radio removal

[glasseye]

....and it got the POS radio working.

A POS it is, indeed.

TimJuhl, how are those headliner speakers working out? I didn't think there would be room up there for speakers, but obviously, there is. Did you replace the factory radio, too? I'm looking at something like a Blaupunkt Brisbane SD48. CDs are so last year.

http://reviews.cnet.com/car-audio/blaupunkt-brisbane-sd48/4505-3425_7-32957749.html

 

[Hoppingmad]

Just in case the need ever arises, how do you get the code into the radio when you need to?

I also have not figured out how to tune the radio (without scanning) or how to store the channel into memory. Some days I just feel so ignorent

 

[Hoppingmad]

OOPS
While fastening sat system to headliner, BZzzt, antenna wires hit hot lead to dome light.
Fuse blew, radio lost code, radio prompted me for code, hmmmm dry marker numbers on sun visor, put 4 numbers in, faked a fifth, held am/fm button, radio now says wait.

Pulled the new fuse,
am/fm button the correct entry sequence????
I'm off to find that radio code thread

 

[Hoppingmad]

put the fuse back in, still says wait
left it on incase wrong code resets in 10 minutes or so.

don't even know if the code I found will work
if anybody wants to steal it, the code is 33133, and I've left the doors unlocked

speaking of locked doors, I changed that fuse also
now when you press the lock button on the keyfob, clunk, clunk, and all the doors are unlocked and the lock switch on the dash blinks, same quality as the radio!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Hoppingmad]

well sometime during the last hour, the radio shut off
turned it back on, still says wait

I'd have disconnected the battery first, but didn't want to enter the code.

 

[TimJuhl]

Hoppingmad, I see where you got your name

As far as the radio is concerned, I've never tried to reprogram the number in one. You can be our test pilot. There is a separate manual that comes with the radio that might help you out if you still have it. I got rid of mine when I gave my radio away or you could have it.

Regarding the door lock switch - since I figured out that when the lights go out all the doors are unlocked things have gone a great deal smoother.... it certainly doesn't stack up to the remote on a typical US car but you can make it work.

Glasseye - the speakers work very well. There is plenty of room behind the headliner for speakers, the only problem is that you need to fabricate a backing ring for the inside. The back of the headliner is made of a soft flock (shredded rag) and compresses fairly easily. I cut the holes with a xacto knife.

I also replaced the radio with a unit that contains a disc player and has a cord to connect my iPod and any other source that accepts a 1/8th inch plug. I ran the cables out thru the ash tray and store them there when not in use.

Tim

 

[Hoppingmad]

All is well at the moment.
On a mercedes site, ignition on for 10 minutes resets wait.
Code I got on this site worked, will have to write code on visor, THIS WILL HAPPEN AGAIN

Satellite plug in adapter converts 12 to 6 volts, its now wired into the antenna hot lead so I get auto sat off. Except for the dangling new antenna wire everything out of site. Sat antenna wires thru headliner, down the a pillar, and laying on the dash. Who needs a roof mount?

But will need a big 30 or 45 degree block for sat adapter, can't read the LCD screen from drivers seat at current angle. I can reach the buttons !
So much effort - so little results

I've downloaded an owners manual, will have to study the key fob.
Hit the lock button 2 or 3 times, everything but the drivers door locked.
If I lock all the doors manually, the unlock button unlocks the doors.

 

[Hoppingmad]

Took wife for first ride today. "Radio sounds terrible" she says.
Might try some different speakers, if I can get the damn radio out of the dash and tap into the wires will install some rears behind the seat.
Damn germans must all be tone deaf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[surlyoldbill]

Depending on what you have, the speakers are horrible, and speakers are the MOST important part of an audio system. The stock speakers on my passenger model are a pair of 4" in the dash and a pair of 5" in the rear side panels. Both pairs are 15 watt max, with tiny magnets. I installed a pair of 6 1/2 2-ways in the headliner just above and to the rear of the front seats, and will be replacing the 4" dash speakers with better quality ones. Installing speakers in the headliner was pretty easy, as the speaker wires already run right above the windows, and you can tap into them without having to run new wire. Audiophiles will want to replace the factory 20 gauge wire with decent 12 gauge, though. As for mounting speakers in the headliner, make sure the speakers you buy are shallow enough to fit (I think there is 2.5" of mounting depth between the FACE of the headliner and the body sheet metal). Also, some have made a backing plate to attach the speakers to, but I carefully cut the cutouts for a tight fit and used the included sheet metal screws to hold the speaker to the headliner material with no problems. If anything, just replace the stock speakers with better quality ones. There are actually decent sounding 4" speakers, but the mounting depth in the dash is a little shallow, so remove the stock speaker and use it as a guide.

The Sprinter poses some difficult audio problems because of it's cavernous interior. A simple solution would be to put up some quality surface mount speakers up high in the very back, such as Polk Audio surround sound satelite speakers (your radio will run about any 4-8ohm speaker), but they are so far away from the driver that the volume would need to be high, and there would be stereo imaging problems with the delay of the sound coming from both the dash and rear speakers. The ideal speaker configuration is to have the right and left speakers about the same distance from the listener(s), and that's difficult to do in a Sprinter. The location of my headliner speakers is not perfect, but I actually hear the more distant passenger side louder because the speakers are directed facing the interior, and I'm in the "audio cone" of the passenger speaker and not the drivers' side speaker.

 

[Hoppingmad]

Well I've got the sliding partition, so I don't have the huge cavern to fill with audio. Am doing my best to not remove partition and headliner. Can reach a good distance thru the domelight hole, if I go with ceiling speakers, but will need to snake wires up the a pillar.
So far haven't a clue how to get dash speakers out, PRY the grill????????
So far the piece of sheet metal I'm shoving thru the din slots, currently flat ended, is producing no results. With all the road noise my cargo sprinter produces, speakers closer to my ears are a better choice.
If there rally are speaker wires running up the a pillar (I'm assuming) which side, and how would I distinguish them from the other wires?

 

[maxextz]

why are you guys still using"putting up with"the stock radios? i binned mine as soon as i picked up the van they are really poor quality imo

max............

 

[surlyoldbill]

Remove the dash speaker grill by first removing the A pillar, which just pulls right off. I forget if there are snap in fittings (like the A pillar) or if there exposed screws. Either way, when the grill comes off, the speaker screws are exposed. Removing the A pillar gives you the opportunity to run additional wiring if you cannot identify factory speaker wires. I don't know if there are rear speaker wires installed if you don't have factory installed rear speakers. There should be a wiring diagram available as a PDF on this forum or online. I have a passenger model, so I don't know for sure if you have installed rear wiring or not. And like others say, the stock Becker radio really sucks, and any single DIN radio/CD/DVD/MP3 player will slip right in. The kind with the slide out 7" LCD screen is pretty cool, and you can route a rearview camera to it as well as play DVDs on the screen.