Prewired 850 CD Changer?

Swapping radios between my '93 and '96 850s to troubleshoot a speaker
problem, I noticed that the '96 had a bundle of wires going into the back of
the radio where it was marked "CD". It has the "Premium" radio but after
examination, I can't see where a changer had ever been installed (I bought
the car used.) My question is; is this car already prewired to accept the
remote changer? If it is, where is the "standard" mounting and where might
I find the other end of the bundle? Certainly, this is for the Volvo
changer, but at the @ $800 I was quoted several years ago at my Volvo
dealer, is there a cheaper alternative that would have a common fitting or
are there adapters available that would make this a fairly easy
installation?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

Cheers,
Randy in Pittsburgh

 

On my '98 S70, the end of that wire is tied to a metal brace below the
trunk carpet just behind the power antenna.
There are Alpine changers that work with the Volvo radio, but they're
wired slightly differently and have to have their own adapter cable
plugged into the radio.

--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

NOTE: new address!!
Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)

 

Mike, didn't IPD used to sell a wiring kit for this exact CD changer
(the Alpine 6 CD on the left side of the trunk floor)?

This was a dealer installed option on my '98 S70 when I bought it
new, and I picked it. I remember pretty much the same thing a few
months later in the IPD catalog, but in the glovebox instead of the
trunk. Of course, the IPD parts cost less than dealer parts +
installation.

By the way, to everyone out there, I think it is a good CD player.
You have to hit a really big bump- bigger than speed bumps in parking
lots- and hit it really hard to make the player skip. I think it has
skipped a handful of times in the five years I've had it. It also
plays CD-Rs (but not CD-RW). Price on the other hand, is not so
good...

 

Thanks for the info guys. I'm off and running and will do further research
to see if I can install the Alpine changer. If the adapter is available, it
sounds like it would not be all that difficult. Looks like the wiring is
already, there so half the battle is over.

Randy

 

I'm pretty fuzzy on details, I've not seen the need to add a trunk mount
6 pack or even the glove box mount version (there's little enough
storage at the front as it is) since I have the single CD in dash.
Interestingly a friend had a base '98 S70 that didn't have this
prewiring (or the in dash CD).

--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

NOTE: new address!!
Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)

 

Check your local Volvo dealer as the price of the CD Changer has dropped
drastically in the past few months if you have the option & purchase from
the dealer do not purchase a exchange unit just purchase a new unit

--
"*-344-*Never Forgotten"
Is for the New York City Firemen who lost their lives on September 11,2001.
The official count is 343, but there was also a volunteer who lost his life
aiding in the initial rescue efforts. And I will never forget them as long
as I live,
nor should any American.
"Mow Green"