[MartianChronicle]

Hello Philippe,

I also want to replace the radio in my 2006 PT Cruiser. I have searched the web for the past few days and have found no detailed information on how to remove the center stack bezel.

It would probably be a really good idea to disconnect the negative terminal on the car battery and wait about 10 minutes before attempting to remove the bezel. This is to prevent accidentally shorting something electrical behind the bezel and should also be enough time for the airbag backup capacitor to discharge.

I have not tried to remove the bezel from my Cruiser's center stack yet but here are some things I have learned from other sources: There are two screws inside (at the bottom) of the two center air vents that must be removed before the bezel can be pried loose from the dash. These could be either Torx or Phillips head screws. It would be a good idea to use a magnetic driver to help keep these screws from falling into the dash or the vents if they are dropped when they are removed. When you pry the bezel loose Chrysler recommends using some special tool to avoid damaging the bezel or the dash. I don't know a source for this tool.

After the bezel is removed you will have to disconnect the cables for the clock and perhaps some other pieces that are mounted on the bezel so that you can lay the bezel down enough to access the 4 screws that hold the radio in the dash. There is a single locking wiring harness connector on the back of the radio. The antenna plug on the back of the radio also has a locking feature on it. Do not try to pull the antenna plug out of the radio without pulling on the lock release collar around the plug. You could damage the radio antenna connector or the cable plug.

I hope you enjoy your Cruiser. I really do like mine!

Martian

[MartianChronicle]

Phifou, on May 14 2006, 05:15 PM, said:

Hi martianchronicle

I watch carefully through the air vents this afternoon and I cannot locate any screw.

Just as a reminder, to prevent accidental deployment of the airbag and to prevent electrical shorts, you MUST disconnect the common (car chassis) side of the battery and wait long enough for the airbag backup power supply to discharge before opening any dash panels or working inside the dash. I waited 30 minutes before beginning any work at all. If you are not knowledgeable about safely working with electrical and/or automotive equipment you should consider getting a Chrysler dealer's shop or qualified autosound installer to swap out your radio.

Here is my experience in removing my radio. Yours may be different.

I also had a problem finding the screws inside until I rotated the vents all the way around. There was only one position where the screws could be seen inside the vents at the bottom. The screws in my vents are Phillips head and were VERY tight. After the screws were removed I just used both hands and hooked my fingernails into the slot on both sides where the bezel and the dash come together and pulled gently but firmly on the bezel. It came loose without too much force but the cables connecting some of the bezel components with the dash are not very long. They had to be disconnected before I could get enough space to remove the radio.

The electrical connectors on my clock and window switches are the locking kind. The clock connector had a tab on the bottom to press before I could pull it loose. The window switches panel connector had a press tab release on the right side. There was a red sliding lock that had to be pushed up before the press tab would release the lock so I could pull off the connector.

After the clock and window switches panel were unplugged, the bezel was carefully laid down on a soft towel with everything else still attached. The radio was held into the dash with 4 Torx screws, one at each corner of the radio. After the radio was loose, I pulled it out just far enough so that I could reach the connectors on the back. The power and audio connectors on my radio are in two pieces, one small connector and one large 3-section one. Their locking tabs were in the middle of each connector on the top. The antenna connector had a black locking ring around its base that I used to pull the connector loose from the radio. It is not a good idea to pull on the antenna cable itself as that may damage the radio or the cable.

That's about all. Hope this helps.

Martian

[Rich Hutchinson]

Wow. All this to remove a radio. They sure are making these things harder and harder to work on! I haven't had the center stack apart on our two, but I believe it's just a matter of popping out and disconnecting the window switches, and removing a couple of screws to get to the radio. I'm not sure if they used Torx or not in the original design.

Even that's a lot of work compared to my old Neon, which was a matter of popping off one trim piece, unscrewing two phillips head screws, and unplugging the radio!

[MartianChronicle]

I have removed the radios and installed aftermarket sound systems in most of the cars I've owned and compared with them getting access to the radio in the Cruiser was a piece of cake. There is a lot of room behind the bezel to run cables, mount aux jacks, etc. The most difficult part of the job was finding enough information on the way the bezel and its components are fastened to the dash.

[MartianChronicle]

As you suspected, in North America FM broadcast stations are assigned frequencies that end in 100KHz odd-numbered steps, such as 88.1, 88.3, 106.3, 106.5 MHz, etc. Therefore radios intended for installation in vehicles sold in North America tune in these odd-numbered steps.

There may be a way to program a radio intended for use in the Americas to tune in even-numbered steps by holding down some secret combination of buttons. I hope someone in this forum has the answer.

[MickRC3]

JOEMAMA, on May 27 2007, 01:36 PM, said:

I just tried to install an aftermarket radio and it won't power up. I have installed several aftermarket stereos in the past, so I have a good grasp on how the install works. I double and then triple checked all fo the wiring, fuses, etc and still no luck.

I'm wondering is the accessory wire is oddly wired, since the factory radio stays on when the ignition is off (until the door is opened).

Can anyone help??

The PT uses a can-bus radio harness. As you noted, the computer controls the power to the unit. With an aftermarket radio you have to route power from another source, say the lighter, as you will see that the power lead in the harness doesn't have a wire in it.

[ImperialCrown]

The service manual information was wrong. Early PT's had screws behind the air vents, later ones didn't. The factory probably got tired of replacing the center trim because of pry marks and broken plastic. The frequency shift is different in North America and the spacing may be selectable with the StarScan/StarMobile dealer tool for the factory radio or in the literature/website for your aftermarket radio. We use odd-number decimal FM spacing and 10 kHz instead of 9 kHz spacing for AM radio. The 'accessory relay' is in charge of delaying radio turn-off/power windows, etc. until a door is opened. The scan tool can adjust and select options for this also. If the replacement radio isn't on the CAN bus, you may not be able to select different settings/features.