by-step guide here ;

http://www.fitaudio.com/?View=entry&EntryID=45

cheers for the guide had more yaris/ vitz dashboards off than i care to remember at this stage though :P funny how this is the first i've found with the FM issue.

I splashed out on this today, €52.50, argos cheapest :P http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/9074635.htm think i just need an ISO now and i'm away... at a semi respectable price!

joujoujou

So, now you checked 2 radios and both had no FM - it may be a problem with aerial. Otherwise you really have 2 radios with FM broken. :P

As I suggested above - connect your stereo with approx 1 metre of copper wire instead of aerial - if FM works then, aerial's faulty.

Afermarket radio needs just toyota-->ISO loom - couple of euros in halfords or ebay.

And that's the solution I chose when found my radio's FM died. Now I have CD and USB port as well.

Toyotafanboi

ok, like i said, bought a new stereo the other day, the one linked above. fitted it this evening using the cars existing coaxial cable and its working perfect

just curious as to know will the existing coaxial cable eventually **** up the new stereo too, or are they two seperate issues? i'd replace it if i thought that would be the case.

I also bought an ISO lead to avoid splicing and bodging the wires together. Halfords price €29.99, local indy motor factors €12.99 :rolleyes:

anyway, here it is, stereo and ancillaries fitted for a smidge under €70, suppose thats bangernomics audio :P

thanks for the help lads!

bitburger

if the problem is water running down the cable and into the back of the stereo im fairly sure your stereo will meet the same fate after a while,dunno if changing the cable will help that too much either, the water will still be getting in????? some yaris specific forums may have some sort of fix though, im guessing the aerial unit doesnt seal well enough

Toyotafanboi

bitburger wrote: »

if the problem is water running down the cable and into the back of the stereo im fairly sure your stereo will meet the same fate after a while,dunno if changing the cable will help that too much either, the water will still be getting in????? some yaris specific forums may have some sort of fix though, im guessing the aerial unit doesnt seal well enough

see thats the part i just cant digest :P.

i can not get my head around how a quantity of water large enough to ruin the inside of a stereo can seep past the seal on the roof itself, travel across the roof of the car, down the a-pillar and back across the car behind the dash, roughly a 2 meter journey and still be present at the end of the journey to enter the stereo.

i mean surely we're talking in quantities of water here that could evaporate or drip off long before they meet the stereo?

i also wondered if i was to create some slack on the coaxial cable to form a "drip" before the head unit, then surely it would shed any external water and work away?

the exposed part of the cable looked fine, dry, no corrosion or condensation on it.

mgbgt1978

If any moisture has seeped down through the co-ax the metal plug should look slightly corroded and greenish.

Toyotafanboi

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

If any moisture has seeped down through the co-ax the metal plug should look slightly corroded and greenish.

that's what i thought, well it looked nice, still clean and shiney so hopefully im safe! im sure it'd take a while to destroy another anyway

bitburger

yeah id be expecting some corrosion on the copper, unless it seeps down the outside, if so a loop should do the trick, satellite installers do it on installations to stop water entering the house. same principal really