Changing old Sony head unit - advice please

martyp

Hi all,
After smelling an odd burning smell my trusty Sony head unit with CD changer seems to have died after 15 years of service...
Can someone help with regards to replacing it with a new one? I'm hoping I can get a new one that'll just slide straight in and connect up with the same connectors but haven't got a clue...
If new Sony head units have the same connections at the back as they did in the late 90s that would be perfect...?

malkyh

What car will it be going in? If you pull out the stereo it should have two black ISO blocks, one is for the power/earth etc and the other is the speakers.

If it has the connectors, it's a simple case of plug and play on the new unit.

martyp

Many thanks malkyh, yes there are two black block connectors that clip into the back, is that a standard across all different manufacturers for head units then? My car is a Peugeot 205! (one of the few surviving ones)

malkyh

The ISO connection is a standard fitment. There are some manufacturers where the yellow and red wires need to be switched from red - red / yellow - yellow to red - yellow / red - yellow. This is for memory storage but im sure it only affects vauxhall and not Peugeot.

benham3160

malkyh wrote: »

The ISO connection is a standard fitment. There are some manufacturers where the yellow and red wires need to be switched from red - red / yellow - yellow to red - yellow / red - yellow. This is for memory storage but im sure it only affects vauxhall and not Peugeot.

The ISO standard is broadly only used by the manufacturers of the head-units, car makers are free to put whichever multiplug the choose on. PSA tended to adopt them for the cars, and GM used the "reverse" type as you describe above, but 75% of cars I'm guessing still have their own type of plug, more so with CANBUS being introduced.

Regards,
Andy

martyp

Many thanks both, I really don't know what has happened to my head unit though. As mentioned, there is a strong sort of plastic burning smell and when I pulled it out the connector blocks were covered in oily gooey stuff. I can't think of anything that could have leaked around there. I had a case where a heater matrix leaked on the stereo in my last car but that wasn't really like this.
What I worried about is where there are those spade connectors for the red and black wires from the tweeter on one door, the plastic covers slipped off and the two connectors from the tweeter made contact with each other and the metal of the door I think. Would that cause shorting out which could cause major damage or just bad cracking or loss of sound? It's possible the intermittent sound from that speaker could have been related to the oily stuff over the connector, also the loss of sound this week on the passenger side.
Can anyone suggest any good bargains as a replacement? I know Sony, Alpine and Pioneer rank highly but I'm not looking at spending much. My car doesn't really have the best security so I don't want anything too stealable.
I do find DAB, bluetooth, USB & Aux In very appealing in the new head units but the ones in my price range are things like 'Mutant' or Acoustic Solutions for about £50-70 roughly. Are they really bad?

Weird_Nev

Sounds like a short to me, it's probably fried the amplifier inside the head unit. The oily stuff will be burnt insulation from the wires.

You could always source a replacement second hand unit from ebay, but buy with care. You need to sort the electrics first though to ensure your new headunit doesn't die the same death when you connect it up. You may also find the tweeter has fried itself.

Check "car audio direct" for head units, they're an excellent and trustworthy online audio retailer with great customer support if you need help.

martyp

Many thanks Weird Nev, I thought I'd see if there was any kind of leak so with the head unit out I put some kitchen towel in and that became really wet on a recent journey suggesting either a leak from the heater matrix or windscreen seal I think. I had the heater matrix leak before and it resulted in water all over the head unit but it survived last time.
I wondered also if there was anything I needed to be careful about with any of the following features:
Bluetooth
DAB
Aux In
USB
I noticed a head unit in Halfords by 'Sonichi' that had all the above and was reasonably priced. If the head unit has DAB does it just use the standard aerial lead? Does DAB work well on car radios?
Also, with the bluetooth, does that work well with mobile phones for making calls generally or playing music off the phone?
I also read about size limitations with USB drives, I have a 16GB disk I was planning to use so wondered if there might be any issues there.
Any advice there would be most appreciated, also how would you know if buying a 2nd hand stereo if it would need a code or anything?

Many thanks

cheekychappy

Sounds like your heater matrix is leaking. My 205 GTI did this and fried the radio. Was covered in slimy goo aswell. New heater matrix and seals cured it (which is probably what has gone on yours) is about £17 from GSF. Relatively simple job to swap after removing the lower steering column shroud, just remeber to put plenty of rag in the footwell to catch the coolant when you undo the screws holding the pipes in place. You'll get a nice colection of insects when the matrix slides out too !!!!
Can't beat the 205 !

martyp

Many thanks cheekychappy, it does sound like a bit of a problem for 205s, it happened twice in my last 205 (only 2nd time as the replacement matrix had holes in it!). I recall the stereo being all wet at the top and actually thinking about it now I did buy the current stereo around that time but can't remember if that was because the leak from the heater matrix damaged the last one.
It was a pain swapping the heater matrix out back then but looks like it's going to be something I'm doing again. It does sound like it's that and not a leak around the windscreen seal. I checked with Euro Car Parts and it's less than £20 from there as well and they're close to me so might grab one tomorrow (1 year warranty as well).
Should be fun - it gives me an excuse to splash out on a new stereo

My existing one is a Sony and I've been trying to find out if a newer Sony would fit in the new cage and could also be connected to my CD changer. It looks hopeful for both - wonder if anyone could confirm?

martyp

I'm having a bit of a ponder about the wiring now as the new Sony head unit I bought had got what looks like a cable that converts the two ISO connectors to a single plug that goes in the back of the head unit. I bought a single block ISO connector to replace the two single ones (due to water damage) and was going to wire it up the same although can anyone confirm if this double ISO connector block would fit into the special Sony connector which seems to be designed for two single ISO connector blocks (one for power etc & the other for the speakers).
I don't know if I'd need to buy two single ISO connectors instead?
For reference, here are the connectors I'm referring to:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SONY-16-PIN-ISO-MEX-BT2900U-BT3600U-BT3800U-WIRING-HARNESS-CABLE-LEAD-CAR-A74-/400289167341?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item5d3317f7ed
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-ISO-Repair-Connector-lead-Bare-Ends-Car-Harness-/200767185722?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item2ebea8233a