(T) Replacing the radio..... JEEEZZ !!!!!!

OK fellow Dobloers,

I’m trying to upgrade the radio in my wife’s Doblo Cargo JTD SX.

Getting the original Blaupunkt unit out is easy but getting the new Sony unit in is proving to be a real pain in the ****.

The problem seems to be with the adaptor cable used to interface between the Sony unit and the original loom (the original loom plugs straight into the Blaupunkt unit). There just isn’t enough room in the radio binnacle to fit all the cable/connectors and leave enough room to push the new unit all the way in.

I tried to get a better view of things by removing the binnacle but can’t get the front to come free of the dash.

Not wanting to force anything I’ve refitted the original unit as my wife will be driving for about 9 hours tomorrow – not a lot of fun without a radio.

Any suggestions or better still info from someone who has had the same problem and found a solution would be much appreciated.

The new unit came with an offer of free fitting (Halfords)….. I might just take them up on it but the thought of ham fisted muppet wrecking the interior isn’t very appealing.

I think its a case of maybe forcing things and trying to see if theres any way of tidying the wires up.

Not much help but maybe perseverence is the answer

Not looked at mine yet but I suppose I will have to at some stage. Mine came with a Panasonic CD radio but has not been wired up correctly as it loses all the preset stations when you turn the ignition off. I suppose there should be a permenant positive but it only has the switched positive from the ignition switch. At the moment I don't bother with the radio but the CD player stays off or turns on randomly when I start up. It always starts at track one so if you do a lot of short trips like I do you get to know the first few tracks pretty well until you change the CD!

Again, I haven't looked at mine yet and will be doing so shortly as I want to replace the headunit. I wasn't aware that there were any wiring adaptors avaliable for the Doblo, and I've searched all over the net for them so I assume you got yours from Halfords?

I'll try and have a look and see if I can get my binnacle off tomorrow for you though

Do not force anything!!

The radio binnical/cover will only come off after the cental lower panel is removed, near where your knees touch and after this the surround piece for the air vents/ switches is removed. This will reveal the front binnical housing screws and there is room to locate plugs and adapters either side and below the radio unit and feed them up to the rear of your replacement. All will become clear after you do the stripdown, and after you've done it you'll probably reach the conclusion that the original kit 'aint so bad

Cheers shed

Shed,

Thanks for the info. I'll pull it apart over the easter weekend.

'Her indoors' is bending my ear about getting her new MP3 player/CD/radio installed asap so she can play Terry Wogan podcasts !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll take pics as I go along and post them for anyone else who's interested.

Cheers

Niall
.

What he said lol! Took me a while to work it out from my workshop manual but yes you do need to strip down the front to get any of it off

Sure post some pics, as I said I'll be doing it soon so will be intresting to see, the biggest problem I had was to try and get the air vents out when I wired up my gps, if you need any extra diagrams I can mail them to you from the manual if you like

If you decide to take up Halfords on their offer I doubt they'll succeed either. I bought a Roadstar MP3 from Argos about 3 yrs ago and that came with free fitting. The bloke who they sent along gave up after about an hour. Things are a bit tight in that fitting bay. Radio went back to Argos.

In the end got another Blaupunkt like the original but better as it plays MP3's. I think it's called a Los-Angeles. Anyway, this connected straight to the built in connector and fitted fine. Had to swap a power cable around if I remember but it was easy to work out. Had no problems over 3 years except it gets a bit hot on long journeys. Often thought about fitting a small extractor fan in the top of the pod but never got round to it.

Good luck with the Sony.

Dunnit!

Didn’t get a chance to take any pictures but here’s the sequence for anyone tackling the same job.

Don’t forget to eject your CD from the existing radio before starting!!! Hard to eject with no power

Remove existing radio using release pins.

Remove 4 cross head screws from lower side of steering column shroud. Don’t need to remove shroud just need to be able to move it away from central area a couple of centimetres.

Open glove box.

Remove 4 torx head screws – 2 on either side of lower central dash and pull lower central dash back slightly.

Pull up on gearstick gaiter and unclip from dash.

Remove 2 cross head and 2 torx head screws now visible through the hole normally covered by gaiter.

Prise out the central air vents. BE VERY CAREFUL. The front flaps and ring may come off first but stop pulling on them. You want the complete unit – a tube about 6 inches long.

Remove 2 cross head screws through vacant air vent holes.

Pull upper central dash back.

Remove 2 screws securing front of binnacle to dash.

Remove 2 screws securing back of binnacle to dash.

EASY PEASY WHEN YOU KNOW HOW.

Tip for reassembly:

The air vent tubes will only fit back in the correct orientation. There is a tag running down the side of each tube which must line up with a cut out in the dash hole.


Niall

.

Cheers for that Niall_G, will definately help me for when I get the money to upgrade mine. How do you find the sound now with the standard speakers? Any better?

A problem came to light the day after installing the radio - It wasn't keeping the memory up - all preset stations were being lost .

I checked with the Sony installation notes and they show that the adaptor lead can be reconfigured to swap the permantent 12v and accessory switched 12v lines. Having done this all is now working fine.

Sound quality is GREAT! However the speakers do start to distort above 2/3rds full volume .... Hmmm ... ..I feel a speaker upgrade coming on .... as this is the Doblo Cargo I'll probably fit new speakers in the dash and add some in the front doors.

Niall.

Tried my dad's Pioneer Head Unit from his Transit in the car today and I must admit I was impressed with the difference in sound even with the standard speakers!

As I had planned to get a pioneer anyway, I gave them a call and they said that the unit would fit the Doblo with no adaptors, as it already has an ISO connector going into the original radio. Pioneer supply a lead with their Head Units that allow a standard ISO connector to be plugged into the selected Head Unit, and after inspection of the lead on their site they proved to be right.

So hopefully soon I will be graced with better sound
It's because of you Niall that I want one now all donations gratefully recieved

Ozzie,

Took pity on your plea for donations.

Just got out of clinic after having the surgery.

Let me have your address ASAP as the box is starting to leak…….. and smell….




Niall........ I feel weak......


.

LOL! Nice one Niall!

Address is as follows:
2 Ice Drive
Santas Grotto
North Pole
NP67 COLD

Nice to see we all have a sense of humor

Well the new radio arrived today... Early

But boy was it a bugger to fit! Had to take the dash apart same as Niall but the unit only just fits in itself without the connector! Had to make a few adjustments to the position of the wiring behind the heater vents in the middle of the dash, and lucily the connector block fitted through the hole in the dash under the binnacle slowly but surely, feeding the wire as I pushed the head unit in it went! Also, there are two plastic blocks either side of the binnacle that I had to file off to get the new radio to fit, but these will become apparent if anyone else has the same problem

And there was me planning to add a small subwoofer sometime in the future, you can't even get a paper clip behind the unit let alone a phono plug!

The sound is a lot better now though and I would definately recommend to anyone thinking of upgrading their head unit