Hi can anyone give me some advice to change the hu in the otavia vrs.

What can i use to get it out and also do i need to change any of the wiring to fit a new stereo any help would be great thanks

You need some HU removal keys. I *think* it's the Grundig ones, but not sure.

In terms of wiring, the VAG cars all use the ISO connectors, so new head unit should plug straight in. However, the permanent and switched 12V feeds are inversed, so you either need the new head unit wiring loom with bullet connectors on those wires, or you need to get a seperate wiring loom allowing you to change over the wires.

If you do a search in the ICE section, you should find loads of useful info

HTH

where you from im from peterborough i can fit it for you if you want??

joel

Sorry to crash your post - but I am thinking of exactly the same thing...

What do we need to be looking for in order for a new head unit to still be able to control the OEM (Pioneer?) cd-changer? The Blaupunkt HU I looked at (Santa Cruz MP34) said "compatible with Blaupunkt CD changers" but is that just a bit of marketing spin to get you to buy their kit? Are some brands more universal than others?

I thought I would swap the HU for an mp3 capable one and leave the changer as is. All my cassetes gave up the ghost years ago.

I don't know of any head units which work with the OEM changer - I know a couple of manufacturers have changes which connect to the OEM head unit, but not vice versa...

Rob.

Sorry to crash your post - but I am thinking of exactly the same thing...

What do we need to be looking for in order for a new head unit to still be able to control the OEM (Pioneer?) cd-changer? The Blaupunkt HU I looked at (Santa Cruz MP34) said "compatible with Blaupunkt CD changers" but is that just a bit of marketing spin to get you to buy their kit? Are some brands more universal than others?

I thought I would swap the HU for an mp3 capable one and leave the changer as is. All my cassetes gave up the ghost years ago.

The oem changer looks identical to a Panasonic one i used to have :confused: I havent had a look at the connectors though.

you wont (not to my knowledge) find a HU that will control the OE changer in the boot. unless theres a new HU that does in which case one of our resident ICE dealers/experts will advise otherwise.

for taking the OE unit out you can use the old style ford removal keys or 4 pop rivets that havent had the shafts snapped off. i suppse thinking about it you could use 2 pieces of wire coat hanger cut and bent to shape.

your best option is to go to halfords and buy an iso connector for the octavia/bora which already has the live switched, this wont then cause problems with the central locking. then your after market HU will work without any cutting of wires.

note: for ease of fitting take the glove box out, you can then get a hand in behind the unit when inserting to move the bundle of cables to one side.

HTH

If you just connect the ISO connector as well as swapping the 12v +ve power cables dont forget to disconnect the K wire that interfaces the OEM hu with canbus. If you forget things will seem normal but strange things related to the central locking and other components may start to occur and you will cause the dealers diagnostic tool to blow up. This is because in the ISO standard this pin outputs voltage whereas VAG use this pin for another purpose.

Also you will need a powered aerial amplifier if you plan on listening to any AM or weaker FM stations because the oem unit powers an ampifier in the aerial base through the coax, aftermarket units are unable to do this.

The oem changer is made by panasonic but has non standard connections.

If you just connect the ISO connector as well as swapping the 12v +ve power cables dont forget to disconnect the K wire that interfaces the OEM hu with canbus. If you forget things will seem normal but strange things related to the central locking and other components may start to occur and you will cause the dealers diagnostic tool to blow up. This is because in the ISO standard this pin outputs voltage whereas VAG use this pin for another purpose.

Also you will need a powered aerial amplifier if you plan on listening to any AM or weaker FM stations because the oem unit powers an ampifier in the aerial base through the coax' date=' aftermarket units are unable to do this.

The oem changer is made by panasonic but has non standard connections.[/quote']

would you say the best option is to buy the wiring loom from halfords will this also fix the problem about the k wire effecting the central locking

thanks for all the info you guys

So is the Octy's dash a standard Din size hole and fittings?

Octaviablack, thats what I did in the end. I got the VAG wiring kit from bluespot.co.uk as it includes everything you need.

Logiclee, the old octy has a standard din sized slot. The new one is I think a weird shape and will most likely need a facia adapter.

Good info here lads

First job when my Octy arrives will be to fit my Pioneer head unit and autochanger. tbh, the thing that worries me the most is having to remove loads of trim on a nice new car to replace the autochanger cable :thumbdwn:

I don't suppose there is any way that the cable can be adapted for a Pioneer setup :confused:

I've never used an ISO extension leads on Octavias when just fitting radios. I used one on mine as I picked up the powers for my boost guage from the adaptor lead.

A normal ISO to ISO connector should be around