Original (Japanese) equipment ...

Original (Japanese) equipment ...

Postby admin » Thu Jul 03, 2008 5:39 pm

The Japanese units that come as original equipment in ALL Japanese imports, including the Honda Stepwagon / Stepwgn, border on next to useless in the UK - the radio will ONLY tune in to Radio 2 (no bad thing, some might say!) and any Sat-Nav kit is unusable and CAN'T be easily or cheaply converted to work in the UK.

So - what can you do about it?

The cheapest solution is to buy a 'radio band expander' - easily available on the net (eg ebay) for a few quid - they vary in quality but will change the frequency range of the RADIO ONLY to UK bands HOWEVER!!! The frequency display on the radio itself WON'T match the frequency that you're tuned to :? The band expander simply plugs inline between the radio and the aerial with a live feed off the radio.

Next option - you need to buy a new unit - these days, reasonably good quality units are available under £100, but the sky's pretty much the limit, depending on what you want to install. One thing you WILL need though is a wiring adapter - an ISO lead - not expensive and available from any high-street motor parts store (eg Halfords) - I'll try to dig out the reference.

VR3 do some quite nice replacement units at a good price.

What we need here now is details of how to replace the original unit with your new one ...

Then - the difficult part - deciding how much you're going to spend on that new unit! :roll:
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Re: Original (Japanese) equipment ...

Postby Rob » Mon Mar 23, 2009 3:04 pm

So how do you get the factory-fitted Sony radio out? - I obviously don't want to destroy my dashboard with hamfisted experimentation. Anyone done this successfully?

Thanks

Rob
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Re: Original (Japanese) equipment ...

Postby Vantastic » Sat Aug 08, 2009 7:23 pm

I just managed to release the fascia panel around the radio/DVD and it popped off fine - used a small thin flat screwdriver. The radio unit was screwed to the dashboard using 4 philips screws.

I have also checked the wiring colours and found they matched the same year CRV wiring harness (see below for 2002 RF3 Stepwagon):

Radio Constant 12V+ Wire: White/Red
Radio Switched Ignition 12V+ Wire: Yellow/Red or Yellow/Green
Radio Ground Wire: Black
Radio Illumination Dimmer Wire: Red/Black

Radio Antenna Trigger Wire: N/A
Radio Amplifier Turn On Wire: N/A
Front Speaker Size: N/A
Front Speaker Location: N/A

Left Front Speaker Wire (+): Green/Black
Left Front Speaker Wire (-): Light Green
Right Front Speaker Wire (+): Green/Yellow
Right Front Speaker Wire (-): Gray/Red

Rear Speaker Size: N/A
Rear Speaker Location: N/A

Left Rear Speaker Wire (+): Blue/White
Left Rear Speaker Wire (-): Blue/Black
Right Rear Speaker Wire (+): Pink
Right Rear Speaker Wire (-): Blue/Yellow

Now the hard bit.... :shock:
Has anyone found a suitable way to fit a DIN sized radio into the double DIN height opening?
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Re: Original (Japanese) equipment ...

Postby Vantastic » Mon Aug 10, 2009 6:47 pm

UPDATE: I sourced a general DIN fitting (plasitc box) from Halfords and reused the mounting plates from the 2 x DIN DVD/TV/SatNAV box that was originally fitted - quite straight forward and a neat solution. So now I have a standard Sony CD / Radio (1 x DIN size) and a CD storage box underneath that takes 2 CD boxes. All neatly finished off with the original surround fitting. :D I need to sort out a new aerial though so we don't have radio at the moment.

Any suggestions re better aerials?
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Re: Original (Japanese) equipment ...

Postby Vantastic » Tue Aug 11, 2009 12:35 pm

The other piece of the jigsaw you need is the ISO pin layouts.

They can be found here: http://www.tehnomagazin.com/Auto-radio-car-connector/ISO-konektor.htm

I decided to connect the radio directly into the Honda connector rather than convert to ISO connectors as we will keep this radio for a long time. You might wish to convert the Honda wiring loom to a ISO output. However to do this you need to buy a female ISO connector set which are available from Halfords. You might find one for the Honda CRV which would be a good starting point.

Good luck and let us know how you get on! :D
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Re: Original (Japanese) equipment ...

Postby PARR » Fri Jul 22, 2011 1:31 pm

On my 1999 RF2 the dashboard surround is fixed by 6 screws and a few clips - 3 across the top (the leftmost one is more of a small bolt which screws into a plug - don't lose it!), and 3 across the bottom - one above the air vents, one behind a blanking panel half-way along, and one behind the roof and window winder switches. The plugs for the switches remaining in the panel need to be disconnected, but cannot be replaced wrongly - they are all different.
To remove the old TV/satnav display is more complex - there is another surround which needed removal (screws obvious) and the whole radio/tv/pocket assembly needed to be dismantled - the screws etc are again pretty obvious.
There may be (probably are) two further components for the Satnav - a CD player thing under the passenger seat and a radio-sized box under the passenger side carpet.
It will just take time to disconnect these and remove the yards and yards of wire harnesses and aerial leads.
On my RF2 the 'hole is not accurately DIN so experimentation and measurement is necessary.
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Re: Original (Japanese) equipment ...

Postby PARR » Sun Apr 15, 2012 10:48 pm

I found a workaround for the wiring - my Sony radio also operates a Sony CD magazine, and although I had fitted a band expander was not able to get satisfactory input.
I found on ebay a Sony CD/radio with the output/input for CD magazine, and the wiring connections on the rear of the radio are the same - straight swap. (I hope - awaiting actual delivery of radio - but the manual shows identical connectors).
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Re: Original (Japanese) equipment ...

Postby PARR » Wed Apr 18, 2012 11:09 pm

'New' radio/CD now fitted - Sony CDX-f5000c - replacing the MDX-f4800. CD magazine is the original - no problem with that.
Fortunately the wiring was already done in my Steppy so it was 'just' necessary to unplug the old one and plug in the new one.
Had to strip the dash again though to get at the radio - that was the hardest part.
Now have all the UK programs without the expander. which wasn't that good anyway.
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