The factory radio in my 1995' 456 does not work.I was told this is just a thin faceplate or control unit and the actual radio is in the trunk? What would fit?? Any suggestions?? Help please!!! Thanks, Ed
Do a search, lots of info. 456M (1999 +) have the Becker unit; 456GT (1993-1998) have the Sony trunk mounted unit. One member has a 456GT with a modified tunnel that accomodated a full head unit in place of the shallow Sony faceplate (linked to trunk unit). Unless you want to do major surgery (and expense) to the car, I'd suggest having the Sony unit repaired or buy one off a parts car.
Brian is right, get it fixed or look for an exact replacement as the brain is in the trunk and to adapt a standard radio to fit llike this is a pain in the a$$ and usually requires new cables running through the car.
hmm so the walkman button on the right uses some of this equipment to work or?? I think it is weird that the button is removed by matt black spray paint..
Ed- If you have stereo problems,need stereo repairs, or want to replace one of the dinosaurs Ferrari installed, this is who you want to call. He is an FChatter and ultra-reliable and helpful. La Jolla Audio Scott Cairncross 5161 Santa Fe Street Ste B San Diego, CA 92109 858-581-6545 858-581-0360 Taz Terry Phillips
In my '95 456, I have an Alpine head unit with a single CD in the glove box and a 12 disk changer in the trunk. I'll take pictures and try to find a model number for you.
So the head unit is an Alpine CDA-7990. The single disc player (and, I believe, the actual head unit) is in the glove box and there is a 12 disk changer and amplifier in the trunk. The system sounds pretty good, but I would prefer something with an iPod input. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks Taz, I have been a little hesitant to post since my wings were clipped......Unfortunatly the stock sony no longer has any parts availiable to fix it... The buttons fall apart and we have not found a solution for fixing them... I do have the tuner module in stock but that wont fix a faceplate problem. The last 456 I did I used a pioneer marine controller in the stock control panel location with the deck in the trunk. The install with the alpine 7909 looks good. I haven't done a 456 for a few years so the changing car audio equiptment makes for more options. I see using one of the alpine ipod only head units in the stock location as there is no cd mechanism to fool with. This would give high speed ipod bluetooth sat radio hd radio cd changer possibilities. Let me know if anyone has any questions and I will be happy to help out. I will be out of town from the26 th to the 29th. Scott Image Unavailable, Please Login
May I suggest : http://www.ricambiamerica.com/product_info.php?cPath=100031&products_id=261240 Looks like your HVAC has a bad case of the bubble/sticky/glomp. (Yes sold a new 456GT radio to an fchatter a few months ago, IIRK. It was pricey, but cool looking)
Yikes... yours too. It is hard to believe Ferrari let this go for so long. http://www.ricambiamerica.com/product_info.php?cPath=100031&products_id=335958 Robbie at "Sticky No More" can fix it up if you're not keen on disassembling the unit. It'll look absolutely great when he's done!
Thats the old Alpine F1 Status head unit, someone obviously didnt mind spending a few dollars on their car. I used to do a few of these conversions, its in no way a walk in the park, lots of very fiddly soldering. would like to see what else was done to the car. There is an Alpine input adaptor available to give you a 'Line Input' into that unit but you will have no direct control of your Ipod.
I will try to take more pictures tonight. Is there anything in particular you want to see? It will be interesting to investigate where the line input would go in this installation. I am guessing it would be in the glove box.
If this is the same Sony radio as in the 355 then the faceplate will work on other non-Ferrari branded units such as the XR-C720. I found one on eBay for <$50 and swapped it out using the Ferrari faceplate and my radio is back with full control of my CD changer.
The Sony headunits of the non-M cars seem to suffer from failure of the display; the radio works but nothing can be seen in the screen. I am currently investigating and found an issue with them that should be not too difficult to fix. I would like to retain originality and do not lust after big stereos - who needs a super stereo in a V12 car anyway. Watch this thread while I tackle mine.
Your radio should be a Sony, with a control unit in the console and the actual radio in the trunk, together with the CD changer. Not that many options to replace it, as due to its location, there is no usable depth under it. My control unit went bad a couple of years ago and bought one from Ricambi America. An expensive proposition, but I was not able to find anything that would be a proper fit.
I have the same problem.Radio works but no display...please let me know if you find a way to fix the display? Thanks Ed
In my case the pushbuttons of the display were bad and I could not operate the radio anymore. Tried to fix the pushbuttons, but had no luck.
Hello Ed, just back from vacation. Well, the issue with these Sony unit displays is twofold - they get a lot of direct sunlight that cooks the displays for once. This heat is something the displays do not like. Then there is another killer which is a tiny zener diode right next to the driver chip in the front unit, this zener diode should limit the voltage to about 6.5 volts but in my case the voltage was even a bit higher. The LCD didn't like that and died. I think Sony made an error here, as the official max voltage for the driver chip is 5.5 volts. I first hoped it was the driver chip (cheap at 7 bucks or so) but its replacement (together with the zener) made zero difference, and it turned out to be the LCD itself. There is no luck from Sony - I have the service manual for the unit if anyone is interested (also containing part numbers), but the display seems NLA. You could try finding an XTC-200 radio from the same era, as the 456 unit is based on that model, but that display is inverted (green letters in black background rather than the other way round) and visibility is not too good in the 456 setup. Night-time is fine however and even nicer than the original. Ask me how I know There is also a problem with the Sony tunerunit unit in the trunk, in which bad caps lead to crackling front speakers. That fix is easy.
BTW, if you're interested in having it checked out, I can carry out the check for you if you wish. I used to do such things for a living during my student times (now long gone), but I still love to pick up a soldering iron every once in a while. Fixed mine, know now how to fix the failure modes of these units, and glad to help a fellow Ferrari enthusiast out. I live in the Netherlands.
