I recently purchased a second hand Nissan Primera GX - 1998 model. It runs great with only 50K on the clock.
The problem I have is regarding the car radio.
The LCD has completely failed. It still lights up OK but there is no text visible in the display. I can use the radio fine but have no idea what radio stations I am listening to. Also the cassette player does not work.
The radio in the car is the Nissan factory installed radio.
I'm obviously now thinking of buying a new car radio for the car.
I've been looking on the Halford's website and they are currently promoting a "Soundmax SM7088WMR" cd/mp3 player for £69 + half price installation.
My question is - do these off the shelf radio's (all makes considered) use a standard connector?
I understand that an adapter will be required from my Nissan factory fitted radio.
If an adapter is required does anyone know which one would be required? also is it a common adapter easily available?
Just one more question ! Apologies for this !...
Halfords are offering half price installation on car radio's. Has anyone ever had one fitted by them at full price? I'd be interested to know what a half price installation charge might be - approximately and whether they can do it onsite if you turn up at one of their shops in the car.
Mack
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Mack, without going into specifics, changing car radios now is very easy as long as you aren't doing anything like adding extra speakers, amps etc.
Your local Halfords will have a whole lot of "adaptors" to connect your new radio to your existing wiring. Mostly it is a case of pulling out your old one, fitting the adaptor, and pushing in your new one and thats it done!
If your car has a built in radio that is not normal size, then you may need to get a fascia plate adaptor. Again halfords or your nearest dealer should have.
I really don't know how Halfords can charge for this service!
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As with mant trades,you pay for the knowledge not the work.
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>>I really don't know how Halfords can charge for this service!>>
To pay its employees their weekly dues..:-)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Bobby G is correct. Radios are very easy. Buy whatever Halfords radio is on offer. They are all heavily discounted, but on the MRR price. Check the web for the 'true price'. I bought a good Sony last year for £90. It really was the cheapest price. Good simple machine. Then take the old one out, and BEFORE you buy all the connectors, take the new one out of the box. Probably a 50%+ chance it will fit straight into the interconnecting jack plug. Takes 20 seconds! Really. If not, get the connector from Halfords or a good car audio shop. Depending on the model £8-15. I had to fit the alloy cage on mine. Whole job took 30 minutes. Sounded great.
Halfords often seem to have promotions on Saturday morning advertised in the national press.
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Mack
They are pretty easy to fit now. I wouldn't buy the adapter unless you are sure you need one - sometimes it's just a case of swapping over the positive and negative and the hi fi wiring allows you to do this. I was told by halfords I needed to spend £15 on an adapter, and discovered I didn't need one at all.
If you do decide to get one and do it yourself check out www.caraudiodirect.co.uk and also www.justkenwood.co.uk
Both are very competitive and offer fast service in my experience. I would steer clear of ebay though - you never quite get what you think you're gonna get, and the cost saving is not worth it for all the hassle it often turns out to be.
Jimothy
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The OE Nissan radio that you have is a decent-quality item made by Blaupunkt. If you take it out, open the casing and remove the front panel (with the LCD display on) you will find a row of 'conductive rubber' contacts. Cleaning these (and the corresponding contact patches on the front panel) with some alcohol on a swab will restore the LCD display.
If you put another radio in its place you will need a wiring adapter - these are fairly cheap of Ebay (£10) - but you need to buy one specifically made for the P11 Primera.
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Would agree with previous replies that fitting a replacement is very easy, I was also a bit unsure like the OP but found it easy with a wiring harness from Halfords. But I thought I would mention that I had a lot of difficulty getting the old one out my Fiesta, I finished up having to buy a special key. I was told you could make your own out of a coat hangar but it didn't work for me, even with the key it wasn't easy - Paul
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Thanks very much everyone for some great advice there.
I'm going to visit Halfords later to have a chat with the tech people there and find out how much it will cost.
Re: removing the radio - I was looking at the front of the radio earlier and there does not appear to be holes where to put an extraction tool. Anyone had experience with how to remove this type of radio ? I did take note of the adapted coat hanger but as mentioned earlier I can't spot any holes on the front.
Mack
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Like on a lot of Japanese cars the radio is screwed into place. You have to remove the dash trim from in front of it. If you do a google it will probably turn up some instructions.
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Ah right ! Just spotted that there are 2 screws on the underside of the dash. I'm assuming that by releasing these then the control knobs on the front I should be able to get access to the car stereo. Cheers for that !
Mack
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Yes, you're right. I had to do the same on the P10 Primera I had. Guessing that they're the same, undo those 2 screws, remove front bit of dash and you'll see lots of screws that are used to hold the radio in. You'll need to re-use these (and any brackets) for the new radio as well.
If it's the same as the P10, then the screws bolt straight into the radio casing, there's no need for the cage.
cheers,
Stu
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If it's the same as the P10, then the screws bolt straight into the radio casing, there's no need for the cage. cheers, Stu
That is indeed the case on the P11.
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Hi Stu
Cheers for the info. I went to Halfords and bought a really nice Kenwood - 309A cd receiver for £99 including adapters and free fitting.
Unfortunately there was no one on the premises available to fit it (short staffed apparently). I've been told to go back there with it on Saturday. Told the guy on the phone all the details but he would not commit to saying that they could succesfully fit it as the guy working there is new and has relatively little experience. Hmmm! Hopefully providing him with the information how to remove the dash should speed him along.
I could obviously install it myself but I have paid for a product that specifically states free fitting, and I'd hate to do it myself and pink fluffy dice the job up.
Just another question slightly going off tangent. I've had a read through the Kenwood manual and it states that the security code for the radio is a 4 digit number entered in the "Car Audio Passport" (it's a yellow card with numbers on) - I don't see any 4 digit numbers on it tho.
I obviously wont give out the correct numbering and letters I can see but how they are arranged on the card.
Model no : KDC - 309A
barcode......
123456 123456
barcode......
KE2205T0805094
Then underneath is says "serial no" - blank
contact details - obviously currently blank.
Definately no sign of a 4 digit number on the yellow card.
Anyone else had experience with these radio's know what to do about a missing security number from within a factory sealed box? or do I program one in myself on first install? Would be useful to be able to explain this to the new car radio fitter if he's struggling with the installation.
Cheers...
Mack
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Told the guy on the phone all the details but he would not commit to saying that they could succesfully fit it as the guy working there is new and has relatively little experience. Hmmm! Hopefully providing him with the information how to remove the dash should speed him along.
Don't worry, he'll have had plenty of experience putting screws through wires and blowing fuses on his mates' Saxos and 106s (only joking...I hope)!
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The passport supplied is blank where the code should be, because this model does not have a code. Unless things have recently changed, only the top end Kenwood models have codes.
regards,
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Thanks for the reply.
The instruction manual for it does have a whole section about the "security code".
Bearing in mind tho that the manual covers 8 different Kenwood models.
They are...
KDC-W4531
KDC-W4031
KDC-W431G
KDC-W409
KDC-3031A
KDC-3031G
KDC-309A * the one I bought
KDC-309G
Cheers
Mack
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OK here's the final update.
Halford techys were due to install the radio this afternoon (Saturday)at 3pm (*remember free installation was included with the purchase when I bought it 2 days ago).
Got a call at 9:30am this morning from a young lad working there telling me they had no technicians on site for the forseeable future. He said it could be weeks before they could fit it. He also mentioned he had to ring another 4 customers cancelling their bookings for today .
Felt sorry for the lad having to make these calls so I obviously didn't give him a hard time on the phone. It's not his fault.
Rang another Halford located 18 miles away to be told to ring them next Monday to make an appointment for next week.
Decided against waiting and managed to do the job myself in about half an hour. Was a bit fiddly getting the dash panel off after removing the two screws underneath, it was jammed in and required some force to pull it away. As I was told previously in this thread I removed the screws holding the receiver to the chassis and replaced the unit, then easily replaced the dash afterwards.
Have also found out as again previously posted in this thread there is no security code on this KDC-309A Kenwood receiver (spot on again with the advice here).
Well that's it basically. Cheers everyone for the help sorting this one out. Didn't need Halfords tech dudes in the end.
Cheers
Mack
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One little tip for anyone else doing this sort of job. Never do it on a cold day! The plastic trim is much more flexible and less likely to break when its warm - makes the job a lot less stressful.
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Did it go straight in, or did you need to buy an interconnector jack plug?
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Hi MW
It didn't go straight in. I needed to use the adapter supplied by Halfords. Very straight forward, and the wiring config was perfect.
The only scary part was removing the dash. I was really worried about breaking it due to the considerable force required. I used a very large screwdriver working around the edges. I could hear the clips popping open as I worked my way around it. Not a mark in site on replacing it back. Defo best to do this when the plastic is not cold as I'm sure it would have shattered as mentioned previously in this thread. Not a job for the faint hearted. Probably why all the staff from my local Halfords have all decided to take a sicky.
Mack
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I bought a bike from Halfords-after a month I was invited to bring it back for a free check.The free check was done by a kid who looked as tho' he was skipping school.
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