P1Fanatic

Sold my scoob to save money for a house. So now drive an Astra (yes depressing I know). Bored of listening to the radio so want another MP3 Headunit. Like the look of the Alpine 7812.

Now I am crap when it comes to car electrics. Will I be able to just slip this head unit in to the astra (X reg MY00 1.6 SXI if that makes any diff) with minimal effort or will I require extra bits?

I appreciate that the Alpine wont work with the centre dash display but hey the use of cds and MP3's far outweighs that.

Cheers,
Simon.

WELBY

Hi, i just sold my 99 astra and brought a scoob.:d
all you have to do is remove the standard stereo, remove the standard cage and presuming the alpine has still got its ISO plug on the wiring harness it will plug straight in.
another tip is if you cut the blue wire on the ISO plug(stereo side)the date on the dash display will stay on and not go off when you turn the stereo on.

luddite dave

SUFFERING FROM MEMORY LOSS,POOR RECEPTION WERE EVER YOU GO.NO I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT YOU YA MUPPET BUT YA RADIO.ON THE VAUXHALL YOU HAVE TO SWAP THE IGNITION AND MEMORY FEEDS ROUND AND DONT LEAVE THE BLUE WIRE DISCONNECTED BECAUSE THE AMPLIFIER IN THE AERIAL WONT TURN ON AND IF IT IS ONE OF THE NEW HIGH POWERED ALPINES 4by60 watts YOU WILL HAVE TO TAKE THE YELLOW FEED STRAIGHT TO THE BATTERY.BETTER STILL TAKE IT TO PRO AUDIO CENTRE FOR FITTING,AM CURRENTLY REWIRING A SHOGUN BECAUSE THE OWNER DIDNT WANT TO PAY 25 QUID ITS NOW COSTING HIM OVER 400 QUID,BURNT WIRING... LUVLEY.

DJNafey

Despite Luddite Dave's harsh tone and the way it sounds like he's trying to get you to have the stereo fitted where he works, he may be right:

On most stereos in most modern cars, you can literally unplug your old stereo and plug in the new one - that's the whole point of everyone standardising on ISO connectors. I have, however, wired up one or two stereos in the past where you had to switch the ignition and constant live (red and yellow) round the other way .... but I'd be surprised if you had to do that in a 3yr old car.

The blue/white striped lead is often marked 'Antenna live' or something similar which, as Luddite Dave says, means that it powers the aerial. I don't know about amp'd aerials but my Impreza's electric aerial certainly wouldn't go up and down until I connected this.

A 3yr old car should have wiring in it to be able to handle a pretty decent stereo IMO but, if the original stereo was 4x15w, for example, then it might only have 5amp cable. If you're putting in a 4x50w stereo, then that would need 17amp cabling (the next biggest common size) for the ignition live (not the constant live, which is just a 'trickle' feed for the presets). If the existing stereo wiring isn't up to the job, then you might want to consider taking a feed off of a nearby decent power lead - for example, the power to the heater. Might be easier than trying to find your way through the bulkhead to the battery.

wannaB4

Need to swap the lives in all Vauxhalls, and a few others.

chiark

Yup, I had an Astra and had the same problems. Don't worry mate, you'll snap out of it.

Running an astra for a year cost me, wait for it... 12 quid for a new set of discs + pads. Feckinell!

luddite dave

sorry didnt mean to sound harsh just having a laugh,but regarding the alpine stereo it draws all its power off the constant feed and just uses the ignition feed for switching on and off.the vauxhall astra also has a amplifier built in the base of the roof aerial to boost the signal same as golfs vectra skodas and many more besides.only trying to help a fellow astra driver.