Basic Aftermarket Stereo Install question...

[4signupps]

Hi there all...
I got a 2002 Jetta GLS TDI witha factory Stereo in it.
And I wanna put in an aftermarket stereo myself.

Can I just swap out the deck as easy as that, or are there
any things I have to consider or do so that the alarm system
and/or the car's ECU don't screw up?

I keep reading conflicting information all over the web...

...Basically put - Is the factory stereo somehow tied to the security
system? And/or is the Radio actually tied to the main ECU of the car?
And do I have to do anything to bypass that if that is the case?

[halfofnothing]

i've heard cases where dealers can't/won't run diagnoistics on the obd with an aftermarket radio in...if you do the job right using a wiring harness and such, putting the factory radio back in for service is a 5 min job.

[03GtiVr6]

I have a 03 gti and i put an aftermarket stereo in it and i had to do it professionally because the stock stereo is ran through the ECU? or maybe it was a built in amp of some sort. either way there was a wire harness that had to be put in because what ever the stereo was runing through so was someother things so i couldnt bypass it....just the harness was $150.
dont know if it would be different for a 02 jetta. but thats wat i had to do.

i normaly put my own in but i ran into this problem.
Call cartoys or somewhere and ask.

[fast_probe_1]

you probably have a can bus system...it uses a resisted 12 volt signal to send info to the accessory of the car...if you bypass this without using a harness you will not be able to use the cd player...so get the metra harness...its the best way to go....

if you have a monsoon system it can be tricky but with the metra harness its a 10 min job...

watch out for fake harness's tho...theres tons out there that claim to work on the system that plain don't call your local stereo shop and buy the harness its gonna cost about a bill tho...xsvi9307 is the part number i think...

[Bora1.8T]

i put the alpine ida-x100 deck into mine no problem, get urself a harness and ur good to go,

[05vwgti]

If you have the monsoon just keep your head unit stock and go to best buy get a 25$ adapter and run all of your wiring through your existing oem amp....real easy real cheap....just make sure you get the right diagrams

[sdhelzer]

Whatever you do do NOT let BestBuy even look at your call let alone work on it.

Many horror stories out there of totally botched jobs done by BestBuy and Circuit City.

Good luck.

[drummerc89]

I have an '01 Cabrio with the Monsoon system and I installed an Alpine head unit with the Alpine harness for my car. Would this head unit have anything to do with random electrical problems I've had by chance??