2005 Mercury Mariner Install - Lots of Pics!

**Fraychild** · 07-11-2007, 11:31 PM

Thanks man - I'm now looking to do one more change, I read somewhere that someone who powered their LCD via the Mobo/HDD also used a relay that allowed the screen to turn-on/shut-down with the key in the ignition - I would love to give that a shot, but I must find that install first -

**blase** · 07-16-2007, 09:09 PM

I am just trying to get an ipod working in my sisters mariner.. she has an aux button on the front of the stock head unit.. does this mean there is an aux jack in the back.. also how do I get the head unit out. .any help would be appreciated.. thanks
nick

**Fraychild** · 07-18-2007, 12:49 AM

There is a spot for an auxillary jack in the back of the stock radio - and I think they sell an adapter for it - The radio comes out very easily. They sell these "keys" for it, I picked them up at Autozone for dirt cheap - there are these 4 holes in the front of the radio - two on each side - You put the tips of the keys into the holes, push them until they "click" and as you pull them outward, the radio should slide right out as well - Here's a pic:

I suggest there you look on www.escape-central.com for more info on the truck -

**p10bostonian** · 07-24-2007, 11:09 PM

oooh. very nice install! Keep up the good work.

what was the total cost of the project? minus LCD

btw... Hi!

**Fraychild** · 07-30-2007, 07:16 PM

BRUCE!! What's good baby?!!

You're on this forum now? You better have something to show real soon man!! LOL -

Well... everything was pretty much from my old set-up MINUS the BEZEL ($130), the LCD ($210) and the Pop delay unit ($25) - so it actually cost me about $365 give or take a few dollars...

Originally, the VIA SP1300 was about $150 used (mp3car.com member) - RAM about $50 (ZipZoomFly.com)- HDD was about $50 (from Newegg.com)- GPS was $65 (Ebay) - and the Opus PSU was $150 (MP3car.com store two years ago) but is cheaper now -

LATEST news as of 7-30-07 on my setup - My 80Gig Hard Drive crashed last weekend and I lost everything that was on it -

... everything ...

I had to reinstall everything on this dusty 20GB IBM HDD I had from an old Gateway PC dating back to 1998 - (oldie but goodie huh?) and start over - It's a temporary solution until I can afford a 120GB Laptop 2.5" mobile HDD (maybe in a month - I gotta save up...)

**p10bostonian** · 07-30-2007, 10:43 PM

I been only this site for a while, just lurked around. I was gonna do a car pc. but its just not cost effective for me right now. I already bought a bunch of other stuff for the car, and they look too good to return :-)

I have a external HDD. I dunno if u can use it or not. but if u can let me know.

its a WD 250gig external. still shrinkwrapped/

**gokee2** · 07-30-2007, 11:02 PM

nice custom work bro. wow u spent under $400. cheez i spent over $1200 already. I mean including high end amps (4 channel n 2 channel) n subs. its darn impressive. Kudos!

**Fraychild** · 08-02-2007, 12:26 AM

Thanks man!! I'll post some more pics as soon as I get a chance -

**iamgnat** · 08-06-2007, 05:23 PM

Nice work. Glad to see Ford doesn't mess up the HU guide on all of them. Mine was bent at an angle that forced me to pull it and come up with another solution

Nice job getting the HU to fit back in if needed to, I didn't bother

-dave

P.S. Nice to see a fellow EC member over here too

**Fraychild** · 08-10-2007, 12:31 AM

Ha ha ha!! Yea - I found myself trading the Escape after a few months and moving into the Mariner - So I can't really trust myself with keeping this one for too long - Therefore I had to have a "back-to-stock" plan -

The HU guide didn't give me any problems at all (guess I lucked out) - It's definitely a full custom job though - which is why I enjoyed it the most. Thanks for paving the way for using the WRX Bezel with these models -