dudemanz
Ready to race!
I just finished disconnecting my Soundaktor and love the quiet in my car. I am a bit of an audiophile would rather hear my music clearly than an artificial engine noise. Before doing disconnecting it, I read the best threads and watched a good video by LastHumansGarage, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mUbYVS3uEc&feature=related. The video is good but didn't give enough detail on a few steps. I'll fill that in here.
It'll probably take an hour to complete this if you prepare first.
1. Watch the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mUbYVS3uEc&feature=related
2. Remove the styrofoam parts at each end of the cover under the wipers. Pull sideways on the part closest to the headlights. It is a cap over the end of the rubber molding. The rest pretty much falls out.
3. Remove the rubber molding that sits between the edge of the hood (when closed) and plastic cover. It slides right off when you pull it. Oddly enough, this molding and the styrofoam parts are all that keep the plastic cover from rattling like crazy. I don't think this part of the car is built to last.
4. Remove the windshield wipers. Pop the black cap off with a flat head screw driver. Use a wrench to remove the nut from the base of the wiper blade. Now comes the fun part. The blade sits on a tapered rod. It has been squeezed down on top of the rod by the nut. Remember this when you put the nut back on. Too tight and you'll regret it next time.
Wiggle the windshield wiper up and down until you can lift it off the rod. It took me a while to get one of them off.
5. Remove the plastic cover. it snaps on along the base of the windshield. Pull it up, take it off and get it out of the way. Here's a picture.
6. Unless you have very small hands, remove two nuts holding the windshield wiper bracket. The Soundaktor is connected to it. This will let you push it down and back so you get your arm in to pull out the connector.
7. From the driver's side, shine a flashlight under so you can see the connector coming into the back of the black circular part. That is the part that vibrates and ruins the tight bass in your stereo.
8. Remove the connector. Check out the picture below. You see the soundaktor and the connector that I have just pulled off. Get a long screw driver and push the light grey pin out to release the connector. Now pull the connector off with your hand if you can fit it in there. If not, call your son/daughter, girlfriend. Last resort is to use needle nose pliers to grab the connector and pull it off. It doesn't come off easy unless you can get a good hold of it.
9. This part is up to you. You need to secure the wire and connector so they don't rattle around and get dirty. Since I could barely get my hand in there so securing the connector with a tie or tape seemed like more trouble than it was worth. Instead, I wrapped the connector in plastic and stuffed it under the cable under the soundaktor. Just make sure it won't get wet and dirty and can't get in the way of the wiper assembly when it moves.
That's it. Putting it all back together is pretty easy. Make sure you don't tighten the wipers too much when you screw them back on.
It'll probably take an hour to complete this if you prepare first.
1. Watch the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mUbYVS3uEc&feature=related
2. Remove the styrofoam parts at each end of the cover under the wipers. Pull sideways on the part closest to the headlights. It is a cap over the end of the rubber molding. The rest pretty much falls out.
3. Remove the rubber molding that sits between the edge of the hood (when closed) and plastic cover. It slides right off when you pull it. Oddly enough, this molding and the styrofoam parts are all that keep the plastic cover from rattling like crazy. I don't think this part of the car is built to last.
4. Remove the windshield wipers. Pop the black cap off with a flat head screw driver. Use a wrench to remove the nut from the base of the wiper blade. Now comes the fun part. The blade sits on a tapered rod. It has been squeezed down on top of the rod by the nut. Remember this when you put the nut back on. Too tight and you'll regret it next time.
Wiggle the windshield wiper up and down until you can lift it off the rod. It took me a while to get one of them off.
5. Remove the plastic cover. it snaps on along the base of the windshield. Pull it up, take it off and get it out of the way. Here's a picture.
6. Unless you have very small hands, remove two nuts holding the windshield wiper bracket. The Soundaktor is connected to it. This will let you push it down and back so you get your arm in to pull out the connector.
7. From the driver's side, shine a flashlight under so you can see the connector coming into the back of the black circular part. That is the part that vibrates and ruins the tight bass in your stereo.
8. Remove the connector. Check out the picture below. You see the soundaktor and the connector that I have just pulled off. Get a long screw driver and push the light grey pin out to release the connector. Now pull the connector off with your hand if you can fit it in there. If not, call your son/daughter, girlfriend. Last resort is to use needle nose pliers to grab the connector and pull it off. It doesn't come off easy unless you can get a good hold of it.
9. This part is up to you. You need to secure the wire and connector so they don't rattle around and get dirty. Since I could barely get my hand in there so securing the connector with a tie or tape seemed like more trouble than it was worth. Instead, I wrapped the connector in plastic and stuffed it under the cable under the soundaktor. Just make sure it won't get wet and dirty and can't get in the way of the wiper assembly when it moves.
That's it. Putting it all back together is pretty easy. Make sure you don't tighten the wipers too much when you screw them back on.
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