Replacing K11 stereo head unit.

[Tchaaa]

Hey Guys, First post in the forum so I'm sorry if it's in the wrong place or whatnot.

I've had my 1993 1.3l Micra SLX for a few months now and the stock blaupunkt stereo is showing it's age, some of the buttons don't really work anymore and the screen is on it's way out.

So I thought I'd take advantage of some money from christmas and get a new head unit and was looking at this one on halfords.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_548107_langId_-1_categoryId_165474

Seems like a good bargain, nice and cheap. However when I clicked on 'Will this fit my car' it tells me on this stereo and most others that I need a £15 harness and a £17 antenna adapter. I know it's an old car and that this might be the case however, I just thought I would check with you guys on here, as I know how companies like halfords can be money grabbing b*stards.

Thanks for your help guys, and again, sorry If I've gone about posting a little wrong.
Jack.

 

[will930]

yeah the standard harness adapter works fine and the antenna adapter cost me £5 all from halfords so im not sure there... but from my experience the sendai radios arent great there very much unreliable!

 

[Tchaaa]

Thanks for the advice.

I kinda had the same hesitation as to the quality of the sendai brand but having the car in the first place is really sapping my cash, so was looking for something cheap that will function a little bit better than the standard head unit, which is breaking more and more by the day.

 

[will930]

haha so for a decent one and you wont be disapointed... how can a micra be sapping your cash? lol

 

[Tchaaa]

Well, I've only just started driving so my insurance is high like you wouldn't imagine (well into the four figure sums), and as I'm still in college I'm only doing freelance work which often makes a reliable stream of petrol money a bit hard to come by!

Would love to spend some money doing some mods, and also putting a nice head unit in, but that will have to wait until I'm in proper work / at an age that the insurance companies wont rape me for doing so.

 

[will930]

well i am only in my 1st full year but i got myself a years no claims from being a learner which helped... but still not cheap indeed well do simple bits and diy stuff and it makes a difference

 

[Tchaaa]

I've been learning since July, taken two tests but managed to fail 'em both. Second time was a bit of an unfair fail though. Have a third one booked for this month. But still, its between £3200 and £4500 depending on which provider I go with.

 

[will930]

really? id never pay that much id search more if i were you.... thats far too high for a micra try quinn direct or something and add your parents as named drivers
and its not that bad

 

[Tchaaa]

really? id never pay that much id search more if i were you.... thats far too high for a micra try quinn direct or something and add your parents as named drivers
and its not that bad

I really have looked everywhere. Quinn was one of the cheapest but it's still around £4k, I haven't checked recently though. It's probably more.

If you can find anything cheaper for my micra, then I'd welcomely admit I'm wrong.

 

[lucasmax]

have you tried an ebay jobby? i got a kenwood headunit, with ipod adapter for 40quid....then my car got stolen and that was the end of that. iv got a jvc one now, 30quid just as good as the kenwood one

and your paying how much:wow: 4k?!?

1st year payed 2k
2nd year with 3points, and no ncb 1800
next year (year comin) im lookin at 1400

 

[Tchaaa]

Passed my test on the 10th, and have been insured from the 17th.

Eventually it worked out cheapest in the end to get a 10 month no claims booster deal from admiral, Third Party Fire & Theft, for £3,900.

Have pretty much decided to put off upgrading the stereo for now, the one I've got in there is still working fine, it just likes to pick and choose which buttons want to work on a daily basis. But I can deal with that. It's still on my list of todos but petrol money is like a black hole as I'm sure many of you are aware.

 

[kennierobo]

try adrian flux my nephew is only 21 and insures his honda civic type r with them and it was only 1800
http://www.adrianflux.co.uk/

 

[Tchaaa]

Right, so I thought I'd use this thread again as it's on the same topic and it saves cluttering up the forum with new topics for things that are otherwise related.

Sprung for a new radio today, JVC KD-R321. Got home and tore out the stock one (to find that whomever had put it in, was missing a screw, and had also taped my radio code to the top of the unit, which seemed a bit stupid to me), and I've wired it all up.

I pushed it in and I heard what sounded like an empty CD drive spinning, and then realised I'd actually managed to mount the damn thing upside down, so took it out, and put it right way up, and I can't seem to get any power to the device at all. My sister and I found that if you jiggle it a bit, you can hear the CD spinning sound every now and then. It's really doing my head in. What's more is this CD drive spinning sound is hapenning without my keys even being in the ignition, and I know the previous radio wouldn't come on without it switched round to the first click, I know something about there being a live wire to store time and frequency etc, but I doubt that would be causing the CD spinning sound, could it?

The only idea I've had so far is that it might have something to do with the micra lacking an earth, and that, whilst jiggling it about the metal at the back touched something that would act as an earth, causing the CD spinning sound. However I'm a total novice when it comes to cars and thus car electricals, so I don't know wether that's of any relevance.

Any help would be very much appreciated, this thing is doing my head in!
Thanks in advance

 

[Guy]

If it's got one of those strange screw in bars on the back, make a wire with a loop on each end and screw it to the chassis. K11 head units earth off the chassis, there's no ground in the loom .

 

[Tchaaa]

If it's got one of those strange screw in bars on the back, make a wire with a loop on each end and screw it to the chassis. K11 head units earth off the chassis, there's no ground in the loom .

After a few electricutions and whirrs from the CD player, me and my friend kinda decided that was the case, stripped down an old ethernet cable that had been broken on one end, and used one of the cables inside to attach the earth on the Head unit to a piece of metal just inside the bay where it sits, taped on with some electrical tape.

Now working like a charm minus the radio but thats because I can't afford an antenna adapter at the moment so it's got no ariel connected, so that's an easy fix.

Thank you for your help

 

[Guy]

Nae probs but you'll need something a bit thicker as a permanent fix .

 

[Tchaaa]

Nae probs but you'll need something a bit thicker as a permanent fix .

Oh yeah, I know that. I need to pull it out again as the new head unit needs an antenna adapter, so I'm fitting it when I can get my hands on one (even halfords seem to be out of stock!) which will more than likely rip off my temporary job. I spoke to my dad about it as he and his friend used to muck around with stereos all the time, and he thinks he has a proper earth cable /somewhere/ in his shed, so we'll fit that if he does.