- 1). Open the car's hood, find the battery and loosen the negative (marked with a "-") battery terminal with a socket wrench. Twist it back and forth until it loosens and comes off. Lay it aside.
- 2). Remove the portion of the dashboard facing that covers the radio. This procedure is specific to each brand and model of car, so it may involve using any documentation you may have found or bought to assist you. Some facing can be simply pried off with a panel tool. Most use hidden Phillips or Torx (star bit) fasteners or hex-head screws and bolts with heads ranging in size from 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch. Look under the dash and behind overlapping pry-off sections of the dash. Take care not to break any plastic paneling.
- 3). Remove the dummy panel covering the hole in the dash where the radio belongs if this is a first-time installation, or loosen the old radio. With the dash facing off, any fasteners holding in the dummy panel or old radio are usually visible at this stage. If you are removing a radio first, there may be a supporting bracket or strap at the rear of the radio. In some vehicles, you can reach past the radio to the back, locate the fastener by feel and remove it with the appropriate wrench or driver. In others, you may need to temporarily remove an ashtray or a cubby hole above or below the radio. Some cars require you to remove the glove box to get to the support bracket.
- 4). Locate the electrical, antenna and speaker connections. If exchanging a radio with an existing one, all these connections are already plugged into the back of the old radio. Unplug them and insert them into the same locations at the back of the new radio. If this is a new installation, you can usually locate the wiring harness and plugs tied together and taped or tie-wrapped to the structural frame behind the dash. Looking at the connector holes or plug harnesses on the back of the radio often provides a clue to what the car-side connectors look like. Usually the power harness and plug have two or three wires leading into them. Red most often means 12V switched, which turns on with the ignition. Yellow or orange usually means unswitched or memory. This wire powers electronic presets on the radio. The harness may have a black or dark brown ground wire, attached somewhere to the car's metal frame or leading back to the negative terminal on the battery.
- 5). Insert the antenna coaxial cable into its receptacle on the radio. If this is a new installation, do not proceed with subsequent steps until you have installed an antenna suitable for your vehicle and led its coaxial lead to the radio's location with at least 12 inches of play to allow connection before you install the radio into the dash.
- 6). Reconnect the negative battery terminal under the hood and clip the alligator connector of your voltage tester to a known grounded metal area behind the dashboard. If you cannot find such an area, find your fuse box and clip onto a ground wire there or find a screw attaching a portion of your door jamb to ground your tester. Test your connection at the fuse box with the ignition key in the "accessory" position until the lamp in your tester lights. Test the power connector on the car side for electricity. Turn off the ignition to test for unswitched power for electronic presets your radio may use, if so equipped. If all tests out properly, see Step 7.
- 7). Connect speaker harness, power harness and antenna coax cable to the radio. Perform Step 3 in reverse, then Step 2 in reverse.
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