Stereo Wiring Answers Tarago +++

[Alpine-Man]

I recently bought an Alpine CDE-9874E Head Unit for my 1991 Model Tarago (all the same up 1999 i think, the spaceship tarago's)

I thought " I’m good enough at electrical stuff to put it in my self."

That thought was true I just didn’t realize how hard it was going to be.

I searched this website frantically every couple hours to find where different screws were that needed to be taken out because I just couldn’t find them. Searching this website made me ask more questions and receive less answers so I thought I would tell everyone how I took it all out and back together and hope that this helps you. It is a good time to replace the light globes in the A/C panel as well while you have the panels off. If you have a problem please email me and I will try to help to the best of my ability. Happy tuning

The picture is off my phone so sorry about quality!

How To Remove Factory Stereo

Tools Required:

Wire Strippers

Needle Nose Pliers

Phillips Head Screw Driver – 1 long one is good as well as a small 1 with a ratchet

Torch

Soldering Iron + Solder with Flux

Electrical Tape

New CD Player

New 1 Din pocket or cover (unless you are replacing with a 2 Din CD Player)

Note: Place all screws in a safe container that won’t be knocked cause it’s a pain to look for a screw in the grass Lol.

Method:

1. Remove Fuse Box Cover. This reveals 4 screws. Undo the 2 outer screws.

2. Pull Drink holder as far out as you can without breaking it. On both sides of the drink holder you will find a screw, undo these.

3. Remove the Ashtray (If you haven’t done this before there is a flat metal sheet at the top of it on an angle, you push that done and pull out)

4. Open compartment thing at the bottom, If you are careful and I found it really hard you can reach down to the hinge and take it off. This allows you to remove the hole drink thing later.

5. Remove screw behind cigarette lighter. If you cannot due to weird angle follow step 6, if you can continue to step 7.

6. Look underneath the cigarette lighter once the compartment is off. You will see two cable running to it. With a good pull they should both come off. When you pull them off you should hold them by the plastic not the cable. Let the cable hang loose. You should now be able to remove the plastic surrounding behind the cigarette lighter. This opens up the metal cylinder, which you can then push out towards the car seats. Once that is out you can remove the grey surrounding with a good pull. It is a pressure-released clip so you can pull quite hard. Once the clip is off you will have to twist it slightly to pull white plastic thing through the hole. Undo the screw that is then revealed.

7. There is another screw on the right where the ashtray goes, remove that.

8. Now taking the whole drink thing in your hands you should be able to shake and twist the drink holder until it comes completely out.

9. Remove 2 screws in the metal plate that has been revealed they are tucked under a bit and connect the air- conditioning duct to the metal plate.

10. You will find three clips under the lip. You must simultaneously press these whilst gripping the top of the black surrounding where you removed your first two screws. Once it is up you can then pull it out being very careful not to tear or rip the foam that’s goes into the duct.

11. You have now revealed you stereo that is waiting to be destroyed.

12. The stereo should now effortlessly pull out revealing 2 clips at the back as well as the antennae cable. Unplug these cables. Once the whole stereo is freely on your hands you should remove the metal brackets.

13. I found that the factory brackets magically fitted into both my stereo and the pocket that I bought but this may not always be the case in which you will have to purchase a special bracket to fit your new head unit.

Wiring your stereo can be done in many ways; If you plan to remove it from your car then buying a harness is a good way to go. Alternatively you can buy male and female clips and connect these to the end of each cable (More time consuming but cheaper then a harness). Or you can cut off the clip that went to your stereo and solder the cables together like I did!. I can’t really tell you how to do it but I can say what not to do. Never let a bare cable touch another bare cable. Unless you have an immobilizer or something in your car I suggest you unplug the left terminal on your battery. So you don’t blow your stereo or any fuses.

Cable Reference:

You should find 2 clips at the back plus an antennae

One Clip will have 5 cables, the other will have 8 cables.

Power Cables:

White Cable = Ignition or Accessories

Red Cable (Thick) = Battery or Power

Brown Cable = Ground or Earth

Speaker Cables:

Right Front Speaker

+ = Light Green Cable

- = Light Blue

Right Rear Speaker

+ = Red Cable (Thin) (on clip of 5)

- = White Cable with silver dots (on clip of 5)

Left Front Speaker

+ = Pink Cable with silver dots

- = Purple Cable with silver dots

Left Rear Speaker

+ = Black Cable with silver dots

- = Yellow with silver dots.

Spare Cables - I found:

White and Black Cable (on clip of 5)

and

Dark Green Cable (on big clip)

I found these Cables useless to my stereo, if anybody knows what these go to please tell me (I didn't register any power in them but i may be wrong). Also if anybody knows how to replace the tweeters i would love to know because mine suck.

Now you should be able to put the whole thing back together pretty easily. Remember to plug the battery back in so the car will start and happy tunes.

If you need help i will try to give you the best help i can

Edited January 31, 2008 by Alpine-Man

[yobedemc]

I recently bought an Alpine CDE-9874E Head Unit for my 1991 Model Tarago (all the same up 1999 i think, the spaceship tarago's)

I thought " I’m good enough at electrical stuff to put it in my self."

That thought was true I just didn’t realize how hard it was going to be.

I searched this website frantically every couple hours to find where different screws were that needed to be taken out because I just couldn’t find them. Searching this website made me ask more questions and receive less answers so I thought I would tell everyone how I took it all out and back together and hope that this helps you. It is a good time to replace the light globes in the A/C panel as well while you have the panels off. If you have a problem please email me and I will try to help to the best of my ability. Happy tuning

The picture is off my phone so sorry about quality!

How To Remove Factory Stereo

Tools Required:

Wire Strippers

Needle Nose Pliers

Phillips Head Screw Driver – 1 long one is good as well as a small 1 with a ratchet

Torch

Soldering Iron + Solder with Flux

Electrical Tape

New CD Player

New 1 Din pocket or cover (unless you are replacing with a 2 Din CD Player)

Note: Place all screws in a safe container that won’t be knocked cause it’s a pain to look for a screw in the grass Lol.

Method:

1. Remove Fuse Box Cover. This reveals 4 screws. Undo the 2 outer screws.

2. Pull Drink holder as far out as you can without breaking it. On both sides of the drink holder you will find a screw, undo these.

3. Remove the Ashtray (If you haven’t done this before there is a flat metal sheet at the top of it on an angle, you push that done and pull out)

4. Open compartment thing at the bottom, If you are careful and I found it really hard you can reach down to the hinge and take it off. This allows you to remove the hole drink thing later.

5. Remove screw behind cigarette lighter. If you cannot due to weird angle follow step 6, if you can continue to step 7.

6. Look underneath the cigarette lighter once the compartment is off. You will see two cable running to it. With a good pull they should both come off. When you pull them off you should hold them by the plastic not the cable. Let the cable hang loose. You should now be able to remove the plastic surrounding behind the cigarette lighter. This opens up the metal cylinder, which you can then push out towards the car seats. Once that is out you can remove the grey surrounding with a good pull. It is a pressure-released clip so you can pull quite hard. Once the clip is off you will have to twist it slightly to pull white plastic thing through the hole. Undo the screw that is then revealed.

7. There is another screw on the right where the ashtray goes, remove that.

8. Now taking the whole drink thing in your hands you should be able to shake and twist the drink holder until it comes completely out.

9. Remove 2 screws in the metal plate that has been revealed they are tucked under a bit and connect the air- conditioning duct to the metal plate.

10. You will find three clips under the lip. You must simultaneously press these whilst gripping the top of the black surrounding where you removed your first two screws. Once it is up you can then pull it out being very careful not to tear or rip the foam that’s goes into the duct.

11. You have now revealed you stereo that is waiting to be destroyed.

12. The stereo should now effortlessly pull out revealing 2 clips at the back as well as the antennae cable. Unplug these cables. Once the whole stereo is freely on your hands you should remove the metal brackets.

13. I found that the factory brackets magically fitted into both my stereo and the pocket that I bought but this may not always be the case in which you will have to purchase a special bracket to fit your new head unit.

Wiring your stereo can be done in many ways; If you plan to remove it from your car then buying a harness is a good way to go. Alternatively you can buy male and female clips and connect these to the end of each cable (More time consuming but cheaper then a harness). Or you can cut off the clip that went to your stereo and solder the cables together like I did!. I can’t really tell you how to do it but I can say what not to do. Never let a bare cable touch another bare cable. Unless you have an immobilizer or something in your car I suggest you unplug the left terminal on your battery. So you don’t blow your stereo or any fuses.

Cable Reference:

You should find 2 clips at the back plus an antennae

One Clip will have 5 cables, the other will have 8 cables.

Power Cables:

White Cable = Ignition or Accessories

Red Cable (Thick) = Battery or Power

Brown Cable = Ground or Earth

Speaker Cables:

Right Front Speaker

+ = Light Green Cable

- = Light Blue

Right Rear Speaker

+ = Red Cable (Thin) (on clip of 5)

- = White Cable with silver dots (on clip of 5)

Left Front Speaker

+ = Pink Cable with silver dots

- = Purple Cable with silver dots

Left Rear Speaker

+ = Black Cable with silver dots

- = Yellow with silver dots.

Spare Cables - I found:

White and Black Cable (on clip of 5)

and

Dark Green Cable (on big clip)

I found these Cables useless to my stereo, if anybody knows what these go to please tell me (I didn't register any power in them but i may be wrong). Also if anybody knows how to replace the tweeters i would love to know because mine suck.

Now you should be able to put the whole thing back together pretty easily. Remember to plug the battery back in so the car will start and happy tunes.

If you need help i will try to give you the best help i can

[yobedemc]

I recently bought an Alpine CDE-9874E Head Unit for my 1991 Model Tarago (all the same up 1999 i think, the spaceship tarago's)

I thought " I’m good enough at electrical stuff to put it in my self."

That thought was true I just didn’t realize how hard it was going to be.

I searched this website frantically every couple hours to find where different screws were that needed to be taken out because I just couldn’t find them. Searching this website made me ask more questions and receive less answers so I thought I would tell everyone how I took it all out and back together and hope that this helps you. It is a good time to replace the light globes in the A/C panel as well while you have the panels off. If you have a problem please email me and I will try to help to the best of my ability. Happy tuning

The picture is off my phone so sorry about quality!

How To Remove Factory Stereo

Tools Required:

Wire Strippers

Needle Nose Pliers

Phillips Head Screw Driver – 1 long one is good as well as a small 1 with a ratchet

Torch

Soldering Iron + Solder with Flux

Electrical Tape

New CD Player

New 1 Din pocket or cover (unless you are replacing with a 2 Din CD Player)

Note: Place all screws in a safe container that won’t be knocked cause it’s a pain to look for a screw in the grass Lol.

Method:

1. Remove Fuse Box Cover. This reveals 4 screws. Undo the 2 outer screws.

2. Pull Drink holder as far out as you can without breaking it. On both sides of the drink holder you will find a screw, undo these.

3. Remove the Ashtray (If you haven’t done this before there is a flat metal sheet at the top of it on an angle, you push that done and pull out)

4. Open compartment thing at the bottom, If you are careful and I found it really hard you can reach down to the hinge and take it off. This allows you to remove the hole drink thing later.

5. Remove screw behind cigarette lighter. If you cannot due to weird angle follow step 6, if you can continue to step 7.

6. Look underneath the cigarette lighter once the compartment is off. You will see two cable running to it. With a good pull they should both come off. When you pull them off you should hold them by the plastic not the cable. Let the cable hang loose. You should now be able to remove the plastic surrounding behind the cigarette lighter. This opens up the metal cylinder, which you can then push out towards the car seats. Once that is out you can remove the grey surrounding with a good pull. It is a pressure-released clip so you can pull quite hard. Once the clip is off you will have to twist it slightly to pull white plastic thing through the hole. Undo the screw that is then revealed.

7. There is another screw on the right where the ashtray goes, remove that.

8. Now taking the whole drink thing in your hands you should be able to shake and twist the drink holder until it comes completely out.

9. Remove 2 screws in the metal plate that has been revealed they are tucked under a bit and connect the air- conditioning duct to the metal plate.

10. You will find three clips under the lip. You must simultaneously press these whilst gripping the top of the black surrounding where you removed your first two screws. Once it is up you can then pull it out being very careful not to tear or rip the foam that’s goes into the duct.

11. You have now revealed you stereo that is waiting to be destroyed.

12. The stereo should now effortlessly pull out revealing 2 clips at the back as well as the antennae cable. Unplug these cables. Once the whole stereo is freely on your hands you should remove the metal brackets.

13. I found that the factory brackets magically fitted into both my stereo and the pocket that I bought but this may not always be the case in which you will have to purchase a special bracket to fit your new head unit.

Wiring your stereo can be done in many ways; If you plan to remove it from your car then buying a harness is a good way to go. Alternatively you can buy male and female clips and connect these to the end of each cable (More time consuming but cheaper then a harness). Or you can cut off the clip that went to your stereo and solder the cables together like I did!. I can’t really tell you how to do it but I can say what not to do. Never let a bare cable touch another bare cable. Unless you have an immobilizer or something in your car I suggest you unplug the left terminal on your battery. So you don’t blow your stereo or any fuses.

Cable Reference:

You should find 2 clips at the back plus an antennae

One Clip will have 5 cables, the other will have 8 cables.

Power Cables:

White Cable = Ignition or Accessories

Red Cable (Thick) = Battery or Power

Brown Cable = Ground or Earth

Speaker Cables:

Right Front Speaker

+ = Light Green Cable

- = Light Blue

Right Rear Speaker

+ = Red Cable (Thin) (on clip of 5)

- = White Cable with silver dots (on clip of 5)

Left Front Speaker

+ = Pink Cable with silver dots

- = Purple Cable with silver dots

Left Rear Speaker

+ = Black Cable with silver dots

- = Yellow with silver dots.

Spare Cables - I found:

White and Black Cable (on clip of 5)

and

Dark Green Cable (on big clip)

I found these Cables useless to my stereo, if anybody knows what these go to please tell me (I didn't register any power in them but i may be wrong). Also if anybody knows how to replace the tweeters i would love to know because mine suck.

Now you should be able to put the whole thing back together pretty easily. Remember to plug the battery back in so the car will start and happy tunes.

If you need help i will try to give you the best help i can

[supertownace]

the wiring you speak of that have no obvious place may be the following....

possibly either power for a backlit display and the other may be an interrupt lead for things like a handsfree phone kit.

use a multimeter

( NEVER USE A TEST LIGHT ON AN INJECTED CAR OR A CAR WITH AIRBAGS.....THEY CAN GO OFF WITHOUT WARNING IF YOU GROUND/SHORT TO EARTH USING A TESTLIGHT.....you have been warned!!!)

and test for either 12 volts when you turn your park lights on and off.....to test the other lead..plug the old head unit back in and test remaining lead for 5 volts...if it does then this will be for a handsfree kit to mute the radio when making/recieving a phone call

cheers

[Matthias McRobbin]

Hi Alpine-Man,

Thanks heaps - yesterday I was trying to install a CD player in my 1999 Tarago for my wife. I was getting no-where searching the Internet for any Tarago wiring diagrams, but then I found your post which was spot on - everything worked straight away. I really appreciate you spending the time to post this information - hopefully it comes in useful for someone else too! Bless you!

Matthias McRobbin.

[dj_mibay]

8. Now taking the whole drink thing in your hands you should be able to shake and twist the drink holder until it comes completely out.

Great TuT. Really helped me a lot. Removing the cup holder was easier then i thought... after i got it.

Thank You

Edited January 2, 2009 by dj_mibay

[Skud]

alpine-man you just helped me alot here, i have been doing an assignment for a course at tafe, and it was an install presentation on a headunit i did for a tarago at autobarn, i had forgotton which wires were the speaker wires, so thanks heaps, also, if you are wondering what those extra wires are, one of them is probably the illumination wire, its a wire that connects to the orange wire that some aftermarket unit looms have, its to dim the unit at night when you switch your lights on so it doesnt glare in your eyes as much.

[Alpine-Man]

Hey again, i just put a kenwood head unit into my parents tarago (dec 98), it was so much easier doing it the second time, i used my instructions to remind my self and discovered my lack of clarity when it came to removing the cup holder assembly, basically i found that if you push the right side back and down fairly firmly after undoing all of the bolts then it comes out but it took me to goes to have the patience to do it, putting it back in was much easier doing the reverse of how you got it out, there is no need for excessive strength in the whole process so be calm and patient and it will all work, any questions send me an email.

P.S one of the spare cables is for the dimmer from the factory head unit, most non factory units will not have dimmer functions so the wire is still fairly useless, the other ones are probably from the alarm things but cutting them does not set the alarm off so its all good.

P.P.S it took me 45 minutes to put in and out in the dark on my second tarago, also i used clips which did not require any soldering and it will allow me to take the head unit out much easier if we sell the car to upgrade, if its our first time i would allow a good afternoon

another handy tools is automatic wire strippers although i managed to break mine on this stereo.

[davistor]

Alpine-Man you are an absolute legend!!!

I just bought a 99 Tarago and with the help of your detailed instructions I had no issues changing the head unit.

Thanks again for the post. Love your work...................

david

[Foaley77]

Changing my HU soon just wondering what speaker sizes are in the 96 Tarago.

[NormM]

I'm pretty sure the mystery wires are for a power antenae..

Foaley77 - The speakers are all 5.25" (mines a UK import though). The rear speaker is held on with a bolt through the driver (magnet) so you will need a different mount for speakers without.

The fronts are a very tight fir as they fit between the power window buttons and the airvent for the rear heat. I've attached a couple of photos to give you an idea..

[Alpine-Man]

Out of curiosity what did you replace your factory speakers with?

[techno]

Thankyou for making you great post

I found your info to be correct and useful.

I made a youtube video you might find handy to read

plus I found out what all the wires are too...