is installing CDmp3 car player into car easy??? (1 Viewer)

[VanCarBus]

i think that 100 dollars for strathfield to install a cd player is ripped...

um, just wondering how hard it is to do it urself!!

 

[DaddyK]

Its actually pretty easy. As long as your confident to dismantle the dash and shit, all you have to do is match up wires with colours pretty much. If you can, get a friend/relative who knows atleast something about it to give you a hand. Its quite fiddly and time consuming and once you start you have to finish it.

 

[loquasagacious]

Piss easy.

Process:

1)Remove old unit.
2)Install cage if neccessary.
3)Plug in harness adapter (goes between where the old unit unplugged and the new unit).
4)Slide in unit
5)Done!

Worst case scenario:
1)Have to remove centre console to remove old unit.
2)Install cage.
3)Cut plug from car audio harness and now match wires to the new recievers harness (this requires at minimum a AA battery and tester light and/or a wiring diagram.
4)Solder (or use bullets/etc) connections.
5)Reassemble console.
6)Insert new unit.
7)Done.

I would expect case 1 to take half an hour.
Unexperienced and case 2 occurs then it could take an afternoon (my record for case2 is 45minutes).

My advice:
Go to Supercheap/etc and buy a harness for your make of car - ensure that the other end matches your new unit. This will cost maybe $20 but will save you time and effort by greatly reducing the complexity of the job - a big advantage for novices.

 

[Zozo6969]

Is there anything like a headphone jack or something in the back of the stereos in a car, so you can like hook it up to an MP3 player and play music off it?

 

[loquasagacious]

Some recievers have either RCA inputs or auxillary inputs. An auxillary input will typically be a simple jack and will enable the easy connection of all MP3 players.

RCA inputs are primarily designed so that you can have the sound from an in car DVD player/game console running through your reciever and thus car speakers. However I believe it is possible to get conversion cables that go from a standard jack to RCAs.

Basically a stock head unit will not have inputs however if you really want them then look for an aftermarket unit that is advertised as having "auxillary inputs" or being "ipod ready".

Your other options are; radio or tape transmitters.

You may have seen the cassette tapes with a cable for plugging them into a CD/MP3 player basically you plug it into your MP3 player and chuck the tape in the reciever and it plays whatever the MP3 player is. Obviously though this only works for cars with tape decks.

A radio transmitter does basically the same thing but because it transmits over FM radio it is compatible with all Head units. An iTrip is a prominent example of this technology. That said a word of advice: do NOT buy an iTrip they are overpriced, drain the iPods battery and are a pain in the arse to use.

Look for something that has its own power supply, and operates independtly of the MP3 player eg you adjust the frequency it transmits on manually on the transmitter itself (typically via a small LCD screen).

A good example is the Belkin Tunecast seen here: http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProd...nt_Id=1&Section_Id=&pcount=&Product_Id=166893

 

[seremify007]

Don't buy a cheapo one off eBay either- those FM transmitters can be dodgy. I got one for $16 and the quality sucks, just touching it is enough to cause interferences, etc..

 

[Shell]

my sisters ex installed my player. it took friggen ages coz he had to cut all this metal to make the new one fit.

 

[loquasagacious]

If there's nn DIN mount its always harder - I had to fabricate a mount in my Volvo and use an alternate position in the integra (eg for some reason the cage was missing so I left the tape deck in place and installed the new reciever where a 'storing stuff' slot had been.