How-To: Replacing the stereo head unit and adding a steering remote

Replacing the stereo head unit is pretty easy, with the exception of a few bells and whistles I outline in here. One of the tricky parts was tapping into the brake signal line (which my new stereo needed in order to allow for "safe" playing of DVDs). The other was installing a remote control for the stereo mounted on the steering column. Directions below.

 

Removing the old stereo is fairly easy. Reach under the dash from the passenger side (shown in green arrow) until your hand is behind the stock stereo. Give it a gentle push until it eases out of the console.

 

 

If it seems stuck, its probably because of bent tabs on the stock stereo's metal harness, shown in green rectangles below. Simply bend them flat with your fingers prior to pushing the entire stereo out.

 

 

When you're done detaching the wires, here's what you should have:

 

 

I ended up buying the JVC KD-AVX77 with its HD Radio option. I wanted this unit for its beautiful touchscreen, which allowed me to install a reverse backup camera without needing a double-DIN stereo or one with a motorized screen. Love the unit, BTW.

 

I conneceted the new unit's harness with the stock unit's harness so that I can return things to stock if needed.

 

 

The stock unit tells you which colored wires are for which functions, so the connecting the harnesses was a piece of cake.

 

 

The only part of wiring that was a bit non-obvious was connecting the parking brake signal line to the stereo head unit. If you get any sort of stereo with DVD functionality, it'll likely require for safety that you connect the parking brake signal line to it. I had to find out which line was actually the parking brake signal line. I didn't want to tap directly into the parking brake switch itself (at the base of the parking brake) because I didn't want to run a line from the console out to the parking brake. So instead I tapped directly into the dash console light harness into the parking brake light. This turned out to be pretty easy.

 

Remove the entire gauge cluster by unscrewing its four screws. The parking brake light's line is in the left harness, highlighted below:

 

 

Remove that harness and tap into the brown line at one corner of the harness. The brown line is the parking brake light line.

 

 

The rest of the installation is straightfoward. Simply connect your new stereo's harness to the new stereo, put all wires back into the console, and gently ease the new stereo back into the console.

 

Next, I'll explain how I added a remote control for the stereo mounted on the steering column. I added this using a method that required no drilling of visible holes and should allow you to return the car to stock if needed.

 

I chose the Sony RM-X4S because it looks great when installed. These might be discontinued, unfortunately. But you can pretty much use any remote that's based on resistor chains; most steering-column (or steering-wheel) remotes are apparently based off the principle that different buttons produce different resistances when pressed. The RM-X4S fits that bill nicely.

 

 

To run its wire, take off the top casing of the steering column by unscrewing its four screws from underneath the steering column. Then use a Dremel or other tool to create a small channel in the rim of the bottom casing just wide enough to run the remote's wire. I recommend the area highlighted below:

 

 

Run the remote wire through the channel, then attach the remote to the bottom casing. I ended up deciding against drilling holes in order to mount the remote, even though the remote comes with a mounting plate. Instead, I used epoxy glue to attach it so that I can remove it if ever necessary to return the car to stock condition.

 

 

In order for the remote to control your stereo head unit, you'll need a steering wheel control interface. I bought Pac Audio's SWI-JACK for my JVC head unit. It's easy to program and works on JVC, Alpine, Clarion, and Kenwood head units. Connect the remote's wire to the interface, then the interface's output to your head unit's remote input.

 

 

That's it! New stereo, new remote control mounted on the steering column, everything reversible to stock if needed.

Excellent write up!

Yes, nice writeups