I thought I'd share a couple of photos taken as I installed a Solara Sirius radio. All went well, but if the following photo makes you ill just thinking about this kind of re-assembly job, then this task is not for you!: [Broken External Image]:http://www.desperado.scvnet.com/~philh/images/dashapart2.jpg All this just to plug in one connector on the back of the stock radio! One thing I noticed was that there is a plastic disc/cup that is supposed to be bonded to the center dash speaker magnet. It had come unstuck from the speaker (it's held by sticky foam rubber), and may be a cause of some dash rattle, though I didn't have one in this particular location: [Broken External Image]:http://www.desperado.scvnet.com/~philh/images/centerspeaker2.jpg I used a Terk mini antenna, and plan to mount it inside the spoiler one of these days. For now, I just fed it to the back cargo area, and stick it to the closed cover near the rear by its built-in magnet. I placed the receiver under the rear passenger seat, held with bubble wrap and styrofoam. It seems padded and secure. It took about three extra-careful hours, since this was the first time I had taken the dash apart. No rattles, everything works, using the multi-display steering wheel and dash buttons. My only complaint is the 10-character artist/title limit. Once I hide the antenna, you won't be able to tell I have it, making it unlikely as a vandalism or theft target.
Well, that is one scary looking picture! I guess I'll keep my plug and play for now and just use the FM transmitter.
Folks, that degree of disassembly is NOT necessary at all!! I removed only the vent cover to the right of the MFD, took the bolt out of the ECU you'll see that sits closest to the MFD and pushed it slightly to the right. That gives plenty of room to reach your hand behind the head unit and plug in the connector that you fished in from under the dash. It's akward and a little time consuming, but at least you don't have to tear your dash apart. And, if you're lucky, you'll get the plug in correctly the first couple tries and it'll only take a couple of minutes.
You are probably right--I followed the instructions from Eddie Bell at metropn which had me remove it all. Frankly, though, the dash goes together like Lego blocks and the photo looks far scarier than the reality of it. It went back together in about ten minutes (literally!) The dash speaker, as many know, can be removed without ANY dash disassembly, by lifting the edge closest to you (rear of car) and pivoting it upward. If you have a dash rattle check it out.
If the serius plugs into the back of the radio like the XM, why did you have to take the radio out to plug it in? I was able to go through the gove box opening with my big hands and plug in my XM radio. Ron
If you know what the back of the radio looks like, the orientation of the plug, and know you can reach it, then there is no need for such disassembly. I was equipped with none of this knowledge, despite reading every Sirius/XM thread in PC and POL.
Dr Fusco: I remember someone posting photos of what you are talking about here but I can't find it on the site. Any ideas? Domenic dpframing
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(energy1 @ Dec 29 2005, 01:48 PM) [snapback]180762[/snapback]</div> Ron, How did you access the back of the radio thru the glovebox? Thanks, Domenic dpframing
I went through the glove box, right ac duct to install mine. It was a tight squeeze, but It can be done. My reciever went under the front passenger seat.
