CDR-220 won't budge!

Help! I bought an aux cable and went to install it this morning. I followed each step of the instructions. Once so inserted the radio removal keys into place they clicked right it. But the radio wouldn't budge and I can't get the keys out now either! Does anyone have helpful tips for me?

Put screw drivers in the "handle" loops of the tools and pull hard! Sometimes it help to push down on the front of the radio while pulling. You cannot remove the tools until the radio is out.

First time I removed mine I had to really pull on the keys. Felt like I was going to break something . Once the radio is removed press the blue metal tabs on the sides to unlock the keys.

Try wearing gloves when you pull.

Yup, if the keys are locked in, you won't break anything except your hands. Keep pulling.

You might want to throw a towel over your gearshift **** in case the radio comes out all the way quickly. If I recall correctly the bottom of the radio may have some rough edges that could scar up the top of the shift **** (which are getting pricey to replace ).

Thanks everyone. I have just been to gentle I guess. I'll give it the 'ol heave ho tomorrow or Tuesday.

Too gentle. Not to gentle.

I've taken out 2 now from my car and a friends car. It helps to remove the side panels of the horseshoe surround. You may have to unplug the connectors on the left side. The top yellow one needs to be unclipped in 2 places with a tiny flathead then pulled off with force. Then the heater controls just pop out and you can reach in there and push it out from the back. Its just got the cage then its pressed in at the back - youll see it. Good luck.

Yeah, as others have said, you really have to pull hard. Taking off the horseshoe and removing the heater controls is indeed helpful, but try giving it a few good tugs, with gloves, before you start taking more apart.

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Looking forward to an update on this. Hopefully it will go well.

I can just see the next post "HELP I've pulled the front suspension out through the dash!!" Don't you also have to spread the keys to release the radio tabs? Remove A Stereo With Fingernail Clippers - Porsche / VW / Mercedes - YouTube

IIRC I had to yank pretty hard to get the OEM unit out. Gloves are good; Pelican's tip is to put a screwdriver through the hole in each key and pull on the screwdrivers. I did both (gloves and screwdrivers).

I had to use two screw drivers as well rather than abruptly truncating my fingers. It takes a good tug to get it started.

Where do you all get the radio keys? Are they hiding in the manual somewhere?

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Crutchfield sent me a pair when I bought my new unit.

Walmart carries them in their car stereo section. Cost is about 4 bucks.

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Makes sense you shop at Walmart. Budget Turbo and all.

They make some fantastic track mods for our cars also.

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Or should I say: me sauter le trou du cul (I think that's Italian)

So sophisticated!

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Damn, I completely missed this little gem the first time. OK, let's put 20 seconds on the clock and see how many funny comments we can make: "I'm glad Crutchfield sent you a pair because you sure as hell weren't going to GROW 'em." He said "unit" "Crutchfield sent me a pair when I was drunk ." FIFY http://tosh.cc.com/segments/20-secon...e-clock/2riayn

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Take your skirt off.

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Quite funny Cupcake, does your mom know you're using her RL account account again?

..

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I think my KC brother was just trying to add a little levity. It's all good.

Any chance this thing has come out of the dash yet?

You guys are the best. I did exactly as instructed: I put a towel over the shift stick (in case it came out quickly - so I didn't damage anything), put screwdrivers in the keys as handles and have a good firm tug. It slipped right out. The rest was straightforward. Now I have aux in!!

Glad it worked out. I recall wearing leather gloves when I pulled mine out. It's amazing how much less force it seems to take when the removal keys are not cutting off your fingers! I also had a bit of trouble getting the radio back in. Spraying a bit of WD-40 definitely helped, as well as getting the wires not to block the rear of the radio.

Thanks again everyone. And just a bit more info for anyone who stumbles upon this post trying to add AUX IN to their CDR-220: Once I pulled hard on the keys and the unit slid forward I gently slid it as far out as it would go. In my case that wasn't quite out of the dash but far enough I could angle it about 45 degrees sideways and see the connectors on the back. My view wasn't really clear of the back of the unit but good enough that I could figure out from the diagram that came with the AUX IN cable (eBay purchase) to know where to plug it in. The cable snapped right into place easily. I wanted to feed the cable out the back of the dash into the foot well on the passenger side. I didn't like the idea of any cables hanging down near the drivers feet. I tried getting the cable out the back that way but couldn't make it work. It was too tight and I couldn't feed it through that way. I could see daylight out the out the back left corner into the drivers foot well though. I used a stiff wire (I cut and straightened a coat hanger) and by taping the aux cable to that wire I fed it into the drivers side. There is a 1/4" gap between the upper dash that holds my radio and the lower section that holds the CD holders. It just fed the cable into that gap and let it drop into the passenger's foot well. Pretty easy overall. Turning AUX on was easy (I won't write the instructions here as they are well outlined elsewhere. It works great with my iPod. With my iPhone it picks up quite a bit of electronic chatter (sounds like an old fashioned modem) unless it is put in "airplane mode". My stereo at home will do the same thing if the iPhone is too close. So in summary, except for the hiccup of not knowing I just needed to get a better grip on the keys and pull HARD it all went smoothly and was a cheap, quick, effective upgrade.