Aftermarket Radio DVD/NAV system

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cursorofold

cursorofold

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Jul 31, 2005
Thunderbird Year
1978
I am looking at a Kenwood DNX5120 for my 2003 Thunderbird.

I found the mounting bracket to install a double DIN radio: A Scosche LN1329B.
I have three questions:

1. Does anyone have experience with upgrading the factory radio? If so, do you have advice for me?
2. If I search at Scosche, Crutchfield, and American International for the wiring adaptor, each says they have the adaptor for a 2003 Thunderbird, and they all look completely different. Suggestions?
3. The radio says it supports steering wheel controls with an optional adaptor, but I can't find any mention of such an adaptor. Does anyone know anything about this?
 
replacing radio...

Saw an earlier post (on page 3?) about removing radio, need to have mine replaced, also.
The Cd player doesn't work, the radio is fine...I'd like to know the brand installed and where you could find one...
 
Got it working

I used:

I managed to get it working with all the speakers and the subwoofer.

Downsides:
  1. When the radio powers up and enables the subwoofer amp, there is a thump from the sub. It sounds roughly like a quart sized jug of milk fell over in the trunk.
  2. The steering wheel buttons work with the SWI-JACK, but it is sluggish. I don't use them all that often anyway, but if you use the steering wheel buttons a lot, this may be an issue.
  3. The factory radio stays on after the key is turned off and removed. I am not sure how it does this, but the aftermarket radio does not. This is not at all important to me.
  4. The factory radio knows when to dim based on turning the lights on. I am not sure how, because apparently there is no dash light signal going to the factory radio. The Kenwood can use the GPS to switch from day to night mode so this is a reasonable workaround.
Overall, I am very pleased with the new system. Before this, when I traveled in the T-Bird, I had a Garmin unit on the dash plugged into 12V power, and an FM transmitter to allow me to play my MP3 player into the radio. This removes a lot of clutter from the car on trips.

I ran the USB cable to the glove box. It is possible to plug a USB jump drive (geek stick) with MP3 files on it into this cable and play music from it. I don't have a large USB drive yet, but I plan to get one.

Right now, I have a DVD with all my MP3s on it. This works fine, but it is a bit slow to spin up the drive when I crank the car.

The GPS antenna is inside the dash just below the top center vents. It has no trouble getting a signal through the dash and the window, so it is completely hidden. I really like a Garmin GPS. I have looked at others, and I really like the Garmin unit.

I spent around 12 hours doing the job myself. If I had bought the FDK13B, it would have saved at least 4 hours (I am really bad at soldering). Also, I needed a really small nut driver (5/32") to remove the factory radio from its mounting bracket, and I lost a lot of time getting the correct tool. If I had it to do again, I could probably do it in less than 4 hours.
 
cursorofold said:
Got it working

I used:

I managed to get it working with all the speakers and the subwoofer.

Downsides:
  1. When the radio powers up and enables the subwoofer amp, there is a thump from the sub. It sounds roughly like a quart sized jug of milk fell over in the trunk.
  2. The steering wheel buttons work with the SWI-JACK, but it is sluggish. I don't use them all that often anyway, but if you use the steering wheel buttons a lot, this may be an issue.
  3. The factory radio stays on after the key is turned off and removed. I am not sure how it does this, but the aftermarket radio does not. This is not at all important to me.
  4. The factory radio knows when to dim based on turning the lights on. I am not sure how, because apparently there is no dash light signal going to the factory radio. The Kenwood can use the GPS to switch from day to night mode so this is a reasonable workaround.
Overall, I am very pleased with the new system. Before this, when I traveled in the T-Bird, I had a Garmin unit on the dash plugged into 12V power, and an FM transmitter to allow me to play my MP3 player into the radio. This removes a lot of clutter from the car on trips.

I ran the USB cable to the glove box. It is possible to plug a USB jump drive (geek stick) with MP3 files on it into this cable and play music from it. I don't have a large USB drive yet, but I plan to get one.

Right now, I have a DVD with all my MP3s on it. This works fine, but it is a bit slow to spin up the drive when I crank the car.

The GPS antenna is inside the dash just below the top center vents. It has no trouble getting a signal through the dash and the window, so it is completely hidden. I really like a Garmin GPS. I have looked at others, and I really like the Garmin unit.

I spent around 12 hours doing the job myself. If I had bought the FDK13B, it would have saved at least 4 hours (I am really bad at soldering). Also, I needed a really small nut driver (5/32") to remove the factory radio from its mounting bracket, and I lost a lot of time getting the correct tool. If I had it to do again, I could probably do it in less than 4 hours.
Click to expand...

The thump from powering up the subwoofer can be fixed with an aftermarket adapter that converts the radio's 12v signal to Ford's 5v signal- look up "Axxess AFDI-5v" and you'll see it several places, and recommended on Crutchfield's list of parts or the T-bird aftermarket radios.
 
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