I ordered a Kenwood X890 headunit from ebay and want to replace my stock headunit with it. My question is: How hard is it to install the headunit myself? I havent done any stereo work before and I dont trust myself to solder wires.

Should I leave it to a professional or should I do it myself? How long would it take for a newbie?

Thanks

 

give it a try. you can always take it to a pro if you can't figure it out.

 

If you've never done it before then take it to a pro cuz you will scratch up your dash and/or possibly break something.

 

give it a try...these people here make changing your oil seem like a clutch job...

stock radio comes out within 5 mins...wiring shouldn't be that hard...if you know basics

 

Yeah of course taking out the stock radio is easy but I'm saying that if you dont have the right tools or preparation for this then you can scratch up your dash. I've seen that happen before.

 

Make sure you buy the harness that plugs into your factory one. They now have harnesses that are color coded to the head unit wiring as well so, that makes it really easy.

Go buy some 18ga. insulated butt splices, something to crimp them with and, some small tie wraps. That, some very basic hand tools and, a little common sense should be about all you need. Take your time, be careful removing the center console piece and should be fine.

PS: be sure to disconnect your battery before hand.

 

get a wiring harness, some crimps or solder, electrical tape, a flat head screw driver, and a phillips head screw driver and go for it...

 

its really realloy easy give her a whirl.

 

Go to Circuit City and get the harness for your car. Then buy a smart harness so you don't have to do any sodering. It is all quick connect and very easy to do.

 

harness is key.

 

I say Give it a Shot, Some pros aren't soo good if you don't know who to take it to. And a head unit install is a walk in the park. Get a Diagram From the manual, And get a harness for both the Radio and harness (car) sides. Get a diagram for the Harness side too. Once you have both diagrams and Harnesses just match up the connections while out of the car and on a work bench. Get some Heatshrink tubing (Electrical tape will work) and Solder the Connections. You should make a plug and play harness. Takes about 15mins. To prevent from scratching up the dash use plastic tools. And here is how you take it apart. First thing you do is look at the top off the Cubby whole (where the Gauge package is on the MRs and RSs) You'll see two + screws, unscrew them both put the screws in you cup holder. The use your fingernails or a plastic tool to pull the cubby forward. There are two plastic clips that pop off, Just pull kinda hard and they will unclip No problem. Next grab the Nobs for the HVAC and pull straight out, they should slide out. Put all three into the cup holder. Remove the two brass colored screws. Put you fingers int he holes from the HVAC nobs and pull the bezzel off, be careful there are 7 clips and its a littly tricky, just unclip one or two and work your way arround. After that you just unscrew ther 4 screws holding in the radio, remove the connections and brackets, put the brackets on the new radio, use your harness to Connect it and Reinstall.

The bold text is for MRs or relocation kits its just how to remove the Lower cubby if you want.

 

mistakes happen even if a pro does it i say give it a try at least once

 

do it yourself!! make sure you get all the right parts... and if you need to, do a search on the how-to forums, there's plenty of info there... it's soooooo easy! Good Luck!

 

If you even have to ask for this question, I say no.

Level of difficulty is 1 out 2007.

GL.

 

here is a pin out for the Radio side