Hello,

Well, I bought a new car a few weeks ago and it already had an aftermarket audio unit installed, but personally I don't like it all that much and there's also problems with it (no more backlighting, etc etc). I already own another unit (Sony) that I'd want to put in there instead. My problem here is that I am unable to remove the current unit, or more precisely, I do not know how.

Car:
1998 Mazda Protégé SE (1.5L engine)

Current unit installed:
Clarion DRB2475

Any help or guides to help me with this problem will be greatly appreciated. I can supply more information and pictures aswell.

THANKS!

...I sell this brand in work and have fitted quite a few.

Basically, if you need to release the stereo from the dash you need the key's, in the pic you can see two strips at each side that lock the stereo into place, the key's simply slide in and release these tabs and the stereo pulls out.





You may need a converter block to suit the connections, they are'nt expensive and if you can't get a connector block it's real easy to cut off the connector block and wire manually

Or it could just be screwed into place like my sisters was, which I discovered after spending a fair amount of money on the BluePoint radio remover tool with all the keys on.

i dunno about where you are, but in the UK, anything after about 1996 to 1998, depending on make of car, all have universal ISO cable connectors. i brown plug for speakers, one black plug for power/earth, etc.

Nearly all car stereos come with a wiring loom that already has the plugs that fit straight in. The only thing i have ever known to be wrong is that sony stereos have the ignition live and permanent live round the wrong way. Not major problem but you will lose all your radio station presets and settings. Just swap the red and yellow wires around to solve that. Red wire is ignition live, yellow wire is permanent live.

Quote from danthebangerboy :

i dunno about where you are, but in the UK, anything after about 1996 to 1998, depending on make of car, all have universal ISO cable connectors. i brown plug for speakers, one black plug for power/earth, etc.

Nearly all car stereos come with a wiring loom that already has the plugs that fit straight in. The only thing i have ever known to be wrong is that sony stereos have the ignition live and permanent live round the wrong way. Not major problem but you will lose all your radio station presets and settings. Just swap the red and yellow wires around to solve that. Red wire is ignition live, yellow wire is permanent live.

Yeah the Jap's come in that white strip connector and EU is two small connectors, the Clarion is EU so it possibly already has the conversion connector Jap>EU.

E:

@ Yoda, surely the head unit was not screwed to the dash=) ?

Quote from CSU1 :

...I sell this brand in work and have fitted quite a few.

Basically, if you need to release the stereo from the dash you need the key's, in the pic you can see two strips at each side that lock the stereo into place, the key's simply slide in and release these tabs and the stereo pulls out.

That's pretty much what I was thinking of. I saw that there was the frame and all, and checked that it wasn't screwed onto a different piece (ex: some nissans/toyotas). I had a pair of keys with my Sony (example) but they didn't seem to work. My guess are that they are different? If so, where can I get the correct ones? If they should work, what could be the problem?

Thanks for the help folks.

when I wanted to take my headunit out (quite a nice Pioneer actually) I tried 5 different keys and it wouldn't come out of the frame. I ended up using a flat screwdriver and some dentist picks.

Quote from Knight_Atack :

That's pretty much what I was thinking of. I saw that there was the frame and all, and checked that it wasn't screwed onto a different piece (ex: some nissans/toyotas). I had a pair of keys with my Sony (example) but they didn't seem to work. My guess are that they are different? If so, where can I get the correct ones? If they should work, what could be the problem?

Thanks for the help folks.

Any piece of metal should do, as long as it's long enough and slim enough to fit, as it just pushes the clamps back that hold the stereo in place. Small screwdrivers should do the trick if the keys don't work.
Also, you need to insert the key on both sides simultaneously to get it out.

If nothing helps, just park it over night with the windows open. Any stereo will magically dissappear if done in the right location.

Hi everybody,

I'm currently trying to give it another try. If anyone can be of any help, it'll be appreciated. Please help!

PS: I'll try to get a live stream up, but anyways.

Quote from Knight_Atack :

Hi everybody,

I'm currently trying to give it another try. If anyone can be of any help, it'll be appreciated. Please help!

PS: I'll try to get a live stream up, but anyways.

WOW! sorry I've missed your post

The example key's you posted should work. One thing I've learned is that it takes more force to remove some stereo's than you might think - so, get a firm hold on the head unit with a tool or whatever is at hand that might not damage the unit and place the key's in between the cage and the radio and give it a good yank in a side-to-side motion to loosen everything up, sometimes you can feel one side of the unit disengage from the lock, if this happens remove the key on that side as this gives more room to work with.

Word of advice; watch your fingers, those cages are razor sharp, and some cheaper cages as galvanized which is very dangerous if it get's into the bloodstream.

If that fails, contact you local retailer and ask them for some key's, if they won't give them to you; give them $2 and tell the guy to go screw his mother.

If that fails, PM me your address and I'll post you a set FOC.

E:

btw, you were sliding the key's between the unit and the cage and no between the dash and the cage right?...

Thanks for the reply. Well I tried with they keys again and tried a few things. The unit is definately not screwed. I think the problem is getting the unit to unlock itself from the cage. I haven't tried with other things than the keys yet (ex: putty knifes, metal stuff, w/e), but I still dunno.

I remember calling a few places around here to see how much they charged for changing a unit and its ridiculous (50$+).

When using the keys for a decent amount of time, I believe one of the keys finally got to the right place, but nothing could be felt on the other key. I'm still wondering what to do next, lol.

Bah!! tis simple - look at the two tabs in the pic above, they press inward on the two sides of the unit to lock it in, the key's(or any slim object)simply pushes the tabs away from the unit to let it free...

Just pull the ruddy thing ! HARD ! ! ! watch your fingers...

lol, don't worry, I know how the system works, it's not the first one I've pulled out and I still my other system close by. One side didn't click, so there's no real grip. The other one is meh. Looks okay, but after pulling TOOOO hard like I did, it doesn't seem to work that well anymore. Maybe I killed my keys or the tabs. I still haven't tried with slim metal things.

attack locking fins then, this is a clarion cage I have in the cupboard

Now that would be funny. I'll see what I can do. Thanks for the help . I'll keep this thread updated.

Quote from CSU1 :

attack locking fins then, this is a clarion cage I have in the cupboard

some good advice, where do you work... halfords ??

Quote from theirishnoob :

some good advice, where do you work... halfords ??

na mate, I keep 90% of the motor trade supplied with parts , the best in the business we are I have you know - tis hard going in winter with the HGV batteries but upside as of late is people aren't splashing out on new motors so old cars requiring new parts means me happy

Only thing Halfords are good for is their own brand hand-tools and their ever nice selection of racing DVD's.

Well I finally was able to take the unit out. Used a 1inch putty knife, slide it each sides and it eventually came out. And you know what? The system is completely different than what we expected. It's not a key and lock system, but rather a lock system that is *I don't know how to explain it* (Top and bottom clips on the sides). I'll wire up my connections tonight to fix the new unit in tomorrow. I'll grab some pictures of all the system tomorrow as well, for your knowledge and entertainment (and show-off). :P Thanks for all the help nonetheless.

Ok, well, the unit is in and works great.

I also promised to post some photographs of the old system to show you what was up with it. You can see a close up of the cage in image 2 and 3 and there are big square holes, that's where the clips of the radio hooked into. You can see the hooks in image 4. So each time you'd slide the keys in, it would slide between the two hooks and do nothing. Only the putty knife could do something in this case.

Enjoy! And thanks for the help.

Glad to hear all is OK

BTW the pic's you posted would get any stereo-fitter sacked on the spot in my book.

Those fins are supposed to be used to secure the cage to the dash, not the cage to the head-unit, how on earth did they bend the fins inwards if the unit and cage were inside the dash, ..it's possible the cage and unit could have been removed as I see no fins bent outward to secure it to the dash....anyway I hope you used the correct cage that came with your unit, if not it's not the end of the world just makes life harder if you need to remove it again( as you know now )

When u bought the radio, did it got damaged in any way? If the LCD backlight doesnt work - it may be something in the "stripe-cable" (dont know the right word). If u dare and if u understand electronics - open it up, take the cable out and test it. Some test instruments have "beep" feature what will beep when the connection is reached or something. Test all the places with it, if no beep = no connection. If u dont know what im talkin about, better take it to the repairman.

It was an old radio, and was there when I bought the car a few months ago. It's already out now, and a new piece in.

Quote from Knight_Atack :

It was an old radio, and was there when I bought the car a few months ago. It's already out now, and a new piece in.

What was the prolem? Was it the LCD strip-cable?

Do you think a guy that just bought a brand new radio will be effed to search for the reason of why his older radio gave up? If its only a connection problem, he will be even more pissed off cause he probaby spent big dollars on a new radio for nothing.

The problem better stay unknown.