How-To Remove Kenwood Deck from MSP

[left_toe_low]

I apologize if someone has already described this in detail, but i've been searching the forum for hours and have messed around in my car with no luck.

I cannot figure out how to get the stock Kenwood (KDC-MP919) piece of crap deck out of my MSP.

I recently had the "no-display" later followed by the "stuck half-way down faceplate" issues. I've done a lot of my own deck replacements on vehicles in the past, but I can't quire figure this one out.

So, so far I've removed the trim. It's tight at the bottom where the climate control cables are at their limit. I saw the 2 screws on either side and below of the deck and loosened those off (shown in yellow on thumbnail pic). I thought I would just be able to slide the deck and/or the entire mounting bracket (with lower tray) out from there. But no-go. It's stuck. What am I missing? Can anyone please provide a detailed description?

Is this one of those jobs that everybody gets the audio retailer/installer to do for them?

Any help and pictures would be greatly appreciated!

And by the way, does anybody have any feedback on the Pioneer DEH-P5000UB Deck? That's the one I'm thinking of replacing with.

 

[Kaldonis]

There are special tools used to remove the head unit, but butter knives will work... What you need to do is stick a knife down each side (left and right) of the unit and then pull it out.

 

[left_toe_low]

does that mean that I don't need to remove those two screws?

does the whole trim kit (with shelf and hinge door) come out with it or does the deck slide out separate from everything else?

As much detail as possible would help since i couldn't see any gab between the deck and the plastic frame, and i really don't want to break anything.

LTL

 

[left_toe_low]

Alright! I've got it figured out!
Thanks for the post Kaldonis! If anybody else is curious, this is how it's done:

1) Leave the trim on (the one with the silver/carbon fibre that goes around the stereo and climate control)

2) Remove faceplate

3) Remove deck faceplate trim. That's the black rectangular trim that goes around the deck face itself. You just pull it off with your fingers.

4) Now you can see the metal frame that surrounds the deck. Slide a butter nice on each side of the deck. Slide them at the same time on the left and right sides of the deck. The knives should be on either side and centered vertically. The help depress a tab that holds the deck in the frame.

5) With the knives in place, slide the deck out. I had to use a pair of needle nosed pliers to grab the deck on the front center.

6) Then all you have to do is disconnect the wires. 1x wire harness, 1x set of pre-out RCA (non-fading to sub), and 1x Radio Antenna.

If anybody else has a hard time with this, like i seemed to, feel free to message me.

Picture provided below.

LTL

 

[ND4MSP]

Peice of cake once you figure it out.

 

[orlandomsp]

Peice of cake once you figure it out.

Yup. I went to my local best buy and asked one of the guys in the car audio bay if they had an extra set laying around that I could have. Once I got the tools it was easy.

 

[left_toe_low]

Anybody have any info on how to find a wire harness for a new deck?

LTL

 

[jwroyer]

Had a similar problem and this is what if found. Just ordered the pieces and can't wait to try to fix this on my own. Really didn't want to buy a new head unit.

 

[jwroyer]

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123622830

 

[MadManMotors]

Thanks for this post!

 

[destineal]

2 butter knives +1 Man what a difference in sound! (I think ^_^)

 

[11B-33T]

2.5 year bump for this thread found using the neglected/dreaded 'search' function! Awesome made simple steps for HU removal (butter knives LOL) as I was not looking forward to removing the center console bezel after the stock Kenwood HU died earlier this week. New ribbon flex cable arrived in the mail and now to find some soldering tools...