Ford or Volvo double din radios?

[steveyd]

Hello all,

My Blaupunkt radio has given up the ghost and will only play Radio2 at half volume. I really can't stand Steve Wright so I need to sort this -so whilst perusing A CERTAIN Internet Auction Site I came across cheap double din radios that fit in Fords and similar from Volvo.. Has anybody fitted these at all .. apart from some wiring shenigans (and getting the required code) it looks like it might work... ?

A Ford one at least might look even a little authentic and the illumination colour will match..

Just a thought..

cheers,

Steve

[321Away]

never tried fitting 1 and wiring shouldnt be that bad, especially if you go to a breakers and cut the loom out of a ford before mating to the bongo. I have loads of the old ford double din cd players at home, i'll bring 1 in tomorrow to see how they fit,(if i remember i'll take a pic and post it!), as for codes if you buy 1 just pm me the serial code on the side begins with M and i'll send you the code for the unit.

Julian

[321Away]

nope dont fit!! when i got home and looked memories came flooding back about the adapters that had to be used with the ford stereo's, that had a half din cubby, cos the ford stereo isnt quite doudle din, more like din and a half, The volvo's are doubles but dont have any laying about!

Julian

[steveyd]

Hi,

Many thanks for that..! There's a couple of volvo radios on ebay but the local scapper also has a few volvos in I can get the wiring & measure up the apertures from. Once I know either way I'll report back.

cheers,

Steve

[Simon Jones]

One thing to note about Volvo radios & most of their electrical items is that they all link into the vehicles CANBUS system. Each item has a unique code which has to match the number in the relevant 'brain' before it will function correctly. As a result, buying second hand items & fitting them into another Volvo of the same model will often not work. Volvo do fit some of the best sound systems I have every heard but you will need all the associated amplifiers & wiring to get the full benefit. I've got at least 3 amps in the Dolby Pro Logic system in my XC70.

[steveyd]

Hi,

Good point - however the volvo stereos I'm thinking of are from the older volvos early-mid 90's which predates CANBUS - as far asI can tell they have a security code which once entered should activate the system - I'm not sure if they are coded to the original ECU tho, but this may be for later fancier stereos. Still, I'll do some more digging to make sure..

Cheers,

Steve

[steveyd]

Hi All,

I am happy to report that a Volvo SC-805 stereo does indeed fit! I had to chop out the centre part of the divider in the dash and with a small amount of fettling it went straight in and without the need for a cage! Stereo with code cost me £36 off ebay, connector from a dead S40 £1.50 from the scrapper. Pin out diagrams freely available on the web, though they didnt quite match the connectors on my scavenged one - however found a picture of the circuit board itself on the web and this got me going - all I need to do is final fettling - (not sure if it will sit a little proud on the dash when all connected up - shouldnt do though) -and sort the dash illumination (which is green to match the rest of the Bongo). The stereo doesnt need to be coded to an ECU - I just entered the code and Led Zeppelin came through loud and clear!

It has a tape and a cd, and auxillaries for an external amp and cd-changer - it also has a remote control sensor. Sounds pretty good too so I'm quite chuffed - and it looks good too (pictures to follow). The downside now is I've realised the rear speakers are pants. The beauty of this stereo is it has big buttons and controls - I hate aftermarket stereos as they always have fiddly little buttons and you have to go through a whole bunch of menus to tweak things. Its also less nickable in a Bongo with feeble locks as it doesnt look too flash (but sounds good - a "Q" Stereo?).

One warning if you're thing of using a Volvo stereo - make sure you get one with a code - you can get the codes easily from Volvo but they will want the chassis number of the car it came from...

Cheers,

Steve

[steveyd]

...my suspicions proved correct - with the leads in at the back of the unit it sits about 1cm proud of the dash. Further fettling might be required as the leads come out of the back of the unit exactly where the metal dash brace is - There's a couple of options available (i.e. dismantle the multiplug and put the wires directly onto the pins in the unit a'la Willinton kit fuse by-pass, some bashing of metal) - however it stops this from being an easy-plug and play replacement for future reference. I'm going to persist as I've spent my £36 and I want to "make do and mend".

An interesting point is that I think its the speaker plugs at the back - however, it has a 9-pin plug out for an external Volvo amp - so I could bypass the problem by getting a cheap amp and using that din plug instead..

Cheers,

Steve