Previa Radios

March 3, 2006

Hi.. I'm both a newbie on the site & a newbie owner of a Toyota Previa (UK/Basic Model/1991/Auto/Petrol)

I've recently tried to replace the radio in a 1991 Previa (UK), as the last/ original gave up the ghost.

No sound on "switch on", then a slow build up of sound (but never made the distance!), either way, so old it had 2 go!

Access was a bit more fun than I've been used to on other cars, in fact I almost destroyed the old unit in the end, but I'm now stuck!

There appear to be 2 separate wiring loops (I'm guessing one is the original... which has v.old style connectors running to the amp in the passenger footwell?).

I'm using a wiring adaptor to the alternative wiring on the new unit.. Great... power, but no sound.

Questions...

1) Is there an adaptor that will fit the "old pin style connector" (this will save wiring/ amp changes)

2) This may or may not be related, but I've noticed 2 white connectors on the drivers side above the pedals (Sorry, I've no Manual etc), one is in place, but there's a taped up alternative?? What is this?

March 8, 2006

Watcha,

Your wiring adaptor should make the job a "plug and Play" exercise :)

What adaptor did you get ?

You sure you have a pre-amp ? Didnt think UK cars had these.

When i did my K reg Previa, all i had to do was buy the adaptor and plug it into the loom :eek:

Cheers

Pete

March 8, 2006

Watcha,
Your wiring adaptor should make the job a "plug and Play" exercise :)
What adaptor did you get ?
You sure you have a pre-amp ? Didnt think UK cars had these.
When i did my K reg Previa, all i had to do was buy the adaptor and plug it into the loom
Cheers
Pete

March 8, 2006

Hi,

Thanks 4 the response. I'll do a double check on the adaptor (Off hand, all I remember was a considerable bit of web searching for the "ideal" one)... which seemed to match requirements.

These attachments seemed to fit fine, although nothing connected to the "original lead" to the ex-radio. But fitted OK to the secondary/ other set.

I'm no sound system pro by any means, but usually manage to fit my own.

There is an amp in the passenger footwell that I presume relates to the uninstalled stereo? Though given a couple of owners, anything could happen.

What really surprised me is the options (Seemingly 2 different wiring looms(?))

Great if I could find an adaptor for the original.... at least there was some sound from that (mimimal).

As you are the only one to reply to date, I don't want to lose the thread (so, more info as soon as I've checked).

Thanks

March 9, 2006

Watcha,

These are the 2 differant harnesses you can get. The first one is the one i used:

http://www.justkenwood.co.uk/install/show_model.asp?id=273

This is the other type used for the other sort ie fatory amplified systems.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Toyota-Amplified-Radio...1QQcmdZViewItem

Like i said, i didnt think UK Previas had amplified sytems, so it sounds like yours is a DIY job.

Hope this helps.

Pete

March 9, 2006

Hi there I am new to this site infact I have only just found it. I am trying to change the radio in my Toyota Previa 92 2.4 GL Auto (UK spec) I was doing a web search and came across this site I just wanted to add that my previa does have an amp fitted in the passanger foot well but I have no idea on how to remove my stereo or sort out the amp as I have very minimum sound when turned up full. So any help would be great.

March 10, 2006

Found this on the net somewhere:

Front Dash Removal Instructions from Bob Czachor

First of all be patient with everything. It gets a little aggravating

at times. Its best to do it

in a well lit area. If you have a bad memory, get someone who has a

good one to watch you take the dash board apart. You will

need an off-set or

stubby phillips head screwdriver to replace the fan speed switch.

1. Remove the ash tray.

2. Open the storage compartment below the ash tray and empty the

contents.

3. Bend in the sides of the compartment door just enough for the door

stops at the back of the door to clear and allow the door

to swing completely down and out of the way.

4. You must disassemble and remove the cigarette lighter from the dash

or else you will damage it later. Unplug the wires from

the back of the

cigarette lighter. The bigger plug requires a good pull, the smaller

one (for the light bulb) has a locking tab on one of the sides.

You need to squeeze this locking tab as you pull the plug.

5. The housing for the light bulb locks the entire cigarette lighter on

to the dashboard. From the backside facing out toward the

van interior, turn the light housing clockwise 90 degrees to unlock the

light bulb housing.

Remove the light bulb and its housing from the cigarette lighter.

6. Back to the cigarette lighter. From the backside, slide out the

black metal housing with the plastic piece inside of it. This little

plastic piece is what the light bulb housing locks into.

7. Push the inside part of the cigarette lighter out of the dash from

the rear. This requires a considerable amount of force.

8. All that should be left of the cigarette lighter in the dash board

is a white plastic housing inside the dashboard. It has two

locking clips, one per side. Squeeze the clips from behind the dash

while pushing the white housing out the front of the dash.

9. Now you must finally remove the small square part of the dash board

that holds all the other pieces of the cigarette lighter

(next to where the ash tray was). This is held to the rest of the dash

by a spring clip located on the back right side of it as you

face it. You must either pull out from the front, or feel around behind

and push it out where the spring clip is.

Either way requires a lot of force. Don't worry, it won't break. Just

don't lose the clip, it tends to pop off. You have now completed

the most

difficult part of replacing your radio.

10. Remove the four Phillips head screws (if your Previa was built like

mine, you'll find three screws) that are holding the drink

holder/ash tray mounting plate to the dash. You must slide the drink

holder out to expose two of the screws. If you haven't

removed the cigarette lighter, you WILL damage it in the next step.

11. The mounting plate is now loose and must be removed. This is a

struggle. It takes a bit of finagling to get it out. Be patient -

you will

get it out. You have now completed the second most difficult part. The

rest is all downhill.

12. Once you have the mounting plate removed you will have exposed two

more screws. They are Phillips head/hexagon head

screws. I recommend using an 8mm socket to remove these.

13. Remove the very top of the dash, exposing the fuse box. This will

also expose four more Phillips head screws.

14. Remove the two outer screws.

15. At this point the front of the dash including the radio and two air

vents is loose. This will all slide out toward you. It takes a bit

of tugging, but it does come out. You should now have the radio removed

from your dash, still attached to the support brackets.

IF YOU ARE ONLY REPLACING THE FAN SPEED SWITCH, THEN SKIP STEPS 16

THROUGH 19 AND GO TO STEP 20.

16. Unplug the wires from the back of the radio.

17. Remove the old radio from the support brackets and place the new

one on to the brackets.

18. Inside the dash you will find three wiring harnesses. One you just

unplugged from the factory installed radio, the other two are

for other makes. If you bought the radio from Crutchfield, you were

probably provided two harnesses with your new radio and will

use the other two inside the dash.

19. Put it all back together.

20. Either swing the radio/vent assembly out of the way or unplug the

wires from the back of the radio and move the assembly

completely out of the way.

21. Remove all the knobs from all the temperature controls.

22. There are five locking tabs holding the temperature control

faceplate on. Two on each side and one on the bottom. Carefully

bend these out slightly to free the plate. These are plastic and very

fragile. Be careful not to break them. I recommend doing the

two on the right first, then the bottom, and then the face plate should

come right off.

23. You should have just exposed a clear piece of plastic surrounding

the control slide bars. There are two more locking clips on

this. These are extremely fragile. I broke the left one. If you have to

break one, I recommend breaking the left one. You can

always put a small piece of tape in its place.

24. Once you remove the clear piece, you will expose three more screws.

Remove the two on the left.

25. Remove the four screws holding the temperature controls and panel

in place.

26. Slide the panel down. DOWN, not IN the dash. Slide it down as far

as it will go. This will require a little force and bending out

one of the sides of the hole in the dash a little bit.

27. There are two more screws to remove. These are not readily seen.

You have to look on the top of the controls to see them.

One is about half way back in the middle, the other is way in the back

on the left, next to the slide bar for the Previa's rear

temperature control. You will need the off-set or stubby screwdriver to

remove these.

28. After you've removed these two screws, lift off the left top of the

controls (the place with the slide bar in it).

29. You've now exposed the fan speed control switch. Unplug the wiring

harness from the back, there is a locking clip on the

bottom. This plug is a real struggle!

30. Push out the old lights.

31. Slightly bend up the locking clip on the top center of the switch

housing and slide the switch out.

32. Put it all back together.

Sorry if this information has been reposted elsewhere. The following

is a set of instructions to remove the front dash of the Previa posted

by Bob Czachor on www.carcast.com's BBS. Bob, if you are in this

group, thanks. I hope you don't mind if I repost your instructions

here. D-I-Yers will need these instructions to get at the stereo or to

replace the blower fan switches. Here goes....

Front Dash Removal Instructions from Bob Czachor

First of all be patient with everything. It gets a little aggravating

at times. Its best to do it

in a well lit area. If you have a bad memory, get someone who has a

good one to watch you take the dash board apart. You will

need an off-set or

stubby phillips head screwdriver to replace the fan speed switch.

1. Remove the ash tray.

2. Open the storage compartment below the ash tray and empty the

contents.

3. Bend in the sides of the compartment door just enough for the door

stops at the back of the door to clear and allow the door

to swing completely down and out of the way.

4. You must disassemble and remove the cigarette lighter from the dash

or else you will damage it later. Unplug the wires from

the back of the

cigarette lighter. The bigger plug requires a good pull, the smaller

one (for the light bulb) has a locking tab on one of the sides.

You need to squeeze this locking tab as you pull the plug.

5. The housing for the light bulb locks the entire cigarette lighter on

to the dashboard. From the backside facing out toward the

van interior, turn the light housing clockwise 90 degrees to unlock the

light bulb housing.

Remove the light bulb and its housing from the cigarette lighter.

6. Back to the cigarette lighter. From the backside, slide out the

black metal housing with the plastic piece inside of it. This little

plastic piece is what the light bulb housing locks into.

7. Push the inside part of the cigarette lighter out of the dash from

the rear. This requires a considerable amount of force.

8. All that should be left of the cigarette lighter in the dash board

is a white plastic housing inside the dashboard. It has two

locking clips, one per side. Squeeze the clips from behind the dash

while pushing the white housing out the front of the dash.

9. Now you must finally remove the small square part of the dash board

that holds all the other pieces of the cigarette lighter

(next to where the ash tray was). This is held to the rest of the dash

by a spring clip located on the back right side of it as you

face it. You must either pull out from the front, or feel around behind

and push it out where the spring clip is.

Either way requires a lot of force. Don't worry, it won't break. Just

don't lose the clip, it tends to pop off. You have now completed

the most

difficult part of replacing your radio.

10. Remove the four Phillips head screws (if your Previa was built like

mine, you'll find three screws) that are holding the drink

holder/ash tray mounting plate to the dash. You must slide the drink

holder out to expose two of the screws. If you haven't

removed the cigarette lighter, you WILL damage it in the next step.

11. The mounting plate is now loose and must be removed. This is a

struggle. It takes a bit of finagling to get it out. Be patient -

you will

get it out. You have now completed the second most difficult part. The

rest is all downhill.

12. Once you have the mounting plate removed you will have exposed two

more screws. They are Phillips head/hexagon head

screws. I recommend using an 8mm socket to remove these.

13. Remove the very top of the dash, exposing the fuse box. This will

also expose four more Phillips head screws.

14. Remove the two outer screws.

15. At this point the front of the dash including the radio and two air

vents is loose. This will all slide out toward you. It takes a bit

of tugging, but it does come out. You should now have the radio removed

from your dash, still attached to the support brackets.

IF YOU ARE ONLY REPLACING THE FAN SPEED SWITCH, THEN SKIP STEPS 16

THROUGH 19 AND GO TO STEP 20.

16. Unplug the wires from the back of the radio.

17. Remove the old radio from the support brackets and place the new

one on to the brackets.

18. Inside the dash you will find three wiring harnesses. One you just

unplugged from the factory installed radio, the other two are

for other makes. If you bought the radio from Crutchfield, you were

probably provided two harnesses with your new radio and will

use the other two inside the dash.

19. Put it all back together.

20. Either swing the radio/vent assembly out of the way or unplug the

wires from the back of the radio and move the assembly

completely out of the way.

21. Remove all the knobs from all the temperature controls.

22. There are five locking tabs holding the temperature control

faceplate on. Two on each side and one on the bottom. Carefully

bend these out slightly to free the plate. These are plastic and very

fragile. Be careful not to break them. I recommend doing the

two on the right first, then the bottom, and then the face plate should

come right off.

23. You should have just exposed a clear piece of plastic surrounding

the control slide bars. There are two more locking clips on

this. These are extremely fragile. I broke the left one. If you have to

break one, I recommend breaking the left one. You can

always put a small piece of tape in its place.

24. Once you remove the clear piece, you will expose three more screws.

Remove the two on the left.

25. Remove the four screws holding the temperature controls and panel

in place.

26. Slide the panel down. DOWN, not IN the dash. Slide it down as far

as it will go. This will require a little force and bending out

one of the sides of the hole in the dash a little bit.

27. There are two more screws to remove. These are not readily seen.

You have to look on the top of the controls to see them.

One is about half way back in the middle, the other is way in the back

on the left, next to the slide bar for the Previa's rear

temperature control. You will need the off-set or stubby screwdriver to

remove these.

28. After you've removed these two screws, lift off the left top of the

controls (the place with the slide bar in it).

29. You've now exposed the fan speed control switch. Unplug the wiring

harness from the back, there is a locking clip on the

bottom. This plug is a real struggle!

30. Push out the old lights.

31. Slightly bend up the locking clip on the top center of the switch

housing and slide the switch out.

32. Put it all back together.

Pete

March 11, 2006

Hi again Pete,

the first link you posted ... http://www.justkenwood.co.uk/install/show_model.asp?id=273

was the one that I tried to install (eg. power, but no sound etc).

The second one doesn't look like the secondary wiring, so you may well be right about an after market system. Which pretty much leaves me stuck. Wish I'd kept details on the piece of rubbish I removed.

If I can find it online, I'll post a link.

Did you note my question relating wiring connectors at the base of the steering column (footwell)?

I still haven't got a "Haynes" etc, so I'm definately probing in the dark... a few weeks without a radio etc is OK, but a Toyota engine isn't my fav tune (Though it's handy for listening for problems etc).

Thanks again

March 12, 2006

I too found the instructions posted by Peterc. They are useful, however they didn't seem to quite correspond with my Previa! - '95, UK spec GS. I used them as a guide, and when I'd found out the secret, I wrote it all up and kept them handy for the next time. Here they are:

Radio Removal on Old-Style Previa (UK Spec)

The radio is screwed to the curved fascia that goes under the fusebox and incorporates the air vents. This is held by four screws: two at the top (the outer two visible when the fusebox cover has been removed) and two from underneath. These need a bit of dismantling to get at.

1. Drop down the oddments box to get more room to work:

Squeeze in the ends of the box next to the hinge and force it past the stops. The box is flexible plastic and the stops are rubber so even though it needs a fair bit of force, there's little chance of damage.

2. The key to the whole thing is removing the blanking plate above the ashtray. This slides in and out and is held at its rear by a plastic latch which needs to be released:

Remove the ashtray. Disconnect the wiring to the cigarette lighter. Look above and to the ashtray side of the cigarette lighter and you will see a 10-15mm hole (a small mirror helps here). This gives access to the latch. Push the latch up, either with a finger or a pencil, and the blanking plate will release. Pull it out.

3. There are now two screws revealed. Remove these and the one halfway down the side of the oddments box compartment, and the whole ashtray holder/cigarette lighter assembly will be released. Maneouvre this out - it needs a fair bit of wiggling: The best way is to push it forward and down, with a slight move to the right to get clearance for the cigarette lighter.

4. Above where the the ashtray holder assembly was, approximately under the two corners of the radio, are two 8mm hex head/Torx screws. Remove these and the two screws at the top of the fascia, and the whole fascia, including radio and air vents, pulls away.

5. The radio is held by two screws each side which also hold a metal decorative surround at the front of the radio. If replacing the radio, this may or may not be needed.

Replacement is the reverse of dismantling. For future access it may be worth not replacing the screws at the underneath of the fascia. There are some plastic clips on the underside of the fascia which seem to hold it in place at the bottom adequately enough, and it makes future access to the radio and dashboard very much easier.

I also needed to get at the instrument panel to replace light bulbs, so here are the instructions:

Dismantling of Old Style Previa Dashboard and Instrument Panel

1. Pull out the curved fascia round the centre console (as detailed above) to gain access to two screws above and below the air vent inlet hole.

2. Open the drivers door and prise out the section of the curved fascia holding the side air vent that wraps round the door pillar.

3. The whole of the curved fascia and the instrument panel shroud will now pull away. In addition to the two screws and the door pillar section, there are three push-fit clips at the front of the large black instrument panel shroud. These will pull out with a bit of wiggling. Be sure not to lose the metal clip sections that may be left behind in the holes.

4. The instrument panel is now accessible. It is held by two self-tappers and two hex/cross-head bolts. Before removing it, the thread drive to the gear indicator needs to be detached (this may not apply to manual cars).

5. Drop the lower plastic section of the front dashboard under the steering wheel. There are two self-tappers, one each side at the bottom and the top is held by push-fit clips.

6. Under the dashboard there is a bracket attached to the gear column with a white plastic bearing attached to a length of plastic thread (a small mirror is useful here). This is the drive to the gear indicator. Pull out the bearing (a firm push fit) and wiggle the thread through a gap in the bracket so that it is free.

7. The instrument panel can now be removed.

Indicator bulbs are standard indicator bulbs in quarter-turn holders.

The gear indicator may need to be unscrewed from the instrument panel to gain access to the bulbs. These are Toyota specials - at least I haven't found them anywhere else!

Replacement is the reverse, making sure the gear indicator drive is not trapped before finally !Removed! in the instrument panel.

Hope these are of some use to somebody

JackD

March 17, 2006

Hi all,

I may be losing the plot here... with 2 seemingly different looms...

My original radio was as per this link: http://ice.dndservices.co.uk/shop_show_ite...ecode_index.php

But the connector that is offered (PC9-406): http://thebassbin.co.uk/shop/product_list/...g-harness-.html

is a pin short on the top row for the plug that I have.

I hope to post a pic of the "in car" plug as soon as I can find a decent camera, but meanwhile there's a hint of desperation as I'm taking the kids away for a week or two, and wearing earplugs just isn't an answer for this trip!

The cheap replacement does not have an RCA lead option (Guess I'm getting too old for this modern stuff.. sigh).

Help :unsure:

March 19, 2006

OK.. found a pic of the rear of the original radio... note the connector that plugs into my "other" loom (the one that was working previously).

Any ideas? :eek:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RDS-Radio-Cassette-F...1QQcmdZViewItem

March 25, 2006

Hi all... thanks 2 everyone thats given their time.

Problem solved... and how obvious is this(?)

ALWAYS CHECK THAT ANY DEVICE IS FUNCTIONING CORRECTLY BEFORE YOU QUESTION YOUR CAR!!!!

Best Regards :cheers:

March 27, 2006

LOL :yes:

Glad you sorted it.

Pete

April 3, 2006

LOL
Glad you sorted it.
Pete

Sorry to come into this string so late, but thought it worth contributing anyhow for future reference...

The "Dual Loom" for ICE in the Previa is to accommodate different ICE options. You could but it originally with just the Radio/Cassette (Option 1) or with the R/C and an additional CD Player (Option 2) or with both the R/C, CD and an optional CD Multi-Changer (Option 3). All UK Previas are fitted with the head unit wiring for options 1 and 2. The option 3 wiring was a dealer fit option...

Don't panic about getting the connectors crossed... all the different head units have different size/shape connectors and only the correct plug will fit the correct hole...

If only the rest of my life was that simple..! :crybaby: