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1990 740 Turbo Wagon aftermarket radio upgrade - easy? 700

posted by  kallsop on  Thu Jul 21 21:34 CST 2011
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last visit: Sat Apr 28 13:44 CST 2012
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So my son took his 1990 740 Turbo Wagon to an installer and they told him "you can't just wire the new radio up", some jive about the amplifiers won't be compatible? It seems like a load of bull to me. Anyone put in an aftermarket radio and were there any gotchas? The harness and antenna adapters are available.







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    1990 740 Turbo Wagon aftermarket radio upgrade - easy? 700

    posted by  kallsop on  Sun Sep 18 14:26 CST 2011
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    last visit: Sat Apr 28 13:44 CST 2012
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    Finally got around to installing the new radio and it went in without a hitch thanks to:

    http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/volvo/1270312/940/960/980/V90/S90/tutorial_installing_stereo_volvo_940_wiring_guides_included.html

    and

    http://www.installdr.com/installdocs/volvo/PDF/865001.pdf

    Plus, my son helped me so he got to see how to solder wires and use heat-shrink tubing.

    Thanks everyone.







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    1990 740 Turbo Wagon aftermarket radio upgrade - easy? 700

    posted by  DPNY on  Mon Jul 25 18:47 CST 2011
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    I have done two Crutchfield JVC CD Radios into my 740. (First one got stolen out of my car so be careful not to leave the face plate on the CD Radio when the car is parked.)

    There is some work involved - but it does actually come together as they say.

    1. You have to wire the harness as they describe to fit the Volvo connector - but it does fit and it will work in every way. Antenna, power on and off with ignition, speakers. Everything works as normal. Wiring the harness is a bit of a mind twister as I recall it - I used a screw type wire block to connect them rather than connectors or twisting the bare wires.

    2. The Volvo amplifier becomes redundant so you can take it out of leave it in the car, but you do have to get the wire and connector but no big deal.








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    1990 740 Turbo Wagon aftermarket radio upgrade - easy? 700

    posted by  spasske on  Fri Jul 22 07:54 CST 2011
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    They are correct in that it is more complex and additional work is needed. The output of the stock radio does not go straight to the speakers. It goes to an external amplifier by the drivers knee bolster that in turn goes to the speakers.

    A new radio will have the amplifier inside the radio so the old amplifier will be abandonded and the new harness will have to connect to the speaker connections by the knee bolster.

    It can be done without a heck of a lot of extra work but most installers will charge a lot more extra to do it.
    --
    Paul NW Indiana '89 744 Turbo 160K/ '90 745 turbo 140K








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    Crutchfield .. 700

    posted by  Andrew in AL on  Fri Jul 22 07:34 CST 2011
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    They are the best ..no doubt. They will have the proper wiring harness and mount kit. Makes for an easy install.

    The times I have talked to them on the phone ..they seem very knowledgeable about older Volvos.

    http://www.crutchfield.com/S-mMCzGLnrnrf/
    --
    "Do you think that's air you're breathing now'? (The Matrix 1999) '89 764 (retired), '94 940T (319K), 92 245 (207K)








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      Crutchfield .. 700

      posted by  planetman on  Mon Jul 25 19:34 CST 2011
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      last visit: Fri Oct 24 09:29 CST 2014
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      Hello,

      Recently, we replaced the factory radio/amplifier, not purchased from Crutchfield, in a 1990 240 with an aftermarket radio, radio mount adapter and wiring pigtail.

      It was not that difficult as the radio and mounting adapter fit and worked just fine.

      However, the wiring pigtail and accompanying schematic were problematic.

      We had to move the factory harness from the old amplifier closer to the radio so we did not have to extend the wires on the pigtail.

      This was done without any cutting, just physically relocating the harness to the amplifier under the dash so it was closer to the back of the radio.

      And the pigtail was not wired correctly and we had to move 1 of the wires in the pigtail.
      --
      Eric
      Hi Performance Automotive Service (formerly OVO or Old Volvos Only)
      Torrance, CA 90502








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        Crutchfield .. 700

        uid 49372's pic
        posted by  740_dan on  Thu Jul 28 12:53 CST 2011
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        last visit: Thu Aug 28 13:10 CST 2014
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        I replaced my stock receiver/cassette player with a Mindisc player and added an amp in the back to power all speakers, including an 8" subwoofer in my station wagon (86 740 Turbo).

        In a nutshell, one needs to bypass or reconnect to extra amp in car with new receiver. You can do either option, but newer head units can probably out perform extra amp.

        Car had the extra amp under the steering wheel to the left. Tracing the wiring from this amp to receiver was the difficult part. Takes extra time but it's logical to follow the wiring; the extra amp's wiring colors didn't match the receivers, so part of it is thinking "yes, brown goes to blue into harness then out of harness blue is right rear speaker positive" (for example).

        Making a drawing that maps wire colors really helps me.

        I agree with others that Crutchfield is good source for harness and faceplate adapters. Their higher price comes with customer service and assurance parts will fit.

        Side note: I kept the factory rear speakers in car, they sound great. Only replaced fronts.






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