Going from JVC headunit back to stock non Bose
 

So I just bought this 95 which is low mileage and relatively stock. it has a JVC single DIN head unit from the last 5 or 10 years with an aux jack, but the factory system was non Bose. I want to return back to stock.

I haven't pulled it out and will probably just take it somewhere that has experience with 90s cars. Can someone confirm a few details about going back to stock non Bose:

1. I need the actual non Bose head unit (tape part and CD part). You can't put the Bose headunit and CD unit into a non Bose car without modification. I looked at the wiring diagrams and they are significantly different.

2. The tape and CD parts are matched as a set, so non Bose CD is different than Bose CD unit

3. I need to source the harness plug for the non Bose radio because it was likely cut and discarded. There is only 1 plug I need - or is there one for the CD unit and one for the tape?

4. Power antenna control - the stock system only raises the antenna when you select the radio, not for tape or CD. Is that true? The JVC raises the antenna any time it is on, and that is annoying and not good for the life of the antenna.

5. If anyone has the parts I'm looking for in good working order you can PM me or post. I'm interested in a confirmed working non Bose and whatever harness plugs are required (cut from the factory harness)

Have you considered updating to the miata/protege non bose radio? It looks like the 99 spec, updates the interior a little and still looks stock.

I want to keep it 90s honestly. I don't want it updated, I've got a daily driver with all that.

for anyone curious, I do have the original non Bose radio for the car.

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1490631039

I was told by the previous owner that only the tape portion works, and that the harness in the dash is uncut. So I should be able to reinstall no problems.

I'm going to send the radio to this company Radio Repair Form - M&R Electronics Inc. and they will inspect to see if they can rebuild it. The guy I talked to on the phone said it depends on whether the parts are still available.

In my old FD, my CD player stopped working after a while too, I think it probably just gets dirty inside and hopefully a good cleaning will bring yours back. Excited to hear about your experience outsourcing repairs. The backlight has gone out on my tape deck, and I'd happily send it out for repair or buy a nice new one if I could find one....

Subscribed. Please update with what you find out on repairs.
And yes, the antenna only raised with the radio. IIRC separate plugs for head/cd but could dig em out and look if no one else chimes in.

I shipped it out. Hopefully by the end of the next week I will have a prognosis as to whether it is fixable.

Well, that was fast. The clock shipped overnight (they are only a couple hours drive from me) and I just got a call from them. Here's the verdict:

CD player, which was spitting CD's back out: $150 to fix.

Radio tuner is dead. Parts are no longer available.

Back lighting can be overhauled for $80.

The tape deck still works. The guys said parts are available to fix it if it were broken, and cost depends on what's wrong with it.

We're Still trying to figure out whether the clock is dead or not. The guy said he plugged it in and it turned on, but I'm going to have him leave it plugged in over the weekend to see if it holds the time. The previous owner said it didn't work, but he also told me that he owned two different stock radios, so maybe it was the other radio that had a dead clock. 2nd gen cars were known for flaky clocks due to solder joints intermittently failing.

I'm having a lot of trouble sourcing another one of these radios, and the text on the face of the radio is good, so maybe I'll just have him overhaul the clock and backlighting and send it back to me.

Question: was there a factory cubby pocket instead of CD? If the CD player is junk, I wouldn't mind the extra space of deleting it and replacing it. I like the storage in the aftermarket one I have, except it's cheap plastic.

Yes, there was a cubby option. One with a lid and one that was just open.
Here's a partial shot from my car. You can probably find better shots on google images. I think Rich's build thread shows where he used two and ditched the radio altogether.
Someone also found a replacement from another car that fits pretty well. I'll try to dig it up for you.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...86d592c874.jpg


I've also noticed these radios are hard to get. I've got one in storage I might give up, but need to look it over.
You'd think there would be piles of these things around from people ripping them out. But, apparently not.

PM sent

Here's a thread about alternatives to the exact stock piece, for those searching
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...ocket-1100144/

Update:

Tom at M&R Electronics has been my guy. Here is his analysis of the failure mode of the stock non Bose radio (made by Clarion):

1. The actual parts that people are seeing fail, like the FM tuner, are not actually bad parts.
2. Tom noticed leaky capacitors in the radio. He believes this is the root cause of components failing - the capacitors leak, they damage other things.
3. The leaking capacitors are common on 90s radios.


I had explained to him that I wanted to overhaul the radio so it wouldn't fail on me in the future. What he did was replace all the capacitors, even the ones that hadn't leaked yet. Then he replaced the backlighting (which hadn't failed yet, but I didn't want it to fail in the future), and installed an FM tuner from a parts radio. FM tuners aren't available anymore; you need to scavenge one if it fails.

The CD player was dead but he didn't examine for root cause, but said it's usually the motor or the optical portion. Please note that if you delete the CD player you need the little shorting jumper plug. The parts radio/cassette had one so he swapped it in to the good radio. I have decided to delete the CD player and install the OEM piece Narfle linked to above ^

Total cost for Clarion base model radio overhaul was $141.75 with shipping. I should receive it soon and then install it when I get a chance over the next couple weeks.

Hope that helps anyone doing a restoration! I told him that I was posting this rx7club and there might be more interest in the future.

Awesome. Will be giving them a call.

I just bought this from eBay. Once it comes in, I will report back.

Its an OEM single DIN radio with a CD player, rather than a cassette.

1996 Mazda Protege AM-FM-CD Radio 638-57293 | eBay

I also saw a business advertising modifying an OEM radio to have Aux input/Blue tooth capabilities - 1factoryradio.com

the problem with a CD player only is that, well, who listens to CDs anymore? I mean it's not a bad thing to have a working CD, but with a tape deck you can use a tape with an aux wire or a tape that has bluetooth capability (unfortunately battery powered and needs to be charged)

I don't care about bluetooth phone calls, but having bluetooth built into a factory radio would be cool.

Call me old school, but I still listen to CDs in the car.

I am planning to send the OEM CD headunit to have the Bluetooth capability added. According to their website, the BT feature will allow for connectivity to devices to play music only, and not for phone calls. I'll look more into that when I receive the radio from the eBay seller.

interested to hear your results, please update us as this progresses.

The radio arrived the other day. Here are some things I learned:
•The 1997 Mazda Protege non bose radio has the same harness plugs as the FD.
•The antenna connection is a female on the radio, which requires a male to male adapter in order to work with the bigger female antenna wire on the FD.
•The illumination is green. I disassembled the faceplate from the radio and removed the green colored silicone bulb covers. I used some red nail polish (donated from my wife's collection) and dabbed some on the mini bulbs. Just a small bit was used. The end result is in the attached picture. The screen is still green, but I can live with that.
•The sound quality is good and works well with good condition speakers.

Did you already get the bluetooth adapted for that?
I like everything except the green display :/

Don't know if this helps but my cd player did what they all do until it would not play a cd at all. I sent it to United Radio and they repaired it. The guy that worked on it told me it was better than new. But that to keep it working I need to stop play and eject after every use of a cd. That was 11 years ago and it still works great and has never skipped.

Just an update, I got the stock tape deck and the OEM cubby piece (from the Protégé or whatever) installed a few days ago and everything is working great. I did have to order one of the side plastic trim pieces for the radio because it was missing. They're still available and cost about 9 dollars from Mazda.

Pics!

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1500302875

Not the best lighting, car was in the garage.

I'm very happy with the interior. I've been playing around with tape adapters and I noticed something. If I put my Galaxy S7 in the cubby while the tape adapter is running, eventually I get a weird distortion. I tried adjustments to the volume and all the normal tricks.

It turns out that the phone is causing some kind of interference with the stock deck. The JVC didn't have this problem. If I use the blue tooth tape adapter and put the phone in the glove box I don't get interference.

Any chance that someone in here knows where to get a replacement volume knob? My 93 R1 OEM head unit works well, but the original owner pulled the knob off at some point. Only the metal axle remains :/