Radio Help Needed
Discussion
I'm trying to remove the original Pioneer stereo from my Chimaera. I'm replacing it with a new Pioneer unit so I can listen to my Ipod through it. I'm using the Pioneer removal keys I have to unlock the unit from the frame but it's not budging at all.
Does anyone know whether the original stereo can be secured at the rear of the unit or some other location? Did anyone have any trouble removing their unit or was it pretty straight forward?
Does anyone know whether the original stereo can be secured at the rear of the unit or some other location? Did anyone have any trouble removing their unit or was it pretty straight forward?
it should come out with the keys but depends on how the owner secured it back in. I've seen them glued in before so that wouldn't surprise me. There isn't really a way to secure them from behind as you can't get round the back of the dash.
Does it move at all when the keys are latched in?
Does it move at all when the keys are latched in?
I can move the unit slightly side to side but it doesn't move back and forth at all. Now Brett mentions it I suspect it maybe glued to the cage or similar. May try to get a knife between the cage and the dashboard hole, then I maybe able to get the cage and the unit out together. Hope I don't need the transmitter 
A friend, let's call him Alex, got my new Pioneer head unit out using two steel rulers, one each side, to ensure all the securing catches were released. I had managed to remove the old one myself with a little help from the manager of my local Halfrauds, but I did find that the tools provided by Pioneer were about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Be careful near the dash veneer.
Quietlybonkers said:
Two objects wide, flat and metal are all you need. One down each side, to release all the catches, then gently wiggle so as not to damage the veneer, and out it will pop. A second pair of hands helps
If you use the right keys (and put them in the right way around) they hook on to the unit and you can pull it out using the keys themselves without damaging anything, but obviously if you haven't ..................Ribol said:
If you use the right keys (and put them in the right way around) they hook on to the unit and you can pull it out using the keys themselves without damaging anything, but obviously if you haven't ..................
That of course is good advice......unfortunately when I dd mine I didn't have the 13 year old keys, nor did Halfrauds, even in their own toolkit. The new unit had keys, but they were a) no use for extracting the old unit and b) no use for extracting the new one either. Quietlybonkers said:
......unfortunately when I dd mine I didn't have the 13 year old keys, nor did Halfrauds, even in their own toolkit. The new unit had keys, but they were a) no use for extracting the old unit and b) no use for extracting the new one either.
I wouldn't let anyone in Halfwits top up my screenwash bottle, let alone do an ICE install. It comes as no great surprise to hear they didn't have the right tools to do the job.Any half decent ICE place would have keys for any unit because they very rarely give them back to the customers
Ribol said:
Any half decent ICE place would have keys for any unit because they very rarely give them back to the customers
Agreed - sadly we don't have a decent ICE place in my town, and the only one I know is 40 miles away and a pain to get to. Good advice though, Ribol. It was just an observation that the keys supplied with my new top of the range Pioneer unit (£380 in Halfords, £170 on the Internet) didn't even do a passable job of extracting my new unit when I had reception issues ten minutes after fitting it. That took Alex's two steel rulers and some careful waggling, having removed the detachable front off the head unit to give a better grip.
Flat bladed kitchen knives make alternative extraction devices. DO NOT USE SCREWDRIVERS. You will bugger (technical term) the veneer on the dash.
Quietlybonkers said:
It was just an observation that the keys supplied with my new top of the range Pioneer unit (£380 in Halfords, £170 on the Internet) didn't even do a passable job of extracting my new unit when I had reception issues ten minutes after fitting it.
My accountant wouldn't have asked me how to fill in a P11D, I wouldn't have asked him how to get a head unit out.Each to their own I suppose
Well I eventually got the radio out, by putting two butter knives down either side of the unit, between the unit and the cage and eventually unlocked it from the cage. Unfortunately I've damaged a bit of the veneer as well which I'm not very happy about.
Looks like I might be calling on the services of LCC, will they do the radio pod only? Would it look out of place with the older veneer on the dash?
Once I got it out I checked to see if the keys would unlock it when I could actually see what I was doing and they did so I have no idea why they wouldn't unlock it in the dashboard. Quite annoying! Thanks for all the help.
Looks like I might be calling on the services of LCC, will they do the radio pod only? Would it look out of place with the older veneer on the dash?
Once I got it out I checked to see if the keys would unlock it when I could actually see what I was doing and they did so I have no idea why they wouldn't unlock it in the dashboard. Quite annoying! Thanks for all the help.
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