How to get to my RCA jacks behind the radio?

mjohnson · 09-07-1999, 12:45 PM

I have looked all over my dash and I cannot figure out how to take it apart to get to my radio.

Does anyone know how to take apart the dash of a 97 Honda CRV? Or at least just get access to the back of the radio...

Where would I go to find this kind of info - the service dept at the dealership was useless...

jjohnson · 09-07-1999, 01:24 PM

Look for hidden screws (often beneath rubber or plastic pieces to hide the screw) or clips.

Sometimes all you can do is find a space large enough to fit your hand in and take the cable in and feel around for the RCA jacks to plug it in to... You could use your stereo's balance control to find out what's left and what's right if you can't see the jacks.

I would try a local car stereo shop that does installation -- these guys are used to finding out how to take apart dashboards and other panels to get at the back of a stereo to hook stuff up -- I'm sure they'd be willing to help you out or at least give you some advice.

--Jason

http://jump.to/m2pc

alecl · 09-07-1999, 04:14 PM

Look for circles in your dashboard, these usually pop out and cover screws. Open up your coffee cup holder and pull it out, it will also probably have screws on the side. Just look carefully. You may have to remove a large piece of your dashboard to get to it, maybe you're looking too locally. Look carefully at the ENTIRE area between your steering wheel and glove compartment

Catlas · 09-07-1999, 10:00 PM

Well Ive never seen the inside of a CRV but heres what I had to do to get to the back of my head unit. In my 90 LeBaron (dont laugh it does have power and it was free to me) I had to physically pull the entire molding surounding the center console off. Yep no screws or clips of any kind...I just had to pry it off with a screwdriver until i could get a finger hold. After oit popped off all the neccsasaryt screws were exposed. I dont suggest going around pulling on things but if it seems liek a panel will budge or shift look closely and feel around. Hope this gives you some idea as to how wierd some cars can be. I had to pry and pull off so many interior panels when i installed my head and subs...altho it makes the car look clean with no screws...

Catlas

chapaudio · 09-08-1999, 03:42 PM

OK here's the scoop. I own a car audio shop and here are the directions for teardown:

1. Unsnap push-pin fasteners from bottom of center console and remove bottom panel.
2. Extract (4) screws from bottom edge of bezel. Extract (4) screws from inside dash below pocket. Pull cup holder/pocket assembly out of dash and remove.
3. Open glove box and remove stoppers. Extract (2) screws from right side of center dash bezel.
4. From below steering wheel extract (2) screws from bottom edge of of panel, unsnap upper edge of panel, unplug, and remove.
5. Unsnap top edge or center lower bezel, unplug, and remove.
6. Extract (2) screws from sides of pocket.
7. Unsnap radio/AC control dash bezel, unplug, and remove.
8. Extract (4) screws from each side of the radio bracket assembly to remove radio from dash/AC bezel.

The instructions are fairly long but I have seen worse. If you take your time you should be able to do it ok. If you don't wish to try it yourself any good Car Audio Dealer should be able to assist you in your area.

These instructions are for if you have the stock radio installed. I am not quite sure if that is what you have or not. I don't recall if Honda offers a radio with RCA in/out. If you do have an aftermarket head unit (i.e. pioneer, sony, alpine, etc.) then the easiest thing to do is use the "keys" that came with it. Most din radios have a chassis that they slide into and if you have the keys you can slide it right out and get access to the RCA's

Hope I helped, if you have other problems or questions about car audio e-mail me

chapaudi@chapaudio.cybercities.com

mjohnson · 09-09-1999, 08:38 AM

I called the dealer to verify if the stock radio had RCA jacks. He said that there is only a DIN pin jack compatible only with Alpine products.

Does this mean I'm out of luck or is there a way that I could build my own DIN plug to interface with the sound card?

chapaudio · 09-09-1999, 01:12 PM

I've heard other posts talking about building din to serial adapters so that they could get the title info, but if all you want are RCA jacks there are many Line Output Converters(LOC's) available from different manufacturers, like Scosche & Pac. You should be able to pick up a LOC at Radio Shack, Wal-mart, or your local Car Audio Dealer for around $15-20.00

jasmar · 09-13-1999, 12:11 AM

The factory Crv head unit will control any Alpine M bus changer. Two pins are switched in the Honda/Acura version so you will either need to buy the adapter or make one or do a little surgery on the cable. Once you have the changer installed you can then tap signal into the din cable for your mp3 or whatever else you want to pipe into the head unit. I have done this for customers at work using a few relays to switch the sources. The factory radio will display the cd info since it thinks the changer is playing but you will hear the mp3. I have tried to figure out how to trick an Alpine head into thinking that a changer was hooked up even though there was none but have not been successful. Even talked with an Alpine engineer who admitted it was possible but was not feasible. jas

alany · 12-04-1999, 03:27 PM

chapaudio, are you talking about: din to rca adapters? I have a Alpine CDM-7835 which has a din but no RCA, and im not using a cd changer, are there and LOC for my setup and if there are can I buy them online?