New Head Unit...

[Carlos Tj]

Ok so i bought a new HU for my car to replace the old Sony i have in it right now & i wanted to install it myself... Is the KDC-X494 hard to install or any HU overall? I have already taken out the Sony HU when i plugged in the RCA's & Remote for my amp & it looked like a lot of cables & I seriously got intimidated! hahaha if its my first time doing this will it be too hard? i mean ive seen ppl change HU in 10 mins or less but for me its going to be a challange lol

Can anyone help? hahaha I'm trying to do as much as i can myself so i can learn in the process i dont want to just pay & get everything done...

[Coolwazabi]

its about as simple as it get.. as long as you have an aftermarket wiring harness for your car and are not color blind.. its pretty ez.

[skittlesRgood]

if the person who installed the HU originally use a wire harness then it should be as simple as putting the colors together. the wires from your HU should match the wires on the harness in the car.

[Carlos Tj]

so i can use the harness on the old sony HU on this HU? or what? hahaha

if so then its gonna be super easy!

[osamio]

so i can use the harness on the old sony HU on this HU? or what? hahaha

if so then its gonna be super easy!

The sony HU you have now is an aftermarket one? Like, not factory installed? then Yes, you should be able to take the color coded wires from the back of the new HU, and connect them directly to the same-color wires on the wire harness the current HU is using. Simple enough, but make sure you solder your connections, and tape or heat shrink them well. Don't use Wire nuts, or just wrap the wires together and tape, both of those will fail eventually from bass/road vibration. As long as you have a wire harness made for your car, and already have a dash-install kit for your car, it should be fairly simple.

[Carlos Tj]

so i can use the harness on the old sony HU on this HU? or what? hahaha

if so then its gonna be super easy!

The sony HU you have now is an aftermarket one? Like, not factory installed? then Yes, you should be able to take the color coded wires from the back of the new HU, and connect them directly to the same-color wires on the wire harness the current HU is using. Simple enough, but make sure you solder your connections, and tape or heat shrink them well. Don't use Wire nuts, or just wrap the wires together and tape, both of those will fail eventually from bass/road vibration. As long as you have a wire harness made for your car, and already have a dash-install kit for your car, it should be fairly simple.

any other way than to soler them? cuz first of all ive never soldered anything in my life! secound i dont have the equipment or w/e u need to solder haha

[C-Fizzy]

If you can't solder, use butt connectors.

[osamio]

so i can use the harness on the old sony HU on this HU? or what? hahaha

if so then its gonna be super easy!

The sony HU you have now is an aftermarket one? Like, not factory installed? then Yes, you should be able to take the color coded wires from the back of the new HU, and connect them directly to the same-color wires on the wire harness the current HU is using. Simple enough, but make sure you solder your connections, and tape or heat shrink them well. Don't use Wire nuts, or just wrap the wires together and tape, both of those will fail eventually from bass/road vibration. As long as you have a wire harness made for your car, and already have a dash-install kit for your car, it should be fairly simple.

any other way than to soler them? cuz first of all ive never soldered anything in my life! secound i dont have the equipment or w/e u need to solder haha

Butt connectors will work, just use tape as well. Another option is a military splice, google it AND heat shrink or tape. Even when i use butt connectors i wrap with tape. If you use butt connectors, make sure you crimp them properly. And if you want to use MECP best practice, also put a zip tie around any tape joints to keep it from unraveling.

On a side note, Soldering is REALLY easy, there are a million tutorials on the internet, and All you need is a soldering iron, solder, Flux (sorta), and heat shrink or electrical tape. A complete kit for soldering with everything included is like 8.99 at radio shack. Seriously, it's the right way to do it, and it's super easy.

[osamio]

so i can use the harness on the old sony HU on this HU? or what? hahaha

if so then its gonna be super easy!

The sony HU you have now is an aftermarket one? Like, not factory installed? then Yes, you should be able to take the color coded wires from the back of the new HU, and connect them directly to the same-color wires on the wire harness the current HU is using. Simple enough, but make sure you solder your connections, and tape or heat shrink them well. Don't use Wire nuts, or just wrap the wires together and tape, both of those will fail eventually from bass/road vibration. As long as you have a wire harness made for your car, and already have a dash-install kit for your car, it should be fairly simple.

any other way than to soler them? cuz first of all ive never soldered anything in my life! secound i dont have the equipment or w/e u need to solder haha

ive had my wires taped on my hu for about 4 years now and no probs, say one pops up in a year, i'd rather just re tape them every 5 years then solder them once, plus it'll be easier to take out

I can't do an install for a customer then have them come back every year with wires coming undone And if you use a wiring harness, you would remove the whole harness to return the car to stock, no need for any tough removal? and even if u put it in a different car with a different harness, you just snip out the solder joints and redo the process to the new harness.

[skittlesRgood]

meh, i just use crimps. nothing wrong with them.