How to Remove the Stereo From a Citroen Xsara

The available factory stereos for a Citroen Xsara had many features,
but none of them as complicated or advanced as the aftermarket models
available today. New features include amplifier pre-outs, sound processors,
and even navigation. You can add these features and more to your Xsara,
which will add value to the car as well as make the car more functional.
In order to do so, you have to first remove the old stereo.
Difficulty: Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need
Small blade flathead screwdriver
Hex-head key set
1
Place the blade of the flathead screwdriver between the radio and the plastic
trim that goes around the edge of the radio.
Twist the blade to pop this trim off of the stereo.
2
Remove the hex-head keys on the stereo using the hex-head key set.
Pull the stereo out of the dashboard with both hands.
3
Twist the stereo around to show the backside of the deck. Disconnect
the antenna lead as well as the wiring harness on the backside using your hands.
.
Read more: How to Remove the Stereo From a Citroen Xsara |
eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_6473065_remove-stereo-citroen-xsara.html#ixzz1T
KcBVZJo
Drugi savet
The other three answerers are wrong.
To either side of your cd player there are 'sort-of-triangular' plastic trim fit
tings.
Using a small screwdriver unclip these from the bottom and then pull out the top
of
them to remove them. You have now revealed a torx 20 screw to either side of the
cd player, remove these screws and just pull the cd player out of the dash, reme
mbering
to disconnect the power and speaker connections and the radio aerial.
To access the cd player internals remove the top of the set. It is held on by 4
or 5
small screws on either side and clipped on at the back.
You may find that it is easiest to fish your cards out of the cd slot with a sm
all
thin screwdriver whilst you can see what you are doing through the open top, as
i would

advise against totally stripping down the cd player. You will see why when you r
emove
the top!
Treca solucija
This doesn't help much if we come with a problem in the first place. However, if
it must be done this way..
A combination of problems, all of which have been reported but no correct soluti
on been given.
Radio doesn't turn off when ignition turned off. Only solved by switching igniti
on on, running car, a
nd turn off ignition. Until next time.
Radio doesn't
ing out audio
replacing the
ys or, if I'm

come on and only display is time etc. along the top. Solved by tak
fuse and
same fuse straight away. Until next time, which could be hours, da
lucky, weeks.

I've yet to see a final solution to these problems, which seem to bother a numbe
r of owners.
Having spent a fair bit of time browsing this forum I see that this question com
es up all the time, but I couldn't find a plain answer anywhere about AUX input
kits. (The kit I'm talking about is "generic", if you're looking for something t
o connect an iPod specifically I would contact the companies mentioned below)
This is how I fitted one.
The Problem
You want to connect an MP3 player/Walkman/whatever to the stereo in your Xsara P
ic - without fitting a new stereo.
Solution 1
The easiest (& cheapest) way to do this is to buy an FM transmitter (Ebay has th
em by the bucketload). You connect your external device to this then tune the ra
dio to its frequency, job done without touching a single screw or piece of trim.
The problems that I found with this were;
Sound quality can be iffy at best (depending on the transmitter) and is prone to
interference
The radio no longer received traffic announcements when tuned to the transmitter
The transmitter will either need batteries or plugging into the cigarette lighte
r socket
Sound quality can be improved by removing the external aerial from the car, but
that rules out using the normal radio altogether.
Solution 2
For a bit more money (but still less than a new stereo) you can get a kit which
plugs into the connections for a CD changer on the back of your stereo and gives
you an AUX connection to plug things into.
This gives you greatly improved sound quality (dependant on your input source of

course) and allows you to receive traffic announcements again. (NB - there are
kits out there which feed an FM signal directly into the aerial socket of your r
adio, unless you are told otherwise I would expect to lose the traffic announcem
ent function when tuned to one of these)
You cannot, however, have one of these kits connected at the same time as a CD c
hanger.
How To Do It
Tools required: a small flat-bladed screwdriver (or similar) and a T20 torx scre
wdriver (the star shaped one). You'll need a T30 screwdriver as well if you want
to remove the centre/footwell fascia (see below)
1. Check your stereo model and get the right part
Pry up the plastic trim either side of the head unit by inserting your screwdriv
er etc. under its bottom edge. It will hinge up to reveal a torx screw on each s
ide. Undo these and slide the unit out.
You will find a sticker on the stereo which gives its model number.
Mine is a Clarion RD3-01 (fitted to an '07 car). (Earlier cars had VDO units, I
believe that the same part would work - but it's worth checking.)
I got a Connects2 CTVPGX010 kit from an Ebay vendor (ktdking/ktduk.com) for ?44.
technical@connects2.com were emailed beforehand to confirm that it was the righ
t part, you won't find it using the wizard on their website.
Bortesi apparently do a similar kit (RD-3) for 80 Euros, you'll find them at www
.bortesi.it/interfacce-aux.htm - emails to bortesi@bortesi.it are answered quick
ly in English.
2. Fitting
Remove your stereo as before. Plug the connector at one end of the wiring into t
he CD changer socket. The one I got didn't fill the entire socket, but it was ke
yed so as only to fit in one way. The connector at the other end goes into a box
with two phono sockets on the other side. A phono-jack lead was supplied.
I removed the blanking plate on the opposite side of the ashtray to the cigarett
e lighter and, with a little fiddling, was able to route the jack lead around th
e back of the fascia and out through this hole. The box and lead stay behind the
fascia and the stereo fits back in the same as before. I was then able to route
the jack lead down into the bin at the bottom of the fascia and replace the bla
nking plate to hide it.
10 minutes, no drilling or cutting. The kit convinces the stereo that it now has
a CD changer connected, so no trip to the dealership required. The stereo was n
ot disconnected during this operation.
In use the display shows "CD01 T-01", all the column stalk controls and trip com
puter functions work normally.
3. More Fitting (optional)
If the lighter blanking plate trick doesn't work for you here's how you remove t
he centre/footwell fascia for better access.
First remove the bin at the bottom of the fascia, open it and press up on the tw
o catches at the top - it will now lift out. There are 2 screws (T20 heads again
) behind it.
There are 2 more screws either side of the ashtray, you'll need to remove the bl

anking plate to get at the one on that side.

In the footwell on either side the fascia is secured by two more screws and a pu
sh in plastic plug at the back. You'll need to move the driver's footrest out of
the way to see the lower screw on that side, use a T30 screwdriver on the screw
fixing it to the floor and lift it out of the way.
NB - make a note of which screw came from where. The upper ones are machine thre
ads (finer) and screw into metal collars whilst the lower ones are self-tappers
(coarser thread) and screw into plastic.
You can then pull the whole fascia towards the rear of the car. The three parts
are screwed together so you have to remove them all at once like this.
Knowing how to do this it will only take another 5 minutes or so.
I hope that's of use.
Don