Volvo 960 1991 Radio

[RobertoGonzalez]

Hello folks, greetings from Chile. My Volvo 960 (1991) came without a radio when I bought it. The previous owner, told me that the car had a Blaupunkt Paris RCR 42 radio installed, but it was stolen many years ago. I’m trying to find a radio but most of what I have found on the internet, does not fit my car (SC816 - SC815 - SC811 - SC810).

I would appreciate very much if someone can tell me what type (model) of radio would fit my car, or what alternative do I have, yet I don’t want to install a modern radio. Images below show what I have right now.

Thanks.

Roberto.

[tmcmilli]

It looks like someone modified the original double DIN opening to accept a single DIN radio with a single DIN tray either above or below the radio. It looks like the radio was on top and the tray was underneath, but there is not a back on the bottom tray which is odd. My 1994 960 has the SC-810 double DIN height radio / cassette tape with a CD changer in the boot or trunk, whichever you prefer. It also looks like a lot of wires are cut on the connectors.

If you can remove the top and bottom plastic inserts, (maybe just the top one to see), are there rails on the left and right, in the middle of the overall double height opening? If there are and if the original type of connectors can be recovered or wired back to original, then I would think you could use the SC-810. I'm no expert but that's what my car came with and still has. You just pull on 2 release latches and it slides in and out, with recessed places on the sides of the original radio that correspond to the rails on both sides of the radio opening.

If someone has cut off these side rails in the radio opening, then an original style double DIN radio like the SC-810 will fit in the hole but it won't be secured properly at all.

No matter what, I think it's going to be difficult to install a factory radio. I bought a cheap, new double DIN radio and cage to mount it inside of my original opening, with modifications. I have to cut off those side rails I mentioned above so that the cage will fit. I have a wiring adapter to connect to the original connectors, and it has cut wires on the other end which the colors all match exactly the colors of the wiring that came with the new radio. It has bluetooth, USB, Aux, radio, and CD/MP3 disc. It was $55 US for the radio, $30 for the cage, and $15 for the wiring adapter. These are all new components available online, at least available here in the States.

[tmcmilli]

One more thing, if you buy a used Volvo radio like the SC-810, be sure that the seller can provide you with the factory code for the radio; otherwise it will be useless to you. When you power it on it will say "CODE" on the display and will not do anything else until the numeric code is entered.

[RobertoGonzalez]

It looks like someone modified the original double DIN opening to accept a single DIN radio with a single DIN tray either above or below the radio. It looks like the radio was on top and the tray was underneath, but there is not a back on the bottom tray which is odd. My 1994 960 has the SC-810 double DIN height radio / cassette tape with a CD changer in the boot or trunk, whichever you prefer. It also looks like a lot of wires are cut on the connectors.(...)

Thank you very much for your reply. If I understood correctly everything you said, tomorrow I can take off the actual cage or tray to see how it looks. I think the previous owner made all these modifications to install the Blaupunkt Paris RCR 42, which is a smaller radio.
I will post some images tomorrow.

On eBay, a person who is selling a SC-810 double DIN, told me that his radio it would fit. What the guy wrote me was; “This one is a double-din (bigger) so you would have to remove the cage from your old unit. It would fit if you remove that part. I’m not sure if the wiring harness/plug will be compatible with your plug pictures. The unit I have comes with wiring harness, which you could connect to your vehicle. It would involve some re-wiring but it should work.”

Anyway, I would appreciate if you could tell me what model of radio do you use now, the one that has bluetooth. My idea is always to keep the original style of the car, but if the radio that you use has a similar style, and it is not too futuristic, then ofcourse it would be another option. I will try to post the pictures tomorrow.

Thank you very much.

[RickHaleParker]

It looks like someone modified the original double DIN opening to accept a single DIN radio with a single DIN tray either above or below the radio.

The 1991 came with single DIN or double DIN.

The single DIN will be harder to find. He could get the mounting frame for a double DIN. Then install one of the SC-XXX radios.

If you pull the radio from a junk yard. Get the donor car's VIN number. With the VIN number one can get the radio unlock code with a online Volvo App. That is if the radio is original to the donor car. Look on top of the radio. Many service techs write the four digit code down there.

The model number for the single DIN is CR-834

Cr-834.jpeg (30.59 KiB) Viewed 2478 times

The model number for the double DIN is SC-810.

SC-810.jpg (33.51 KiB) Viewed 2478 times

[RobertoGonzalez]

The 1991 came with single DIN or double DIN.

The single DIN will be harder to find. He could get the mounting frame for a double DIN. Then install one of the SC-XXX radios.

If you pull the radio from a junk yard. Get the donor car's VIN number. With the VIN number one can get the radio unlock code with a online Volvo App. That is if the radio is original to the donor car. Look on top of the radio. Many service techs write the four digit code down there.

The model number for the single DIN is CR-834

Cr-834.jpeg


The model number for the double DIN is SC-810.

SC-810.jpg

Thank you very much for your answer. I guess my car came with the single DIN radio, because when I try to pull the frame, it came out complete. I guess I will have to buy a single DIN radio or change the mounting frame, that is also a little damaged because of the theft of the radio. If you guys know where I can find that, then I could try to buy it and ship it to my country, with a double DIN radio.

Thanks again!

[RickHaleParker]

If you guys know where I can find that, then I could try to buy it and ship it to my country, with a double DIN radio.

The early 740, 940 & 960 are getting scarce everywhere. If you can get a double DIN mount panel. There is still a good supply of SC-XXX Radios.

Will need to figure out of radios in Chile are the same as the United States or some other country. What are the AM & FM bandwidths and spacing in Chile?

Mount panel for double DIN is Volvo part number 6840206. You can find these in 1988 - 1994 740, 940 & 960. You may or may not be able to modify one from a later year.


Mount panel for single DIN is Volvo part number 3541260 or 1393902.

[RobertoGonzalez]

The early 740, 940 & 960 are getting scarce everywhere. If you can get a double DIN mount panel. There is still a good supply of SC-XXX Radios.

Will need to figure out of radios in Chile are the same as the United States or some other country. What are the AM & FM bandwidths and spacing in Chile?

Mount panel for double DIN is Volvo part number 6840206. You can find these in 1988 - 1994 740, 940 & 960. You may or may not be able to modify one from a later year.


Mount panel for single DIN is Volvo part number 3541260 or 1393902.

Hello Rick, thanks again for the help. The radio bandwidths in Chile are, 88 - 108 MHz. I have looked over the internet for the mount panels and I found a double DIN (part number 6840206), for $42.

So, I guess I will buy that and see if it’s everything good. I believe that I have to wait maybe dos weeks for that part to arrive, and, I’m going to buy the SC810 to try.

I will tell what happens next in pictures.

Thanks a lot.

[RickHaleParker]

Hello Rick, thanks again for the help. The radio bandwidths in Chile are, 88 - 108 MHz. I have looked over the internet for the mount panels and I found a double DIN (part number 6840206), for $42.

So, I guess I will buy that and see if it’s everything good. I believe that I have to wait maybe dos weeks for that part to arrive, and, I’m going to buy the SC810 to try.

I will tell what happens next in pictures.

Thanks a lot.

I got to looking at that. It looks like frequency allocation is the same for all of America, North America, Central America and South America (Region 2).
AM radio band 535-1605 kHz. Carrier frequencies of 540 to 1600 kHz are assigned at 10 kHz intervals.
FM radio band is from 88 to 108 MHz at Carrier frequencies assigned at 200 Khz intervals.

If you get the mount panel, any Americans (Region 2) SC-XXX should work. Be aware if you get a SC-900/901 you need to get the separate Dolby Logic processor, the separate amplifier and the wiring that goes with it. If you do get a SC-900/901 also get the high grade Dynaudio speakers that came with it. A lot more work but worth it. The SC-900/901 systems rock.

[lummert]

A single DIN aftermarket radio will fit that opening. The lower opening was used for a storage pocket. The wiring is easy when using a wiring diagram. You can use the radio console from a later 960 (1994+) to mount the OE Double DIN radio.