Installing Your Own Car Radio

Why pay extra money for a professional when the task at hand is a simple one. Installing a car radio does not require fancy electronics. This task can be done by anyone who has the patients to read the following guide and follow it step by step. So go ahead, and become our own radio installer. You will enjoy it afterwards doubly so, knowing you put it in there yourself.

This guide shows you how simple it can be to install your own radio. With a few simple tools and determination you can be your own radio installer. The principles sites here are correct for basically any basic car radio system.

The four general steps are to remove old radio from dashboard, wire new radio, mount new radio, and finish installation. You will need a new radio and a suitable radio installation kit for your car model.

Tools required:
To remove radio: #2 hand Philips screwdriver and 8mm socket.
To test and wire new radio: solder/crimper, voltage meter, small battery.

Electrical tape or wire ties to neatly arrange wires at the end for clean appearance and convenience in the car.

Tool tips: Use the battery to test the speaker wires, this way you can find out which wires go to which speakers, as when you touch the + or - wires with the battery the speaker attached to the wires will make a pop sound.

Voltage meter: Always check voltage before making wire connections. +12 wires will fluctuate between the values of  10 to 14 on the meter.

Crimp tool: It is best to make wire to wire connection either using a solder iron and electric tape or a crimp tool with plastic terminals. You can find those in most hardware stores.

 Removing factory radio:
Move to the passenger seat. The screws that connect the radio to the dash are usually at the back of the radio. This connection can only be reached by looking up to the radio from the passenger seat. Reach up and use Phillips or socket to remove the two screws at the back of the radio. After the screws are removed you can simply pull the radio and pocket out of the dash in the front. Unplug the black cable and white plastic harness in the rear of the radio.
The factory radio is now separated from your car and you are ready to install the new one.

 Wire new radio:
It is highly recommended that you use a snap or wire harness that snaps into the white plastic harness connected to the car dash. This is a safer and more robust option.  Also it will keep you from cutting the cars wires and thus you avoid having to guess which of the cars wires to attach to the wires of your new radio. The snap harness tells you which wire is which and you leave the original white plastic harness attached to dash wiring. You cut the new radio wires and splice them into the wires of the snaps in a simple procedure.

If you are not using a snap harness, use a ring connector and attach it first to your new radio and then to the wire coming from the dash. The idea is to connect wire from the new radio to the same wire in the dashboard harness.

First connect the ground wire.
The next wire to be connected is the +12 volt battery wire or constant.
Next connect the +12 volt ignition or switch.
If your vehicle has a power antenna, connect its wires now.
Now connect the left front speaker wires.
Next connect the right front speaker wires.
Connect left rear speaker wires and then the right rear speaker wires.
The harness and wires are now all connected.

 Usually the harness in the dash board will have wires located as follows.
The harness has two rows of wiring snap sockets.
Top row from left to right when looking at the harness mating end of the connector:
Left is the right rear speaker positive wire, usually a purple wire in your new radio.
Next to its right is the left rear speaker positive wire, a green wire in your new radio.

Next is the power antenna trigger, usually a blue or blue with white stripe wire in your new radio.
Next the 12+ volt ignition wire, a red wire needs to be connected here.
Next 12+ volt battery wire, a yellow wire needs to be connected.
Next is the dash light dimmer wire, an orange wire in your new radio.
Next is the left front speaker positive wire, white.
On the right top row is the right front speaker positive wire, Gray.
Bottom row from left to right when looking at the harness mating end of the connector:

On the left right rear speaker negative wire, purple with black stripe.
Next the left rear speaker negative wire, green with black stripe.

Then Ground wire, black. Remember this is the first wire that must be connected! Do not just connect from left to right in the harness.

On the right bottom row is the right front speaker negative wire and to its left is the left front speaker negative wire.

Some harnesses have more sockets in the middle of the bottom row, those are for more advanced installments with more equipment, at this time they must simply not be used.

If you use a snap in harness then most of the sockets have already been marked in the colors typical of the aftermarket radio (the colors mentioned above) and thus wiring is easier.

 Mounting the radio.

First you need to mount the radio into a radio kit.
Make sure that you have bought a kit that fits your car model.

Take the DIN sleeve from your new radio and insert it into the main hole in the kit. Then bend the tabs so that the sleeve is held by the kit.

Nest step is to insert the kit (with sleeve inserted) into the dash board. The kit should snap into the dashboard opening. It is best to mount the kit to the dashboard before inserting the radio into the kit. This insures that the kit will snap properly into the dash board.

 Complete the radio installation.

This is the last step and means basically putting the radio into the kit that is already mounted into the dashboard. Plug the black antenna cable into the rear of the radio. Make sure all wires are connected, and if not make all connections now between dash wires and the new radio.

Insert the new radio into the kit that is secured to the dashboard. Make sure the radio sits securely in its mounting sleeve, or cage.

The installation is now complete. Congratulations!