Fitting an aftermarket radio

Post by **srg86** » 16 Dec 2004 09:01 pm

Hi all

In my ol' 1985 340 I have the original volvo radio, which is MW/LW and no cassette, only. It also has a single speaker which is mounted (and volvo branded) in the passenger foot well on the outside (opporsite from the console), If I had a digital camera I'd take some photo's of it.

I don't have any speakers in the doors or anywhere else.

How do I fit an after market radio into this car?

thanks
srg

Post by **DeKayDAD** » 16 Dec 2004 10:00 pm

Theres some useful adaptor plates and wiring convertors on the market that make this easy. Readily available from Halfords or Maplin. DeKay may have another supplier when he's online. Speakers fit to rear shelf easily,or doors not so easily.

Post by **Azurael** » 16 Dec 2004 11:26 pm

Halfords charge 13 quid for said bit of plastic. If anybody knows where I can get one cheaper, I'd be happy not to have my head unit rattling round in the hole in the dash...

In case you're interested, said product can be found here:
http://www.halfords.com/opd_product_det ... e=0&cat=46

Post by **SteveP** » 17 Dec 2004 12:18 am

Seen a couple on THAT website recently... buy it now for about £2 or something silly!

Steve

Post by **5lab** » 17 Dec 2004 12:39 am

ive got a spare or 2

Post by **Azurael** » 17 Dec 2004 02:34 am

SteveP wrote:Seen a couple on THAT website recently... buy it now for about £2 or something silly!

Steve

Thanks for the tip off

Problem solved.

Post by **SteveP** » 17 Dec 2004 06:24 pm

Good stuff!

Post by **srg86** » 21 Dec 2004 12:31 pm

A bit more info on the radio I have:

It's an R-4012, if that helps

BTW My car is from 1985 and the front bumper doesn't wrap up to the bottom of the headlights, does that make it a mk2?

srg

Post by **5lab** » 21 Dec 2004 12:37 pm

yup. the indicators aren't in the bumper either, right?

i've a few spare volvo radio cassette players knocking about if you want to keep your stuff origional, i've also got some origional volvo speakers spare but they dont have the mounting pods..

Post by **lentinj** » 22 Dec 2004 07:28 pm

I don't know whether my car is the only one plagued with this or not, but my original radio wiring is missing the +12v on ignition. Instead, this was attached to the 12v Permanent wire (this might have had something to do with the original owner of my volvo persuading the garage to slip a 740 radio into my car). Of course, the result of this is the radio thinks the ignition never turns off and flattens your battery.

When I got a new radio I had to do something about it (otherwise the display would be illuminated 100% of the time), and instead of trying to find the appropriate wire, I got another rear-heater switch, put it in the empty holes (or next to the rear-wiper switch if you are one of those hatchback types) by the handbrake/gearstick, and use this to switch the +12v on ignition line. Sure, might be a bit hackish, but I think it works really well and probably more useful than if it turned off with the ignition.

One last caveat I found was the Sony radio used standard DIN connectors, but the 12v permanent and 12v ignition were swapped over.

Post by **5lab** » 22 Dec 2004 07:33 pm

really? mine definatly has ignition, although most volvo stereos dont actually use it for some daft reason. its yellow.

Post by **lentinj** » 22 Dec 2004 07:55 pm

Hmm.... Yellow wire... Now you come to mention it I do have vague memories finding a yellow wire with a bare (i.e. chopped) end randomly dangling underneath the dashboard. Guess that was a quality volvo dealership!

Ah well, guess that wasn't relevant then. Never mind. Although I think I'll stick to my switch, it's really handy when the phone rings (yes, full handsfree kit that's worth more than the car) and as a conversation piece---nobody expects the stereo to turn on when you turn on the rear heater....

But if anyone has a dramatic need for it, I still have the Volvo CR-402X stereo. This one definitely used the extra wiring (although not visibly). It would turn on and off with the "rear-heater-ignition-switch", and before the switch was there, would flatten the battery in 3 days even if it was turned off.