Is a newer car radio to integrated to be pulled for another?

Hello, davidlaska! You wrote on 31 Aug 2006 21:25:51 -0700:

d> My Toyota cressida 86 is dead but the AM/FM stereo with build in d> equalizer and tape player and 4 speakers is better than nothing in my d> other car. I could not figure out a lot of the wires so tried looking d> through my factory service manual and a separate electrical manual for d> the cressida. The wiring diagram was very busy. Before I dive into d> it, I need to know if these units are tied into the specific car so d> much that it would be nearly impossible to move the unit and have it d> just play tapes and radio? If possible, that would give me the extra d> push needed to trace all those wire throughout the harness ( I have the d> whole dash out presently for other things I am doing).

The built in Radio sets are not really specific to any one car, but the plugs and sockets are, sometimes differing between similar car models. If you have the radio unit out of the car and it has wire tails then you can just cut off the plugs and connect up using universal screw type connector blocks. Although it may look confusing, it's not really so hard to figure out. First of course you need power (12V+) usually red. Then the negative (chassis ground, usually black 12V-) . on modern sets there is often a power connector for an electric antenna (often yellow but not always) then there are eight wires for the four speakers (a live and a ground for each speaker) god only knows what colour these will be, but the grounds are often the same colour, also, if you have a multi meter - the four speaker grounds will likely be connected electrically to the chassis ground. The antenna connector will be obvious as it will have a co-axial socket on the end. Try it rigged up before you mount it into another vehicle. Don't forget to use an inline fuse around 20 - 30 amp. Be aware that a lot of units need a code to be entered after power loss. Just a thought, but these things are so cheap now, you could probably pick a decent one up from a breakers yard for a tenner or so, then it wouldn't matter too much if you set it on fire. Before you start, wait to see if another poster thinks of something I may have forgotten.

With best regards, 3T39. E-mail: snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com

Add yet one more wire for an 'always-live' wire to keep station memory (and clock-if present) intact.

Hello, Bennett! You wrote on Fri, 01 Sep 2006 15:54:25 GMT:

Add yet one more wire for an 'always-live' wire to keep station memory (and clock-if present) intact.

See what I mean :^)

With best regards, 3T39. E-mail: snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com

Possibly a dimmer feed from the car instrument lighting. Feed to aerial amp if it has a rear window type. Or it might have an external power amp. Some also use the display for non-radio things - but this should be obvious.

Gets even worse... :)

Power antenna control?

The bottom line is , It can be done. The extra wires can be dealt with as I listen to music with it. But what is the code deal again, is it some disabling thing rendering it useless in another car? Is it a push once and reset or some complicated factory rom flash reset or worse?

Hello, davidlaska! You wrote on 1 Sep 2006 13:00:29 -0700:

d> The bottom line is , It can be done. The extra wires can be dealt d> with as I listen to music with it. But what is the code deal again, is d> it some disabling thing rendering it useless in another car? Is it a d> push once and reset or some complicated factory rom flash reset or d> worse?

Yes the coded radios use an eeprom to store a code number which has to be re-entered after power is removed . they are supposed to discourage theft but only ever caused legitimate users grief when they simply forgot the code after a few years. Ford radios were the worst for this, but other makers embraced the technology for a while, I don't know how common they are nowadays. Of course, thieves never worried about it, as the right equipment can erase and re-code the eeprom and they always know a scally who can get it done cheap. And incidentaly this is the 'always on' power wire that another poster mentioned.

With best regards, 3T39. E-mail: snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com

Could I further assume that removing the battery from the car would trigger the code, I have removed the battery to exchange it and did not have to enter a code. I hope this is it.

Go to an auto parts store and look at the diagram for an adaptor specific to your car. They sell these for adapting aftermarket players to generic equipment. It will have the wire code written (usually on the packaging, but you might have to buy it, open up the instructions, copy the diagram, repack and return).

jak

I don't 'think' that Toyotas of that vintage had coded radios; but I can't be sure. I know that my '90 Corolla is not encoded.

jak

If the new radio has 'high power' outputs, be careful of speaker grounds. On my car, thre are two leads to each speaker, no commons to the chassis. Reason is that the radio uses a bridged output circuit which does not return the speaker minus to chassis. If you ground the minus lead to chassis, you risk damaging the output IC's. regards, tom

I have the toyota,s factory electrical system from toyota and also the shop one, I have not found any mention of a code. Believe it or not, there are no take apart diagrams or sections for this.

Hello, davidlaska! You wrote on 1 Sep 2006 15:00:12 -0700:

d> 3T39 wrote: ??>> Hello, davidlaska! ??>> You wrote on 1 Sep 2006 13:00:29 -0700: ??>>

d>>> The bottom line is , It can be done. The extra wires can be dealt d>>> with as I listen to music with it. But what is the code deal again, d>>> is it some disabling thing rendering it useless in another car? Is it d>>> a push once and reset or some complicated factory rom flash reset d>>> or worse? ??>>

??>> Yes the coded radios use an eeprom to store a code number which has to ??>> be re-entered after power is removed . they are supposed to discourage ??>> theft but only ever caused legitimate users grief when they simply ??>> forgot the code after a few years. Ford radios were the worst for ??>> this, but other makers embraced the technology for a while, I don't ??>> know how common they are nowadays. Of course, thieves never worried ??>> about it, as the right equipment can erase and re-code the eeprom and ??>> they always know a scally who can get it done cheap. And incidentaly ??>> this is the 'always on' power wire that another poster mentioned. ??>>

??>> With best regards, 3T39. E-mail: snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com d> Could I further assume that removing the battery from the car would d> trigger the code, I have removed the battery to exchange it and did not d> have to enter a code. I hope this is it.

Yes, that's quite right. If you have removed the battery in the past and the radio worked fine after replacing the battery, then your radio is not coded, so that's one more thing you don't have to worry about.

With best regards, 3T39. E-mail: snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com

Thanks for everything