Radio Replacement- '91 Camry LE

The AM-FM radio/cassette in my 1991 Camry LE has gone south. Turned it on and then smelled a burning odor. Tuning function seems to be okay, but strange behaviour in antenna raising/lowering. Digital display is OK, but no backlight.

No Audio output.

Where may I find instruction for removing/replacing the radio unit? I would consider replacement if a suitable unit can be found. Or, should this be left to a dealer for auto radios ?

Thanks.

~ Vince ~

Reply to
Vince
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How may I determine the Audio power per channel, etc., specs, which would be needed when going for an aftermarket replacement unit, for this cassette receiver ? Would this info be available in the Owner's Manual ?

Reply to
Vince

If you're unsure, why not replace the radio with an original? The junkyards should be full of them. And of course, there's always eBay:

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Reply to
jim menning

Crutchfield has a good selection of aftermarket audio systems and I believe they also have info on specs.

I don't remember how the radio is mounted in the '91 Camry, but most likely, there is a trim bezel surrounding the radio that is snapped in and is removed by pulling straight out. Once the bezel is removed, the mounting hardware should be visible.

Reply to
Ray O

I bought a radio for my 88 Camry last month for $20 w/shiping from ebay. The advantage with factory radio is that it will plug right in the the wiring. ANY other radio will reequire some type of installation kit to fit the square opening of the OEM radio. Their should be two screws at the top above the radio & The trim pannel will require some carefull prying to get the clips to release.

Reply to
sqdancerLynn

A '91 Camry should have a DIN or Double DIN opening. You can go to Radio Shack or any car stereo store and get an adapter to fit your dash openeing to install an aftermarket radio.

You can even get these at the EVIL Wal*Mart for a few bucks. While you're there, also pick up a wiring harness adapter. They are marketed by Scosche and cost a whopping $6.95.

Then, pick a stereo. You can get the lowest priced one on the shelf (Rampage, made by AudioVox, and not TOO bad for what you'll pay) or go a few bucks more and get something good.

Get the whole mess home, wire the harness from the radio to the adapter you bought. The wires are color coded, so just wire the same colors together. If you have a power antenna then use the orange wires, otherwise, clip them so there isn't 12V running rampant where you can't see it (don't clip them SHORT, just clip the exposed end off.) Install the DIN adapter from the radio into the dash plate, install the dash plate into your dash, attach the harness to the wiring harness of the Camry, and slide the new radio in until it clicks. It would take me an hour or so, you'll have all afternoon tomorrow!!!

If you attempt this, I check the group from time to time during the day; post a message and I'll get to it.

BTW, as long as you don't get too powerful a unit, or you keep the Bass down, the stock speakers should be just fine. Toyota stock speakers are 4 ohms, and any modern radio will work just fine with them.

Reply to
Hachiroku

I found the two screws, but my Phillips does not seem to grip properly. Should I be using a "metric" cross-tip screwdriver ?

I worry about prying the trim panel ...

Reply to
Vince

No, use a #2 Philips

Don't worry, just do it!

Reply to
Ray O

I thought the Japanese tended to use JIS Standard Crosspoint Driver heads (sort of like a Phillips, but not exactly) or Pozidrive screws. I'd try the JIS and/or Pozidriv tools and see if it one of those doesn't fit better than a Phillips drive. There is also Reed and Prince crosspoint type screws, but I don't see those very often.

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Reply to
C. E. White

I pursued the eBay option, and have just made a $34.26 payment via PayPal to the seller. Now waiting for notice of shipping the radio to me.

I went around yesterday shopping for an aftermarket cassette-receiver. Difficulty was that everything was with a CD player and no cassette player, as well as much more than $35.00 !

Reply to
Vince

Radio Shack no longer carries auto radio stuff. Auto parts store, e.g., AutoZone, PepBoys, carry adapter kits under $17.00. Circuit City's kits were at $19.99 each, and two harnesses and one installation kit would be needed.

So, I bidded higher at eBay, and have won that auction ($34.26 total cost to me).

Thanks for your input.

~ V>A '91 Camry should have a DIN or Double DIN opening.

Reply to
Vince

Great! I hope this works well for you.

jim menning

Reply to
jim menning

What did you get?

Reply to
Hachiroku

Good News: I received the auctioned cassette-receiver via UPS yesterday. Today I managed to pull apart the dash trim panel and remove the OE cassette-receiver.

Bad News: The harness connector plugs are not compatible with the connector jacks on the auctioned unit, due to different keyway and different size of contact pins in the jacks/plugs.

Result: No Joy ! Disappointment. But, learned one or two things along the way.

Now I must c>

Reply to
Vince

Is there any chance that TOYOTA would have an adapter available that would make a transition from my '91 cassette-receiver harness to jacks on the in-hand eBay auctioned '86 cassette-receiver ?

There are several local junk yards here, but I wonder if there is there is an easier way than visiting each one to try to locate a suitable replacement for my 91 Camry cassette-radio ? I don't know if any of these businesses use a TTY search engine, etc.

I have contacted the eBay seller and have sent along digital photos of the connector jacks on each cassette-receiver to prove that they are different. However, return of the unusable unit to them must be at my expense. Goes to show that they seem uninterested in return of the radio to their inventory unless it is at my expense. The $12.00 shipping & handling is greater than their cost for the unit.

~V>

Reply to
Vince

No, because Toyota would not have an application for such an adapter.

Some junk yards (oop, sorry, auto parts recyclers) and some repair facilities have a database of available parts.

Reply to
Ray O

Drop by your local Toyota dealer and ask if they have a 'theft' kit for the 86 Camry or whatever radio you bought. If they do then it would have the proper plug to fit in the back of your radio.

You might get lucky.

That kit would have the 'radio' plug and you may have to buy an adaptor from Crutchfield and do some soldering.

Good luck.

Reply to
Scott in Florida

Sorry, Vince!!!

Should have asked first, and almost anyone here that's had their dash apart could have told you an '86 radio wouldn't work in a '91 car. They changed somewhere around 1990...

But, you can go to an auto recycler and get the plug off a 91 or newer junk; cut it out from the dash and leave yourself as much wire as you can. Try to reacdh as far into the dash as you can to cut the wires so you'll have 4-6 inches of wire.

Then, go to Wal*Mart and get one of those adapters I was talking about.

Now, the unfortunate part: I think the color of the wires changed, too. But, you can Google Corolla radio wire harness and then the model you have, and you should be able to run across a wiring diagram with the wire colors. Maybe even a Toyota Service Dep't can help you with this; they did for me when my Corolla GTS got stolen and the morons cut ALL the wires in that harness, instead of just disconnecting the friggin radio. They cut all the climate control wiring, too, but I wa able to get the diagrams and the color schemes...

Mark the wires on the harness you cut out of the newer car, RR, LR, RF, LF, +12, G and +12 IGN. The harness adapter should have a diagram for what each wire is, Purple is LR IIRC, red is +12IGN, yellow is +12 constant, black is ground, ETC. Then, splice the wires from the harness you have cut out of the other car to the corresponding color on the adapter harness, Solder or tape them together with electrician's tape, and plug the harness adapter into the car's harness. Voila! You have adapted an older radio to a newer car!

Alternately, first, DISCONNECT THE BATTERY!!!! Then, plug the harness you bought at Wal*Mart into the wiring harness in the car, and make a chart of what color in the car's harness goes to what color is on the adapter harness. Since the adapter you cut out of the 'donor' car probably has the same color scheme, match the colors, solder and tape. Actually I would just twist them together and lightly tape them, plug it in and test it, and if it works THEN permanently join the wires together.

I believe doing this you will be separating the new harness you bought since it comes with one end for the older cars and one end for the newer cars.

You MAY luck out and find the adapter you're looking for at a stereo shop or similar, but I doubt it.

The only radio I had for a '95 Tercel only had two channels, so I gave it to my drummer to use in his truck...he may sell the truck, if he does I'll get the radio back, but it will only operate the front speakers...

Reply to
Hachiroku

GL Dan

Reply to
Danny G.

Thanks very much Dan, that link is great information.

There is a reference to "an optional snap on wiring harness" at the bottom of that link's information. Can somebody expand on what that means ?

Thanks.

Reply to
Vince

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