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Am I about to be a sucker or just living in an expensive city?

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Wed, Dec 4 2019 5:06 PM

  If, by any chance you can return what you bought, you might very well find a factory replacement in a recycle/salvage yard. But before that, radios don't characteristically die on their own but with 187,000 miles of jostling, wire harnesses get fragile in spots. Throw in some natural corrosion and such and all of a sudden you have an electircal connection issue. 

  You might think abut having somebody make sure that radio's really dead.  ;-)

• SimonTheBeetle 3,494 Posts

  Wed, Dec 4 2019 8:56 PM

  Yeah... never thought it could be just the wire connection problem as a part of aging process. Great piece of advice, Jim! I'll definitely check that with a mechanic.

  I'm still changing the car stereo because the old one looks... well... old! LOL I mean it's old-fashioned comparing to the ones you see these days, y'know, equipped with 7-inch touch screen, plays FM radio, MP3, videos, built-in Wi-Fi & GPS navigation, mirror link & backup camera input. I know! All this for only $100 but it's one of those products made in you-know-where, something that you won't be too surprised if it dies on you within 4-6 months. I'm gonna try my luck at it and see how it goes.

  I found this video in case I'll have to do it myself. The same car, the same old stereo, a very similar double-din unit installed. Enjoy! ;-)

• pmm711 5,514 Posts

  Thu, Dec 5 2019 8:19 AM

  In Marietta, GA we have a car stereo store offering free install during the holiday if you purchase the (sale price) stereo from them.  There are some great deals available this time of year.  I’d take Yankee Jim’s advice and see if you can return the one you bought.  If so, then check around for a car audio store in your area offering an install deal.

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Thu, Dec 5 2019 9:34 AM

  SimonTheBeetle:

  I found this video in case I'll have to do it myself.

  That was an excellent video IF you're already experienced. It glossed over the critical part of adapting those connectors-he soldered and shrink wrapped them all. That's a delicate chore in itself and leaves you wide open to electrical issues if you don't do it right. 

  Also, you need to be familiar with the way those panels are held in place-a spring steel clip that grabs a plastic rib. If you're not careful you break the rib and then it won't stay in place when you put it back.

  Those are just a couple of obvious things that jumped out at me from experience.After watching that-knowing how miserable it could turn out for you-I'd pay the $135 or take pmm's advice.  GL  :-)

• dhjam1 577 Posts

  Thu, Dec 5 2019 9:54 AM

  pmm711:

  In Marietta, GA 

  Small world I'm over in Conyers

• amateur4sure 2,194 Posts

  Thu, Dec 5 2019 11:02 AM

  Simon, Something Jim picked up on about the possible wear on the wiring harness, If you know a friend of a friend who happens to be a sparky, Maybe an idea to drop a few Bucks to just run a few quick tests on it for Peace of mind..

  Fitting a new Music box etc is actually easy but (once again from Jim :-) it is if you have the correct Connectors/Adapters and don`t need to mess about with cutting steel or Soldering.

  The Video was excellent but the Guy certainly new what he was doing.

  Think he should get that Windscreen changed though.

  Best of luck Simon

   

• carlosdev 2,528 Posts

  Thu, Dec 5 2019 11:11 AM

  amateur4sure:

  Simon, Something Jim picked up on about the possible wear on the wiring harness, If you know a friend of a friend who happens to be a sparky, Maybe an idea to drop a few Bucks to just run a few quick tests on it for Peace of mind..

  Fitting a new Music box etc is actually easy but (once again from Jim :-) it is if you have the correct Connectors/Adapters and don`t need to mess about with cutting steel or Soldering.

  The Video was excellent but the Guy certainly new what he was doing.

  Think he should get that Windscreen changed though.

  Best of luck Simon

   

  Do not listen to Chris, Simon lmaoo lol hehehe lol

   

• amateur4sure 2,194 Posts

  Fri, Dec 6 2019 6:53 AM

  Bwahaha Carl

• SimonTheBeetle 3,494 Posts

  Tue, Dec 10 2019 3:14 AM

  Jim, Paul, dhjam1, Chris and Carl,

  Sorry for the late reply. Had a looong weekend "amusing" with the car stereo and couldn't really find any decent time for WGT. I read and appreciate(d) all of your comments though. :-)

  So... I looked around and found some more stores in my area. Unfortunately, none of them offered that free install deal. Guess not many know how to do bid'ness here. I went by Craig's rule*, decided to go with a guy who offered $150 for installation and made an appointment with him. (* The lowest offer being $80, the highest $200!)

  I drove into his garage with the stereo, the guy checked it out, opened up the front panel in the vehicle and looked into it. Then he said he would do the job for $200 'cause he would have to cut off the bracket to make it fit. I said OK as I just wanted to get it over with instead of running around and looking for someone else although I was like "Extra 50 bucks for cutting two tiny pieces of metal??!!". A few minutes later, he said this time that I would have to buy "his" harness because otherwise he couldn't work on it. All together asking for $250! By this time I knew he was BS-ing me because I'd done my studies in case of DIY! I was so mad & frustrated, thinking "F*** it! I'll do it myself. The worst case scenario would be blowing 100 bucks." so I told him "Forget about it", went to Home Depot, got some tools and made my way home.

  It took me hours and hours as I wasn't familiar with any of this, triple-checking everything, but I managed to get it done at the end of the day.
  The double-din is practically an Android tablet sitting on the car-stereo place. Everything works fine fortunately and it looks OK as well.
  I even tried WGT on it LOL and... nah, I won't be playing with it. The way the device responds to each tapping is too inconsistent. I think I hit ding only once. LOL
  It will be useful for keeping CDP or watching free-credit videos, though...

  Now the only concern is... how long it will last before it dies on me. *Fingers crossed*
  Thanks for reading, guys. TTYL.

  Simon

  

  

  

  

  

   

  

  

  

  

  

• craigswan 30,936 Posts

  Tue, Dec 10 2019 3:56 AM

  As a man who only knows hot to put gas and water in i say .

  good try simon .

   

  The other day I was in the local auto part store.

  Simon comes in and asks for a seven ten cap. We all looked at each other and said, "What's a seven ten cap?"

  He said "You know, it's right on the engine. Mine got lost some how and I need a new one." "What kind of a car is it on," we asked?

  I'm thinking maybe an old Datsun Seven Ten, but no, he said its a Buick. "OK THEN , how big is it?" he makes a circle with his hands about 3-1/2 inches in diameter.

  What does it do?," we asked. he said, "I don't know, but it's always been there." One of us gave him a note pad and asked him if he could draw a picture of it.

  So he makes a circle about 3-1/2 inches in diameter and in the center he writes 710.

   

  .