[moonatics]

I'm trying to put a Sony CD player into my husband's 1993 Ford Ranger. I need to know how to remove the old stereo from the dash. Does anyone know about this? I can't reach in from below because it's so high on the dash. There are four small holes around the edges of the stereo. Must I use a special tool into these holes to to get this out?

I am attempting to do this myself because the Sony was the one taken out of my Ody after it stopped working. Found out from Good Guys installers it had coins in it. Thank you 2 year old son! Well, the boy did the same thing today with my BRAND NEW KENWOOD CD PLAYER! Good Guys said they'd have to send it out for three weeks to remove coins and check for damage. So I took it out, played Operation, and found three pennies and a dime. Reinstalled it, and it works just fine. Yay! And then, I thought, why can't the Sony be cleaned out too? So I opened it up, played Operation again, and I think it should still play. I don't want to spend money on someone else putting it in if I don't have to. It may not work...)

Any tips on the Ranger would be great! Thanks!

 

[shindog]

Fords are pretty easy. The four holes you referred to are the key. You can buy the tool to remove, or make your own. I'll see if I can find a pic of the tool. I have a set in my tool box. The tool basically is a pair of c shaped wires whose diameter matches closely to the size of the holes you see. These c's are notched on each of the pointed ends. You push the tools in on each side of the radio, which releases the radio from the dash. The notches on the tool then hold on to the radio at the same time, allowing you to pull it out.

Make your own by getting some thick wire (coat hanger works if you can get the really thick metal hangers) and bending them to "C" shapes so you can shove them in the holes. the radio will release. Stick your fingers in the tape slot and pull the radio out. Presto. Get a wiring harness and a dash kit for your radio/car, and you're done.

Any more questions, just ask.

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-SJ (former username: shinjohn)
'01 DEP EX, and I'm workin' on it! (slowly)

 

[moonatics]

Thanks for being there again, Shinjohn/dog. I will try the hangers this evening.

More questions: what do you mean by wiring harness? Does the wiring already plugged into the Ford stereo need to be altered for the Sony? Or can I just plug in the wiring currently attached to the Ford? I am not sure if the sockets will match. Do they vary from different stereo manufacturers?

 

[shindog]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by moonatics:
Thanks for being there again, Shinjohn/dog. I will try the hangers this evening.
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One last thing, make sure you make these long enough. They need to stick in several inches in order to reach the release pins. Try one hole to see how long you need to make the "tools". Stick the hanger in one hole until it bottoms out. Size the rest accordingly.

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">
More questions: what do you mean by wiring harness? Does the wiring already plugged into the Ford stereo need to be altered for the Sony? Or can I just plug in the wiring currently attached to the Ford? I am not sure if the sockets will match. Do they vary from different stereo manufacturers?
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Every manufacturer and every car uses a different plug (socket), but the wires they use are usually similarly colored. You can go to your local Best Buy, electronics store, or car audio retailer, and get what's called a wiring harness. It has color coded wires, attached to a factory style plug.

So, you take your (aftermarket) stereo, which has it's own harness (bare wires coming out) and connect those wires to the wires of the harness you buy from the store. (of course this harness is specific to your vehicle) This harness then has a plug (socket) that attaches directly into your factory wiring. Makes connection really simple, just match the wires, and then plug the whole thing in!

The last thing about the dash kit: Fords of this time used a non-DIN (non-standard) sized chassis, so the Sony won't fit because the hole is too big. You can purchase a dash kit which fills in the empty space around the standard DIN size aftermarket stereo so that it fits snugly in the dash. Been awhile since I've been in a Ranger, but I'm pretty positive you'll need the dash kit too. Easy to install though, don't worry. Think of it as a big plastic trim ring. A little ugly (IMHO), but the easiest way to install a DIN stereo in a Ford.

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-SJ (former username: shinjohn)
'01 DEP EX, and I'm workin' on it! (slowly)

 

[moonatics]

Shindog: Mission accomplished! When I went over to Circuit City to purchase the dash kit and the wiring harness, I had to go to the installation place in back. The guys there told me that the Sony would fit perfectly in the Ranger Dash, and gave me a universal adaptor to connect to the harness. They would have charged me less than the 32 bucks I had to pay for the two parts if I had them install it, but the total plus labor would have been 60 dollars. They even said the install would take about 5 minutes and I should have no problems.

The hardest thing was removing the stock stereo. I had my husband make the removal tools, and we inserted them, but no matter how much he pushed or tugged, the thing wouldn't move. He made another set of tools using an even thicker hanger, and then we both tugged out and away from the stereo at the same time, and it finally came out. The Sony fit perfectly, and the hookup took a few minutes.

Then we tried it out - the CD player worked! The play is great and it accepts and rejects the CDs perfectly.

Thanks again for the info. You helped save me $200 on a new stereo! And from now on I'll do my own installation. That is, after I remove all coins from the autos!

 

[shindog]

Fantastic!
Glad everything went smoothly and glad to be of assistance! Sounds to me like you're becoming a bit of an expert yourself too.

Doesn't it feel great to do this stuff yourself, now that you know it really isn't too hard?

Take Care!


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-Shin John
'01 DEP EX, and I'm workin' on it! (slowly)

 

[moonatics]

Yes, Shinjohn, I am definitely going to install other stereos myself. Piece of cake. But I saw the installation guy at Circuit City with a soldering iron, and I don't know if I'm ready for that. It's okay, because I'm not a super-powered, pounding woofers and tweeders kind of gal. I don't even know what woofers and tweeders are. Or if I spelled them correctly. All I know is I don't like the cars that go boom.

Glad to see you got your Fisher Price seat. You lucky dog. I got the Century Breverra Accel, with the EZ latch, and I like it a lot. But I would definitely have bought the FP if I could find it. They just opened our Babies R Us on Dec 7th. We're going crazy with expansion here, too!

Happy Holidays, and I'll talk to you again when I have more audio adventures!

Laura