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How do you remove a Ford radio if the radio is stuck due to bending the clips on one side of the radio with a coat hanger.?
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
You use a sledge hammer, duh!
(Answer improvement);
Actually, I thought I bent the clips too on my 1994 Ford Ranger radio because I cheaped out and tried making the Ford DIN radio removal tools out of coat hangers too, before buying the real tool.
First, get the right tools. Got mine at Pep Boys, called the OEM Radio Removal Tools, part number CK-FDRT, for about $8. The rods are about 1/8" in diameter and bent into U-shape that fit into the upper and lower holes on the left and right of the radio face.
The ends are machined to a taper but have balls at the very end.
The trick is to push the rods no more than about 1" into the holes. Any further and most likely what is happening is that the rods slip past the clips and end up doing nothing.
After giving up with the coat hanger tools (having jammed them in way too far) I gently inserted the real tools and then wiggled the radio. It won't come out at first, but you will notice it is loose and can move left and right. This is because you have successfully collapsed the clips.
Those clips are a strange design. It's amazing they work. It's contra-intuitive to push in to pull clips toward the radio body. It doesn't make sense until you get the radio out and study the geometry of the clip. But they work.
Push the tool in until the radio loosens, then holding the U-shaped tools, push in and out multiple times until the radio begins to move out more each time. It will take some doing. The tools let go a couple of times.
The rear of the radio has a rear support that is like a plastic drawer slide center clip. It rides on a steel channel that is in the dash. This rear support is also inducing drag. You also are pulling the two wiring harnesses (power and speaker wires) and the antenna coax. Add all this drag and it's no wonder the radio doesn't want to move out initially.
The little balls on the end of the tools actually click into the clips and hold the radio somewhat. That's why you can pull on the tools to remove the radio.
If the clips reallly are bent you might be in serious trouble. All I know is that I thought I had bent them when in reality, the coat hangers had merely slipped through the clips and were not working.
Get the real tools and try again.
Started with the real tools that came with the conversion kit from Crutchfield. Right side popped loose immediately. Left side makes no click, does not release. Tried gentle, forceful, no luck. Switched tools, just in case. Marked the "good" side tool with a Sharpie at the insertion point where release occurred, could not duplicate with same insertion travel and positioning on the left side. Since the original Ford faceplate is discarded when installing the new kit, thinking about a hole saw in the panel face to get at the clip. Any suggestions appreciated.
Update - after trying to access the retaining clip from below and the side, found it is protected by full metal jacket everywhere. Could see the clip bent to the point where the inserted rods could not even touch them. I had to firmly bend the clip backward until the radio came out. The clip is ruined, but it was the only way to get past it. So if you find one side will release but not the other, try try and try some more to "convince it to release. Use of force will create what I found in this Taurus. Now I can guess why the previous owner spent money on speakers and left the original radio in place.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
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