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2006 Toyota Corolla Radio Replacement Pictures and Explanation

Published almost 5 years ago

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You need to remove the center dial to unscrew the main panel. (But don't stick your finger in there on and touch the white thing or you'll get covered in white grease like I did!)

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You need to lift the plastic moulding from under the gear shifter. It just lifts up, I didn't have to remove any screws to lift it up.

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When I lifted up the plastic moulding under the shifter, the bottom of the vertical plastic panel is free to pull away from the dashboard.

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The best way to pull the vertical plastic panel for me was to pull from the center hole where I had removed the knob.

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Under the radio, there were four bolts I had to remove. I used an 11mm socket wrench with an extension to do so. I swung the vertical plastic panel over to the right so it would be out of the way.

Finally got the radio out!

Here's a picture of the gutted Toyota dashboard.

The Panasonic Radio in the console

And a picture of the new Panasonic radio in the removable console.

The finished project!

And finally the radio and the console back in the dashboard. Looks great, sounds great, and even the bluetooth mobile phone functions work. AWESOME!!

All in all, I gotta say the process went pretty smooth. And I'm actually really impressed with the installation kit from American International that I bought from Amazon:

AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL TOYK960 Radio Install Kit

It was only $11. I thought it would come with the wiring harness, but it didn't, so I had to buy that separately.

UPDATE: Looks like a wiring harness is now available through Amazon too:

Metra 70-1761 Radio Wiring Harness For Toyota 87-Up Power 4 Speaker

Categories

Stereos, Car Safety, Car Accessories

Tags

car stereo, corolla, radio replacement, toyota

Promotions

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Comments



Ryan says:


I read in this month's Wired magazine a quick little DIY description for car stereos. It's not very descriptive by any means, but it says that if you want to use your MP3 player in a car, and don't have a tape deck (FM transmitters "work" but they quality is horrible), you can dismantle the dash and somewhere in most all cars stereos, there are spare audio connections (don't know the name, but the red and white terminals). Connect a Y-cable to those which converts over to a headphone jack and route the cable anywhere you'd like. My question: I have a 2005 Corolla (much like your 2006 model in this post), and I was wondering if you saw spare terminals during your teardown. I don't want a while new stereo, just the ability to use my MP3 player without loss in quality.





admin says:


There was an input of some sorts on the back of the stereo, and I think that the last link mentioned in the post shows exactly what you are looking for:




http://www.elguapo5000.com/?p=150





Tweak says:


i have a 2006 Corolla S and i didnt see any spare terminals and what ur looking for is called RCA pre-outs......... those are those terminals ur looking for......... now as i was saying all of my cars and all the cars i have ever owned not a single one had any RCA pre-outs on the back of the factory head-unit....... ive been doing this for about 9 years now your best bet is to get a whole new head unit or just bite the bullet and deal with the horrible quality.............. and to the person who started the blog............ thats it was a great help this is my first corolla im modding out lol............ and i just couldnt figure how to get the dash apart without snapping it..........




Tweak





Phil says:


I think you guys are talking about one of these.




http://www.logjamelectronics.com/pietoy03aux.html






I was considering buying one for my 2005 Corolla LE... but I think I'm leaning toward spending $40 more and getting a new head unit and the adapter kit that  "Albert" shows us on this web site.




BTW... thanks Albert for this great post!





Albert says:


Hi Phil! Thanks for commenting, glad you liked the post.





mike says:


hey. what kind of head unit is that? like the brand and model? does the American INternational install kit fit perfectly int he dash?





Albert says:


Hi Mike, the kit fits perfectly in my 2005 Corolla, but I'm not sure if there are any variations to Corolla dashboards based on year or model.




The stereo is a Panasonic CY-BT10OU:






http://www.neocarz.com/blog/2007/06/20/panasonic-cy-bt100u/






It has great sound but the display is really annoying!





mike says:


Thanks a lot. Yeah i have a 2006 and they are the same. I'm almost 17 and getting a new head unit for my birthday. This page makes it real easy to undergo the whole installation process, and convince my parents. One more question, did you keep the same speakers and if so how did they work with the new unit? Thanks





Albert says:


Hey - happy birthday mike! I did keep the stock speakers, they sound fine to me with the new head unit. However, back when I was 17 I did listen to music too loud!! Heheh, don't make the same mistake I did! :-)




Anyway, I switched out the stock Toyota headset to get a stereo that had bluetooth so I could talk hands free on my cell phone. Mostly a safety issue, but also a cool tech project.





Mr. T says:


I love the internet.  Thanks to your informative post, I was able to get to a burnt out dash light in 5 minutes compared to 3 hours of pulling at stuff.



You are the best!!!!!!!!!!!!





Albert says:


I pity the fool who doesn't have access to the internet.





Ralph says:


Thanks alot. This blog is great, just what I was looking for.





Mal3D says:


Thanks! The pix and info were excellent, making it a breeze to install my son's Christmas present in his 2008 Corolla.





joe says:


the hardest part was removing the vertical panel. it shows here that the person removed it without a flat. i don't how that person did that but use a flat. it makes it so much easier.





Wil says:


Great discription, it helped me take apart the dash on my 05 Corolla. One things I want to add is to make sure to unplug the battery first





Albert says:


Thanks Wil, glad you found this web page useful!





Josh says:


Thanks a million. That just made my AIWA deck install real easy.





herpo says:


thanks a lot for not including the part where you show how to actually install the stereo





Albert says:


No problem. Its a good challenge for you to figure out.





Sharena says:


I have a 2006 Toyota Corolla LE and I was wondering if I would need to get an antenna adapter to listen to the radio with a Pioneer     DXT-2266UB





Stacy says:


Thanks! Using your informative pictures and information, I was able to have my Christmas present installed by my "guy".
;-)





Albert says:


That is awesome!! Enjoy your new radio!!! :-)





kyle says:


They make a cable that plugs into Ur ipod or any other mp3 player, for the corolla. Theres 2 unused ports on the back of the stock head unit in the corolla and it plugs into that. It's cheap and works





Martin says:


I have the same kit and everything was going rather smoothly.  But, I find it just isn't fitting into the socket very well and is forcing the dash upwards.  My holes for the 4 mounting bolts down below just won't line up(they are like 1/8" too high).  Did you have to do anything else to get it to line up?  I think it will work, but I must be missing something here.  I can get the deck in, but its very forced and just doesn't fit in quite right.



I'm sure its my installation job.. hahaha..



I have a 2006 Corolla and the same kit as yourself.



On the positive note: the deck works well and the stock speakers sound pretty good with a new deck.  I got a JVC with ipod controls (mainly what I got it for).



Thanks for the great pictures.





Albert says:


Its been awhile, but I remember it was a good fit. It could be the wrong kit, or it could be something just off a little bit... have you tried taking it out and putting it back in again?



Anyone else have any suggestions?