I'm doing my install tonight...have a few ?s

[huffydmb]

I just went to CC and they couldn't even get the damn thing out. The dude said he has taken out at least 100 of our head units and had trouble with probably 20 of them. He says the clips get bent and become impossible to dislodge with just the little key. He says I'll have to take the dash apart and get at the clips from the side, something I'm going to try and avoid at all costs.

Does anyone know exactly what path the wiring harness takes from the back of the head unit? Can I possibly get to the speaker wires without taking the damn thing out?

This is really starting to piss me off. I want to get violent with it, but at the same time, I don't want to **** up my nice-looking dash.

Leave it to Ford to **** things up once again.

[DaleK]

I would be patient with the deck. It took me an hour to get mine out the first time too. Even when you get the brackets all popped off, the deck wedges onto the baracket at the back of the compartment pretty good.

For the amp turn on, you can find a sticky at the top of the audio forums on both of the other Protege forums that give all the wiring colors. The antenna lead (at least on my deck with the 6 disc changer) onlyu comes on when the radio is on - not a good choice for an amp turn on. Use the current sensing relays like Daved suggested, or use an ignition lead (I don't have the wire colors in front of me or I would tell you which it is). Also, if you have not already done so, I would suggest getting the wiring harness adapters (scosche MA03 and MA03R if I'm not mistaken - someone correct this if I am wrong). Helps to avoid cutting wires. The Scosche harnesses (the two pieces give you one to plug into the deck, and one to plug into the car's harness to give access to all the leads you need) are missing the dimmer wires though. I think it was Dermen who had the good idea of getting two sets of harnesses so that he could get the missing pins and wires from the unused set and add them to the ones he put in his car.

Anyway, sorry for the long post. Good luck with your install. I am sure you will be very happy with it when you get done.

Dale.

[huffydmb]

Thanks for the ideas. I'm going to continue to play with it tonight and try to get it out. once the head unit is out, I'll only be a few hours away from completion.

I'm going to experiment with the turn-on lead and see what happens just tapping into the one behind the head unit. If that gives me fits, I'll go the relay route.

[Dermen]

Originally posted by DaleK
I think it was Dermen who had the good idea of getting two sets of harnesses so that he could get the missing pins and wires from the unused set and add them to the ones he put in his car.

Actually that wasn't me. But others have done that. I ended up paying 40 dollars for my 2 harnesses so I wasn't about to get 2 more. I used another trick that somebody else posted. You just move the one wire that is not used and then use a telephone wire for the other one.


For your HU removal you said you have had it loose before but just couldn't get it out. If you had it loose then the clips aren't bent enough that the keys won't work. When you insert the tools angle them a bit so they are facing kind of like this \ /. The clips inside are angled a bit like this / \ so angling the removal tools can help. Once you get the tools in there you should get the large hanger tool and insert it between the two other tools. Like this \ |_| /. If you do that the large tool should be pushing the removal tools so that they are straight instead of angled. It should be enough to loosed the HU. Then you just pull like hell on the large removal tool. I have had my HU out about 3 times. The first time took me about 20 mins and the 2nd and 3rd I was able to do it in less than 5 minutes.

Good luck.

[huffydmb]

Well, after another hour and a half or so, I've discovered that my head unit is probably not coming out without a lot of work. I was able to get the glove box off and, with a flashlight, I can see that my passenger side clip is not engaging. The clip somehow is stuck on the plastic and the removal tools cannot possibly disengage the clips.

I have no idea what to do now. I'm going to tool around with it some more and see if I can't just break the clip and replace it once I get the unit out.

What a royal pain in the ass. I will figure it out.....somehow, someway.

[MisterT]

I did that and tried seeing it from the opposite end. I got the left side out and the right side's brackets were bent outward so that keys did nothing. I almost had to pry it out of the dash to get it out.

[huffydmb]

Has anyone had any success taking off the trim piece that surrounds our center console? (The carbon fiber-looking piece)

I can get it loose, but it seems to be incredibly SNUG where the HVAC controls are. Is there an easy way to get this piece completely off? It would make my life a lot easier.

While I'm at it, once I get it off, how hard is it to reconnect?

Thanks for any advice.

-Huffy

[blue LEDz]

i can't find the how to on removing it, but it's not that hard. the hardest part is disconnecting the HVAC controls. but i don't think it will do you much good to remove it

[huffydmb]

Well, the new system is in. Sub sounds incredibly tight. I couldn't be happier with the sub.

HOWEVER, keeping in tune with this install, a few more problems have developed.

1) While wrestling with my head unit WWE style, I apparently knocked some connections loose and I no longer have ANY illumination at all to the head unit. So, rather than deal with that, decided on purchasing a deck over at mazdamp3.com. My Kenwood Z919 arrived today and will be installed this weekend.

2) The 6x9's in the rear are WAY too loud. I was running them off of the same channel as the fronts and they are just too damn loud. I'm going to run them off of the Z919's rear channel and use the amp just for the fronts.

3) My lights flicker like mad! Will a cap help me out at all? If so, what size?

Thanks again for all of your guys' help. This was the worst install I've ever done, but I'm getting there! It'll all be worth it in the end. I don't care if I ever have to take another double-din HU out of a Protege!

[JProtege]

yes a cap will help. i dunno what kind of power you are running so can't say what size. most likely .5 will do the trick. don't have the HU run your 6x9s. just adjust the fade so that the front and rear are balanced as you like. HU power is gross.

[MisterT]

Originally posted by huffydmb
Well, the new system is in. Sub sounds incredibly tight. I couldn't be happier with the sub.

HOWEVER, keeping in tune with this install, a few more problems have developed.

1) While wrestling with my head unit WWE style, I apparently knocked some connections loose and I no longer have ANY illumination at all to the head unit. So, rather than deal with that, decided on purchasing a deck over at mazdamp3.com. My Kenwood Z919 arrived today and will be installed this weekend.

2) The 6x9's in the rear are WAY too loud. I was running them off of the same channel as the fronts and they are just too damn loud. I'm going to run them off of the Z919's rear channel and use the amp just for the fronts.

3) My lights flicker like mad! Will a cap help me out at all? If so, what size?

Thanks again for all of your guys' help. This was the worst install I've ever done, but I'm getting there! It'll all be worth it in the end. I don't care if I ever have to take another double-din HU out of a Protege!

Do you have subs?? I can't imagine lights dimming just off of deck power and a single amp just running your 6x9s. A cap my help a little, but not much. I have a 1.5 farad one and am only running 900 watts RMS and use a class D amp, have a ground kit under the hood, a deep cell battery, and still have dimming problems.

[huffydmb]

I'm running a Kicker KX800.4, which I've come to learn in some car audio forums is an absolute current hog! It's 100x2 to the front Kappa Perfect 5.1s and rear 6x9s RMS and I think 200x1 to the Infinity Kappa Perfect 12 sub.

I can handle a little dimming though. After reading the other thread about caps and their abilities, I think I'll pass and save up money for a new alternator at 60,000 or so.