my factory headunit is eating cds so i need to buy a new one. i have taken the dash apart and removed the casing that holds the receiver and the spacer above it. the factory harness that plugs into the back of the receiver is a bitch to pull out are there any tricks? also does anyone know if a special harness is needed to or if anything else is needed when i install a new one?
you'll need a new harness that will plug into the old one, i believe they can be had by most stores like hi-fi buys etc for about 20 bucks
Get a harness adapter and then splice the wires from your head unit's harness into the adapter (all the wires should be labeled). Plug the adapter into the OEM harness, hook up the antenna and the little grounding hookup on the mounting plates and reinstall everything and you're done. Took me around an hour including the splicing. It goes much quicker each other time I've had to remove it.
when i took mine out this weekend, i just had to shove a screwdriver in there and pry it for a good minute, hifi buys has the harnesses for 14 bucks
if you're putting in a stadard single din HU then you can order a part from a forester that matches the trim exactly and will give you a little door for the hole.
the part doesnt fit exactly in my experience (if you're talking about the flip door), however, there is the cubby hole that works quite well.
I had to drill a couple of new holes into the side brackets to mount the Forester DIN pocket. Everybody says it looks fine but it's not perfect by any means. The color is off a little bit, but very close. The RSs have a black flip door that bolts right in with no problems but it is not silver. Someday when I'm feeling inventive I'll go remeasure/redrill everything.