Changing the radio

That's excellent news - I take my hat off to you for your perseverance

And thanks for the update.

Now I'm gonna buy me some cables

Hi oldlowie,

Your welcome.

These cables work with my Sony radio but I see you have a different model so you will need to double check with the supplier. I found Dynamic Sounds very helpful.

Also follow the instructions (that's a first for me) with the PC99-SON to ensure the lead picks the right settings.

Thanks Bob, - sorry to labour the point , but can you confirm it's the x29 I need, and not the x25?

Dynamic Sounds prices seem very reasonable, have you seen what Halfords charge for these cables?

PS - I love these emoticons! Better than those on another forum

Tony

oldlowie wrote:Thanks Bob, - sorry to labour the point , but can you confirm it's the x29 I need, and not the x25?

Dynamic Sounds prices seem very reasonable, have you seen what Halfords charge for these cables?

PS - I love these emoticons! Better than those on another forum

Tony

Hi Tony,

Not a problem. Yes I used PC99-X29. If you email Dynamic Sounds with your details they may ask for a photo of the back and front of your radio but that ensures you get the right lead.

I did not even look in Halfords because I felt this might be beyond their capability. Sorry if I have maligned them.

[quote="orian Yes I used PC99-X29. If you email Dynamic Sounds with your details they may ask for a photo of the back and front of your radio but that ensures you get the right lead.[/quote]

Just an update in case any forum members are wanting to get the steering wheel controls working on their Peugeot Boxer X2/50 with an after-market radio. I have just fitted the leads orian mentions above, and ......drum roll...... BINGO

I have six buttons on the steering wheel and they now all work with my Sony! Just a couple of points:

• The mute button controls an attenuator in the radio, so does not completely silence it if the volume was very loud
  

I connected everything together before connecting the power leads, and it all worked straight off, only then did I see the long list of instructions on the back of the PC99-SON leaflet, so I don't think you need bother with those

• The SRC button, if pressed for more than 1 second, switches my Sony on and off - how cool is that?
  

Dynamic Sounds charge £5 per item for delivery. At the moment the Sony, JVC etc PC99 leads have free delivery, so order that separately, rather than as an 'add-on' on the PC99-X29 page
[list][*] Dynamic Sounds has a Paypal option, and delivery is swift.

Finally, I would like to thank orian (Bob), for his help, without his input I might not have bothered, but now I have, I'm glad I did

Hi oldlowie,

Having just returned from touring France & Italy it was great to hear that you also have had success fitting your Sony radio complete with steering controls.

I used my radio on tour to play my MP4 tracks and the sound was superb despite the fact I could not pump up the volume for fear of breaking windows in adjacent vans.

New to the forum & thought I'd post a thanks to those who originally contributed to this thread. I got my Sony radio to work with the steering wheel controls first time .
I also bought a double DIN surround off ebay to neaten the installation up a bit, Photo here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Thanks again.

Hi Dolwen,

It's simple when you know how.

I had not solved the surround trim so I would welcome details of the part number/ reference to find this on ebay.

Hi Dolwen,


I suppose your missus did all the upgrades, whilst you sat there and read the paper!!

Great job, the van looks superb. Pity all Manufacturers don't look at some of these posts (for improvements) and take note.

Andy

Hi Orian,
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

This is the facia part I fitted. It necessitated cutting off the original support tabs inside the din slot to fit it, bit reluctant to start hacking away plastic at first but worth the effort.

Hi Andy,
Actually, HE sat there reading the paper while I did the mods!

Hi Dolwen,

Thanks for the rapid response.

I am a little hesitant to cut any of the existing parts as I managed to transfer my Sony radio from my last van, reinstalling the old radio as if it had not been removed.

Do you think you would have any problems if you wanted to reinstall the original radio?

It's difficult to say without actually trying to refit the original but I anticipate keeping the van for quite a few years at least & don't plan to refit the original radio anyway, but if in doubt, dont!

Hi Dolwen,

Thanks for your response. I will probably leave my radio surround as it is.

I removed my radio from my former Ford Transit Motorhome and after the advice on this thread bought the Autoleads PC99-X29 lead together with the PC99-KEN patch lead to suit my radio. I also got the Connects2 Fascia adapter which fits well. You only have to carefully hacksaw off the 2 plastic bits which stick out after the OEM radio was removed which whilst a Fiat part number is a Bosch radio/CD.

I had to reverse the yellow and red wires on the wiring harness for my radio which is easy as they are push in connectors. Leaving the wires as they were the radio worked but not the steering controls. Now everything works and I can switch it on or off whether the ignition is on or not. Also it does not cut out after 20 mins.

I can thoroughly recommend the radio which is a Kenwood KIV700 with full ipod control. I have run the wires through a square hole already at the rear of the large glove box and my ipod sits in there. There is also a USB connector on the lead in the glovebox. It also comes with a remote control which is handy when you are sat in the motorhome. The sound quality is amazing. I have attached a photo which shows it finished in my new 2011 Nuevo.

If anyone is interested here are the details it is on offer at present.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thanks everyone for the write-ups and recommendations on this thread. I've been sufficiently emboldened to do the same.

I've just bought my birthday present to myself, and taken moggyminor's recommendation.. bought the Kenwood headunit for £199, with fascia, and autoleads adapters as suggested.

--
ForresGeek

ForresGeek wrote:Thanks everyone for the write-ups and recommendations on this thread. I've been sufficiently emboldened to do the same.

I've just bought my birthday present to myself, and taken moggyminor's recommendation.. bought the Kenwood headunit for £199, with fascia, and autoleads adapters as suggested.

--
ForresGeek

Hi ForresGeek-you will not be disappointed and good price at the moment as I paid £215. You can change the display colours and also have them set so they change all the time which is rather cool. Also it will charge your ipod when connected. You will see that I fitted the radio at the top which gives easier access to get to the wires and more room for them to hang down. You will find that once you have connected all the leads there is quite a lot to feed in. Make sure you connect it all up before you install it just to make sure it works. If you have any trouble just send me a pm and I will help you.
I just remembered you will also need an aerial adapter. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

All,

At last, the new radio is fitted, and working (almost) 100%.

I took moggyminor's recommendations and bought a Kenwood KIV700 head-unit.. This is a nice piece of kit, it has a USB connector which accepts an iPod, or memory sticks... Also has an aux-in so you can plug other devices straight in via a 3.5mm jack plug. It has more flashing lights on it than you can imagine, and has a graphic equalizer for...... equalizing your graphics :-)

Taking the standard blaupunkt unit out was very easy, just needed a pair of radio-removal tools (or a bit of coat-hanger).

I ordered the autoleads PC99X-29 thingy online, with a PC-KEN fly-lead for Kenwood Head units as per MoggyMinor's spec.

I had to crimp a bullet connector onto the blue and yellow wire from the Kenwood (steering wheel controls).

I also did the little bit of hack-sawing MoggyMinor did, to remove the existing plastic mounting tabs.

This was when I encountered a number of problems:-

a) The PC99X-29 thingy had a sticker on it saying "fiat punto 20003>", and while all the connectors on it were physically the right size, it was obvious that the wires going to the steering wheel controls just weren't connecting to anything (i.e. the pins in one plug did not correspond to wires in the socket it connected to).

After some messing around, trying to re-locate pins in plugs, I gave up on the autoleads thingy.. And decided to go without steering wheel controls until I'd done more research..


b) I tried swapping yellow and red (power) wires around but could not get the radio to stay on without the ignition being switched on :-(

I interrupted MoggyMinor's saturdays twice in a row, and phoned him for help.. (Many Thanks Grant), he provided moral support and technical assistance.

So I got my multimeter out, and went looking for the un-switched (permanent) live from the vehicle battery (it's the yellow one). Using my recently purchased crimp tool set, I fashioned a cunning little wire 'Y' piece to take the permanent live (yellow wire), and feed it to both the red and yellow power wires on the stereo.... Result !!! It worked... Radio is now independant of ignition switch..



Yesterday, I was researching steering wheel controls further, and stumbled upon InCarTec (exeter)... They have a gizmo called a PC29-666, which says "Fiat Ducato, Citroen Relay, Peugeot Boxer 2006>" :-) From the picture on their website I could see that the three wires connecting to the steering wheel controls were in the correct position in the plug connector.. So I ordered one (and the corresponding Kenwood fly-lead).

Excellent service, ordered yesterday 10am (from Exeter), delivered to me today 08:30am, the Highlands :-)

It's just taken me 2 minutes to fit and it works.. steering wheel controls,volume, mute (attenuate), up/down channel scan etc.

So I'm a happy man...


In total I needed:-

1) Kenwood KIV700 head unit.
2) Plastic fascia replacement.
3) Aerial connector DIN plug
4) Bullet connectors and crimp tool.
5) Assorted bits of wire (to make power 'Y').
6) Hack saw to remove plastic mounting tabs
7) Radio removal tool (coat-hanger)
8) InCarTec 29-666 and 29-005 kenwood patch lead
9) patience (not normally one of my qualities) and a methodical approach.


If anyone's interested in the InCarTec bits (their website is pretty detailed. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I bought:-


Delivery Status Qty Item Price
Shipped 1 Fiat Ducato, Citroen Relay Steering control - 29-666 £24.99
1 KENWOOD patch lead for 29 series steering control - 29-005 £3.99
Shipping & Handling (UK delivery) : £4.50
Total: £33.48



Many Thanks once again to MoggyMinor for his help and support... Was great to hear a calm voice on the phone when I was panicing

If anyone else is tempted to do this, feel free to PM me here, and I'll help out if I can (pass on the favour).

--
ForresGeek

Another thankyou for the people giving advice here. We fixed the `Sony' radio as advised and it works fine including the paddles.

moggyminor wrote:There is also a USB connector on the lead in the glovebox.

Does anybody know if you can purchase a lead for this connector so I can use a USB stick with the basic radio. After all the basic radio will play mp3 tracks and I have tested this with a CD full of mp3 tracks.

mccormw wrote:

moggyminor wrote:There is also a USB connector on the lead in the glovebox.

Does anybody know if you can purchase a lead for this connector so I can use a USB stick with the basic radio. After all the basic radio will play mp3 tracks and I have tested this with a CD full of mp3 tracks.

I do not think you can for the standard radio. The Kenwood radio I have has full iPod control with separate leads out which I routed into the glovebox. As radios go the standard radio is OK apart from the annoying 20min. cut out with the ignition off but I would not go back now I have the Kenwood.

Thanks for the info moggyminor1966.

I think you are right, certainly the guy at the Peugeot garage didn't think it was a USB connector either. Annoying though because it can play MP3 CDs.

That is the way (mp3 CDs) I will go for the moment because being a Euro5 cab the radio fitting is different to the one you show. The whole thing appears to be molded in to the dash. So following your procedure ain't gonna work - I can't even see how to get the radio out. My wife's VW Golf can play a USB stick and an SD card.

Still I can get approx. 15 albums per CD that will do. When we are away we only listen to Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen plus a little bit of late 60s/early 70s classic rock.