Dual Din Stereo Slot Problems - 1996 850 Sedan

[Troy]

This is my first Volvo, bought in 2006. Someone did a poor job of installing a Pioneer stereo and I have concerns that the Dual Din opening has been modified beyond repair. Here is a photo of the stereo in place, which looks harmless enough:



Here are some pics with the stereo removed:



Lower Left Close Up:



Lower Right Close Up:


Upper Right Close up:


Can this be repaired easily? Thanks - TW

[MadeInJapan]

I guess what we need to know is, what are you intentions?
Do you want to purchase a used Volvo radio to insert there or are you going to go with after market again? www.crutchfields.com sells the DIN inserts if you're going with after market and they also have decent prices on radios, even DVD's that will fit there, etc.

I'm thinking that despite the damage, if the areas you showed are cleaned up really good, an OEM radio will fit again without really showing the damage. Problems are in 2 areas- 1. The wires are cut so you'll have to restore the original connectors (maybe a bone yard or junk yard or dismantler such as www.erievovo.com (you'll need to call them as they are terrible with email). 2. Were the speakers also changed out? Since the load rating (Ohms) are quite specific to the Volvo sound system, if you're going to go back to OEM, this will also need to at least be checked out and restored. That said, look in the repair database section of this forum in the changing out speakers write-up and it will show you what the OEM Ohm rating, etc. are.

One thing you can do is to find someone with a similar Volvo (almost all of the radios will work except the units beginning with "HU" which were for the '01 and newer cars. So find an "SC" head unit and slip it into the opening to see how well it fits, if it locks in like it's suppose to and how well it covers up the damage if you are wanting to restore things.

Good luck and let us know what you're wanting to do and how it's going.

- MIJ

[Troy]

Thanks for the response; I did read the speaker write-up before I posted this query and it was helpful. I just couldn't find anything on hacked up din ports.

Never having owned, or spent any time in a Volvo, I don't have any experience with the OEM head to know the pros/cons. I don't know if the speakers are OEM, I'll have to check anyways so I know the impedance when I purchase a new head. That said, I'll probably go the after market route and purchase something iPod ready.

Just out of curiosity, if the original connectors were still attached, are there adapters made for them so you don't have to cut off them off to install a non-OEM head? I prefer not to hack up the wiring and I would restore it for posterity if that was the right thing to do.

Thanks again

Troy

[Troy]

I just answered my own question about wiring harness adapters after having viewed a crutchfield video. I will try to locate the original connectors so I can restore my wiring harness.

T