1993 Protege Radio Removal

[93ProJ]

How in the world do you get the radio out of a 1993 Protege?

[davejay]

I believe you pry out the frame around the radio, then unscrew the screws, and it slides out -- but I'm about to remove the radio on mine, and it already has the frame out (it wasn't pushed in tightly when I got the car a few days ago) so if you can wait, I'll take pictures and give you instructions.

[93ProJ]

Pry the frame out? With what? And how? Does anybody have a diagram of how to do this?

[93ProJ]

Help?

[firelizard]

Don't double post, it's bad manners, you can edit. Anyways, he said he was gonna get you some pics, you'll just have to be patient

[93ProJ]

Oh. Didn't see that.

[davejay]

had baby issues this morning (twins, one had to go to the doc) so I'll take the pics tomorrow morning and post 'em from work.

in the meantime, look at the heater controls for your car, then at the radio. Between them, there's a horizontal black bar running the width of the console...that black bar is part of the frame surrounding the radio. So I suppose you could pull straight out on that, but if it doesn't give right away, don't force it until I have a chance to take the pics.

[davejay]

How to remove the radio faceplate in a 1993 Mazda Protege (not 56k safe)

Here you go, hope this helps -- I don't have time to pull the radio out this morning, so you may encounter additional issues with the antenna wire and/or a security bolt in the back...I have no idea.

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Step 1: Look at your radio.

There it is. Pretty, isn't it? Well, probably not; otherwise, why would you be replacing it? The black flat piece surrounding the radio, including the little "shelf" underneath the HVAC controls, is the faceplate.



Step 2: Pull out the top of the faceplate a bit.

There are two clips holding the faceplate in, one on each side, about halfway between the top and bottom of the faceplate. You'll want to pull the faceplate out straight (that is, directly towards the back of the car) rather that upwards, downwards, or sideways...but that's not easy to do, since the only decent place to grab the faceplate is the little "shelf". So grab that, and pull it until the plate pops out a bit.



Step 3: Pull out the bottom of the faceplate a bit.

Now that you've gotten the top loose, the bottom needs to come out. There's not much leverage to be had, but if you slide out the ashtray a bit and put your finger between the ashtray mount and the cigarette lighter socker, you can get some purchase. Pull there, and the bottom should come out -- at which point, you can lift the whole thing out.



To help you visualize what you're doing, here's the back of the faceplate -- you can see there's two clips about halfway up on each side, and two "pins" at the top. The "pins" help guide the faceplate when you put it back on, and don't have any screws or whatnot.



Step 5: Unscrew the radio.

You can see in this photo that the radio is (or at least should be) held on by four screws. My car only has three; I have no idea why.



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I hope this helps!

[Gill]

Here you go, hope this helps -- I don't have time to pull the radio out this morning, so you may encounter additional issues with the antenna wire and/or a security bolt in the back...I have no idea.

Sorry to resurrect a super old post. This is the closest explanation I could find, after a looong search. I got as far as this illustration and am "encountering additional issues with the antenna wire and/or a security bolt in the back". I've got half of the dash apart and can just see (but not reach) the bolts that are holding the stereo in from behind.

This post is Plan A. If it doesn't work Plan B will be to take it to professionals
Thanks.

[martiniac]

Hey Gill... Welcome to ClubProtege!!

I spent years of my life as a 12 volt installer and I must say my 93 Protege gave me quite a bit of trouble...

This is how far I had to tear into the dash in order to get the radio out...



The problem was a male flat 'clip' that slides into a female receiver on the frame work inside the dash behind the radio. When you pull on the radio the framework twists causing the male piece to pinch. The radio could be pulled out without tearing into the dash if one were able to reach into the back with a screw driver or tool of some sort and hold the frame work from twisting. After I finally got my radio out, vengence was mine!!! I took my die grinder and cut out the useless malicious frame piece. No need to take it to a 'professional'... just take your time and have fun working on your Protege!! Hope this helps.. let me know if I can help any further.

[Gill]

Thanks lots. I can easily do this, but now I don't have to second guess every panel I remove. The picture says it all.

Now it's out to the garage with my bad self. I think I'll try the easy way first.

[Gill]

It worked perfectly. Thanks so much. Now to find an acceptable DIN adapter kit.

[martiniac]

It worked perfectly. Thanks so much. Now to find an acceptable DIN adapter kit.

don't order anything off of Ebay or the like. get one from a local install shop to be sure that it works for the Pro.