When driving the Explorer, I have had an issue with the radio. Oh, it works fine, but it is the stock radio in a 2004 vehicle, so there is no place to plug in my MP3 player. It has a CD player, but can't play burned CD's (the only ones I have now). Around here, radio reception is iffy, except for a couple of stations. Either those stations play stuff I don't want to listen to, or have about 20 ads for every song they play, so is very aggravating.
After perusing the Ford Explorer forum, I found a good recommendation on where to get a new radio for cheap. I went to Crutchfield's and got a basic radio/CD player that has the AUX port and it was at closeout price. Included in the price was the wiring harness, the dash cover (I went from double-din to single-din) and shipping.
I've had the radio for 3-4 weeks, just either didn't have the opportunity to do the swap, or it was bone-chilling cold so I wasn't going to sit out in that weather and do it. Last Sunday was a nice, sunny day, so I tackled the project. Wiring the harness to the radio was easy as all the wire colors matched up. The dash came apart easily, and the plugs were were they were supposed to be.
So, in the matter of about 1.5 hours the job was done (I'm slow, nervous and a klutz). The stock radio
The new radio (upper part is a small cubby hole)
I haven't tried the CD player, but the AUX port works great with my MP3 player, so I am happy.
That should make your commute a bit more pleasant.
Posted by: Cop Car | February 28, 2016 at 09:53 AM