Fitting a new head unit - 172 Mk2

[Jo3y]

Just picked up my new head unit, it's a USB kenwood one... How easy will it be to fit? will the adapter that came with it swap straight out for the standard unit? and how do I get the standard unit out?

It's getting dark now so not sure if I should leave it for another day? Got some new components as well but definately not taking the door to pieces in this light

Cheers

 

[fUbAr]

you need a release tool from Halfords to get the standard unit out... people say use a coat hanger but for £2.99 i would use the right thing. Look at the unit there will be a hole in each corner... the tool goes in here.

The new unit should use the standard ISO connector so should just clip in where the old one came out... however you will need to install a metal cage first to secure it properly.

now go and upgrade your speakers... the standard ones are good for nothing.

 

[Pep]

they're easy to fit, like fUbar said, get the removal pins, push them in and then pull them back, this will pull the original unit out, then disconnect all of the wires, u might need to get sum connecting cables as the kenwood may not have the correct fittings on the back, i know my pioneer needed connecting wires.
plug them in, you might need an aerial adaptop, they are about £2;50 so its probably easier to buy 1 with the pins just in case.
then plug it in!

if you happen to be in the derby area i can come over and give you a hand?

 

[Jo3y]

OK thanks you two, guess I'll have to leave it until tomorrow and go to halfords :dapprove:

I'm in Stockport btw Pepsi so about 68 miles away, probably a little too far thanks for the offer though.

I've bought 4x Infinity Kappa 52.7i components btw Fubar and I'll be replacing them but it's a bit harder than swapping the head unit out cause I'll probably have to take the doors to pieces and don't want to be loosing screws in this light

 

[Pep]

OK thanks you two, guess I'll have to leave it until tomorrow and go to halfords :dapprove:

I'm in Stockport btw Pepsi so about 68 miles away, probably a little too far thanks for the offer though.

I've bought 4x Infinity Kappa 52.7i components btw Fubar and I'll be replacing them but it's a bit harder than swapping the head unit out cause I'll probably have to take the doors to pieces and don't want to be loosing screws in this light

you dont have to take the doors to bits do you?or am i getting mixed up with my mk's?
in the front the panels immediately covering the speakers should just clip off with a flat blade, and then in the rear the same thing near the cupholders?

u just wrapping the wires together?bit of advice use proper connectors cos otherwise your sound will have no difference! thats the mistake i made first time round, then when i redid it the difference was very noticable.

why do renault put crap soundsystems in all their cars?!

 

[Jo3y]

No Idea, although for a standard setup I can't complaing too much... I think you might be right about the covers just clipping off but I have to fit the cross over boxes somewhere and I'm not sure if I can get them in the door with out dismantling it..... guess I'll have to see tomorrow in the light

[EDIT] Oh yeah and when you say get connectors can I fit them to the current wires or will I need to reaplace the who lot?

 

[b3nje]

removal keys are a rob at 4.99 and aerial adaptors are 1.79 i believe or 2.49!

 

[Jo3y]

removal keys are a rob at 4.99 and aerial adaptors are 1.79 i believe or 2.49!

How difficult is it to use a coat hanger? Do all four have to be pushed in at the same time?

 

[Pep]

yeh, tehy plug into your original wires with a different output to fit the back of the stereo.
the crossovers could go underneath the glove box, a mate of mine put in a makeshift shelf just above the eyeline so they were out of the way, but im not sure how he did the wiring.
have you got new tweeters aswell?are you replacing the originals in the dash?

 

[Jo3y]

yeh, tehy plug into your original wires with a different output to fit the back of the stereo.
the crossovers could go underneath the glove box, a mate of mine put in a makeshift shelf just above the eyeline so they were out of the way, but im not sure how he did the wiring.
have you got new tweeters aswell?are you replacing the originals in the dash?

Nah the tweeters are built into the main speaker..... there three way component speakers so I'll probably disconnect the current tweeters if anything..

Don't fancy fitting the crossover's in the glove box btw cause i'll have to start messing around with cabling then

 

[Pep]

yeh, im not sure how he did the cableing, did a good job of it but took him some time!
hes rid of it now otherwise i'd get some pics/info for you just incase!
are you putting 4 new speakers in? if you are the crossovers for the rear would be easy, its just running the cabling in and out of the door, the ready made routing system is packed full that goes towards the bulkhead of the car, so i suppose the only thing to do is mount them in the door!
might be a good idea to take a few photos of taking it apart, interior panels never seem to go together right once taken apart!

 

[Pep]

sorry, that last post sounds a bit like im offering you your own idea! wasnt meant to typed it a bit wrong!

 

[Jo3y]

sorry, that last post sounds a bit like im offering you your own idea! wasnt meant to typed it a bit wrong!

No problem, it wasn't my idea anyway, got it from another thread

 

[Jo3y]

Ok, went to Halfrauds in my lunch, very helpful bloke just used the tool they had behind the counter to pop the stereo out so I didn't have to fork out for it.

Just fitted the head unit, although it was incredibly difficult to get in as there isn't enough room for all the cables behind it, any suggestions for tidying the cables up?

Also I have a USB lead that comes from the back of the unit and I needs access to it, what's the best way to thred it through to the front?

Cheers

 

[Frasers Cup]

I've got an alpine h/u which I fitted myself and I've got the ipod in the glovebox which keeps it out of view. Major improvement over the standard h/u even with the original speakers still in!

 

[Jo3y]

I've got an alpine h/u which I fitted myself and I've got the ipod in the glovebox which keeps it out of view. Major improvement over the standard h/u even with the original speakers still in!

And how did you thread the cable through to the glove box mate? I can't see a way to get it through....

 

[slowan]

Jo3y what's your opinion on the headunit? Does it take 2.5" hard disks? What are the access(scan) times like?

 

[Jo3y]

Jo3y what's your opinion on the headunit? Does it take 2.5" hard disks? What are the access(scan) times like?

I'll all honesty mate I have no Idea, only fitted it an hour ago and back in the office now. I couldn't find a way to thread the USB cord to the front either so It's tucked away at the back and inaccessible. I'm off out tonight with a young lady but I'll sort it tomorrow evening and let you know.

It says on the box Designed for Windows XP media so it should take any USB storage device that appears in XP as another disk without the need for extra drivers so It should take a 2.5" usb HDD... I would try my 320gb HDD but the extension cord from a wall socket might be a bit long

[EDIT] Still got the crappy speakers in BTW but sounded a LOT better still. It's also reads MP3's from CDs but haven't tried it out yet.

 

[Pep]

if you pull the head unit out and get a torch and shine it from underneath the passenger footwell upwards towards the gap in the dash, then look through towards the torch you should see a path in which to thread the cable.this can then be guided down through the gap, no easy way to do that, just patience and luck!
then once its through get your head underneath the glove box and im guessing there will be some kind of gap for you to feed the cable through into it.
alternatively you coild take out the ash tray/coin pot which pulls up with the lid open, guide the cable down there and then have it coming out right in front of the gearstick, thats if you want to have your ipod mounted on the dash so you can see it etc.

its up to you!

about the cables...if you look into the gap where the head unit should go, with it pulled out, id call it the back left bottom corner of the recess, on my car there is another recess going down where i have put most of my cables, and the fuse for the head unit, once i had everything as i wanted i just pushed my hand in with the unit out and squashed all of the wires down and then slotted the unit back in!

also, depending on the length of the cable for the ipod, it might be a good idea, if you are going to take it to the glovebox, to pull it all the way through the dashboard, but before you thread it into the glovebox use a cable tie and just wrap up what will be excess cable and tie it fairly loosely to another cable under the glove box or anything a cable tie will fit around, this means you wont have a few feet of cable in your glove box in the way, and also it wont hang down for your passengers to get tangelled up in!

sorry mate, bit of an essay there!!

 

[Jo3y]

Ok Nice one cheers, I'll take a look this evening and fit the new components - if it stops raining that is. Speaking about the components, if the front ones already have seperate tweeters will the cross over box for the new components work properly if it's just connected to the wires that are currently plugged into the current main speakers in the door or is there already a cross over fitted for the tweeters and main speaker

 

[Jo3y]

Jo3y what's your opinion on the headunit? Does it take 2.5" hard disks? What are the access(scan) times like?

Well finally got it all fitted, I've manged to feed the USB cable down behind the head unit and pull it up through the ashtray. The head unit takes any USB device that appears as removable storage in windows XP without the need to install any other drivers. I've only been using a 2Gb USB stick but there aren't any scan times. The only complaint I have at the moment is that whilst it does pick up track names, it doesn't pick up the folder names and just lists then as folder x . Bit annoying but I'm sure they'll be a way around it.... guess I'll just have to carry on playing with it