Need a car stereo guru!

[StageLeft]

Well this is newbie stuff. Anyway my radio in my car doesn't really work all the time. When it does work my reception sucks (radio sucks but that's another matter). Often it flicks on and off so there is a bad connection somewhere. However when it's off the radio is still turned on but there is some connection problem between it and the antena somewhere along the way. It's not that there is static - it's that there is NO sound whatsoever including no static. So I guess my question is: Is it possible to determine if there is a connection problem somewhere between antena and radio, or is this sort of a problem probably within the radio itself.

This leads to a second question: When I replace this thing I've never really done this in the past at all. How hard is it to do? I was going to get the Aiwa $99 cd player because it has an input on the front for my mp3 player. I hear the instructions in these are really good but like I said I've never done this in my life and since installation is free it's not worth wasting an afternoon to do (it would be interesting to have done it though; thus I don't want to necessarily use free installation).

 

[Ns1]

dunno about the first one, but the 2nd one is pretty easy

the hardest part of installing a HU is taking apart your dash

 

[StageLeft]

hehe - how hard is that? It's a 93 sentra if that's any help...

 

[3putt]

also for most cars you can get an adapter to go from the cars factory plug to wires that are labled for your new radio. Its really hard to get the wires right without the adapter a lot of trial by error. As far as your old radio if it goes off and on at random the ground my be loose. bad reception my just be a crappy radio I know i can tell a diff from a factory radio and a pioneer super tuner 3.

 

[Ns1]

once again, it's just taking apart your dash right (without breaking anything)

after that it's just plugging stuff in

if you can build a computer u can do this

 

[The Stigenator]

you knopw what spend the additional money and get it installed at the place where you buy your cdplayer. Its not going to be by much.
The reason: well I just installed 2 6x9 speakers in the back. My friend said "easy", I have done it before. Well so much for "easy" it took us 2 days to put it on. Actually 1 day to put it on, but the previous day went trying to find a hole. You see my car didnt come with speakers in the back, his did. We have the same car, same year, same color, same trim level. Only difference is his is an auto and mine is stick. Apart from that he had a 4 channel sound.

When mounting it we realise those two additional holes for a 6x9 that he had doesnt exist in mine. So we couldnt bolt it down to those holes, so we had to do some monkey business and get it mounted. Only one bolt went thru the car and screwed in teh trunk the rest were bolted between the mat and the metal chassis. While the solution works, I am sure if anybody wants to replace that speaker housing (speakers can be easy replaced they have their own screws) they will most probably replace the parcel shelf and start over.

 

[StageLeft]

The_good_guy


Lol! Been there man Back in '94 or so I had my mom's subaru justy. It had only two front speakers - nothing in the rear. I bought an amp and some speakers and with a friend's help we just spliced off the front speakers and ran them back through the car real-ugly-like to the back. There was a gross wire coming directly from the battery to the amp. It all worked but it wasn't pretty.

 

[UnixFreak]

No offense to you, skoorb, but the LAST thing you want to mickey-mouse around with, is wiring. Take it from a guy, who knew what he was doing (me, I was a stereo installer at the time) but STILL chose to do it the ropey way,
and decided a fuse wasnt "all that important" and I could get by for a couple days until they arrived at work to buy one. They were back-ordered when I got the stuff for the system. So I installed my MTX 275, not a big amp, I thought ( though I must say, I was very impressed with the performance,
pushed my 12" JLaudios real nice) and I used some good Fosgate, 4 gauge wire, and grounded the amp to the body of the car VERY nicely, in two different spots, and thought "this will work until I get a fuse. This is so simple, I do this everyday,I know I
didnt Mess it up". Then I am driving down the road, cruising along, tunes cranked up, and I smell something burning. The zip tie broke under the hood, and the wire had dropped down onto the motor and melted, and, lets just just say the stereo
system wasnt the most expensive victim of the fire. after that, I dont mess around. Its been 4 or so years, and I havent skimped a tiny detail on an install since.


Sorry to scare you there, but thats for Amps, X-overs, etc. As for the deck, just get the wiring harness with it, follow the directions, and its plug and play. As someone already said, the hardest part is getting the dash apart. And once you get it apart, it never goes back together smoothly.

as for your current problem, I think its a ground. Either antenna, power or speaker, most likely you will need to pull your deck out to find it. At that point, you may as well replace it.

 

[Platypus]

1) Either its an old car and the cable underneath the antena under your fender has rotted out.
2) The antena plug that leads into the radio is half plugged in or loose and its losing reception
3) Your recevier has bit the dust.

If you want to install something new, dont do it yourself, have it done somewhere right, aka NOT worst buy or one of those stores that try to sell microwaves and subs at the same time. I also suggest you stay far far away from aiwa, but thats just a personal opinion.

Good luck.