How To: Remove Dash Trim (Radio)
- Thread starter Equinox
- Start date
well, im not sure how they work, i had a stereo guy take a look at them and he fixed it once, because the air conditioning wasnt working at all and the heater was working HELLA and then he did something and the heater quit workingat all and the Air conditioning is hella now and when i went back to have him fix it again he kept saying that it wasnt his fault it didnt work and that warrenty should fix it yadda yadda yadda
kyo, hope your listening still
with the stock stereo which stereo are you trying to take out? is it the mazda one, or the kenwood stereo??
if the mazda stereo, you officially need the official ford removal tool, which officially only mazda and ford dealers have...
in reality just get a wire coat hangerand cut into two pieces rougly a foot long each, then making sure that sharp edges are smoothed over, you need to open the side covers on your stero with a small screwdriver.... this will reveal two holes, place the new tool into the holes (making sure that your tools egdes come to a perfect U shape...
once in it will take a little whiole to wiggle around and find the right spot... eventually you will feel a click... then by pushing inwards from BOTH sides thie should release the clips and the stereo should come all the way out of its hole....
if your installing any aftermarket stereo i would reccommend two things... if available, take off the front panel (on car) and screw into the provided holes... this makes for a slightly more secure install.... second of all use an aftermarket adapter kit... even if only to bare wires... the mazda wires are ok, but whatever you do, don't cut them!!! they are thin as!! that and if they detach, you will certainly be screwied in finding a better acc wire than the original!!!
good luck
with the stock stereo which stereo are you trying to take out? is it the mazda one, or the kenwood stereo??
if the mazda stereo, you officially need the official ford removal tool, which officially only mazda and ford dealers have...
in reality just get a wire coat hangerand cut into two pieces rougly a foot long each, then making sure that sharp edges are smoothed over, you need to open the side covers on your stero with a small screwdriver.... this will reveal two holes, place the new tool into the holes (making sure that your tools egdes come to a perfect U shape...
once in it will take a little whiole to wiggle around and find the right spot... eventually you will feel a click... then by pushing inwards from BOTH sides thie should release the clips and the stereo should come all the way out of its hole....
if your installing any aftermarket stereo i would reccommend two things... if available, take off the front panel (on car) and screw into the provided holes... this makes for a slightly more secure install.... second of all use an aftermarket adapter kit... even if only to bare wires... the mazda wires are ok, but whatever you do, don't cut them!!! they are thin as!! that and if they detach, you will certainly be screwied in finding a better acc wire than the original!!!
good luck
traitorhound
powered by FLIP
i got the din removal tools at wal-mart
and that cost?? mine was free, was one of those crappy coat hangers from the hotels/dry cleaners (i don't buy coat hangers - but i don't hang up my clothes very often!!)
just need to use the top cutter on your pliers... it pinches the stuff open.... and i didn't have to leave the house.... - but hey thats just my whinge
just need to use the top cutter on your pliers... it pinches the stuff open.... and i didn't have to leave the house.... - but hey thats just my whinge
traitorhound
powered by FLIP
cost was like 8 USD. . .. and then i was sly and returned the keys after i used them. . .cost monetarily was 0. . ..and i go to walmart all the time so it wasnt' even a wasted trip
just caught this thread. here is a lil more info.
you will need a double DIN size tool as well as something to push on a snap in the middle to remove the radio. the ford tool is "E" shape instead of "U shape" like most standard radios.
for those people having trouble with their climate control, i had some trouble too because i removed the climate contrl for more room to do deck work. just fixed it:
-check to make sure you put the two wires back onto the white pegs and make sure the black part of the wire is on the black metal snap. turn the hot/cold dial and watch the passenger and driver wire. make sure the metal wire is moving but NOT the black tubing that surrounds it.
-when you re-install you have to make sure your knobs are tunred exactly as they were when you took the wires off. if you hook the wires back up with the dials tunred differently it will mess up calibration. this is most likely the cause of trouble for you people whos AC is too strong/heater weak or AC weak/Heater strong,
you will need a double DIN size tool as well as something to push on a snap in the middle to remove the radio. the ford tool is "E" shape instead of "U shape" like most standard radios.
for those people having trouble with their climate control, i had some trouble too because i removed the climate contrl for more room to do deck work. just fixed it:
-check to make sure you put the two wires back onto the white pegs and make sure the black part of the wire is on the black metal snap. turn the hot/cold dial and watch the passenger and driver wire. make sure the metal wire is moving but NOT the black tubing that surrounds it.
-when you re-install you have to make sure your knobs are tunred exactly as they were when you took the wires off. if you hook the wires back up with the dials tunred differently it will mess up calibration. this is most likely the cause of trouble for you people whos AC is too strong/heater weak or AC weak/Heater strong,
s6xtysecassasin
Member
- :
- P5T
great how to
anarchistchiken
Member
- :
- 03 Silver Protege5
Well that's all well and good and stuff, but is there a way to remove the panels that the fake carbon trim go on altogether and replace it with something else?
anarchistchiken
Member
- :
- 03 Silver Protege5
well, I had an idea to replace it with a clear piece of plastic and put lights behind it. Any idea how I could do that? Would I have to just cut it?
or if you dont have access to fiberglass:
cut them off with a razor saw.
vacuform some clear plastic over it. vacuforming involves taking the piece, heating up a sheet of clear plastic until it becomes very soft. and then pulling it down on the piece to make a copy of it. you use a vacuum to help suck the plastic down on the piece and prevent any airbubbles or gaps.
with really thin vaccuform plastic called clear thermaform you can heat it over a stove. it will not be durable though. It's $3 for a huge sheet. for something like what you want you will probably want thicker vacuuforming plastic which will require a professional vaccuform machine for best results. the plastic is still cheap but finding a vacufrom museum is harder. body shops will not have it...best luck for one is if you got a pal going to a industrial design school.
than you can find some leds and tap into the dash lights or whatever else you want.
it will be a tiny bit thicker than the stock ones, same as if you were to do what equinox said. but it will be crystal clear.
dunno, seems extreme to do all this.
g'luck if you decide too.
cut them off with a razor saw.
vacuform some clear plastic over it. vacuforming involves taking the piece, heating up a sheet of clear plastic until it becomes very soft. and then pulling it down on the piece to make a copy of it. you use a vacuum to help suck the plastic down on the piece and prevent any airbubbles or gaps.
with really thin vaccuform plastic called clear thermaform you can heat it over a stove. it will not be durable though. It's $3 for a huge sheet. for something like what you want you will probably want thicker vacuuforming plastic which will require a professional vaccuform machine for best results. the plastic is still cheap but finding a vacufrom museum is harder. body shops will not have it...best luck for one is if you got a pal going to a industrial design school.
than you can find some leds and tap into the dash lights or whatever else you want.
it will be a tiny bit thicker than the stock ones, same as if you were to do what equinox said. but it will be crystal clear.
dunno, seems extreme to do all this.
g'luck if you decide too.
Umm...so is this gonna be difficult for me to do without messing up the a/c and heat? I'm defineily nervous about messing them up, that's why I haven't ried yet...I've never done this before...shoud I bother..or try to have the dealer do it for me? I dont quite understand wht people are doing that messes up the a/c and heat but I certainly dont want to do it...
-DaViper
-DaViper
daviper, i'm assuming your painting... if its a system, then you don't need to remove it.....
the thing with the controls is that the wires can be tricky to reattach.... unless you have seriously fat hands, you should be able to re-attach these... it just requires a bit of dexterity
the thing with the controls is that the wires can be tricky to reattach.... unless you have seriously fat hands, you should be able to re-attach these... it just requires a bit of dexterity
Right, I'm painting the trim around the radio. I'm just worried about messing up my ac and heat taking it off. Basically, I just need to keep the dials in the same place for when I put it back on, and reattatch the wires the same way and I should have any problems right?
Thanks!
-DaViper
Thanks!
-DaViper
