I have a 02 Mazda protege 5. I am trying to remove the stock radio. Having technical difficulties…and tips, tricks or advice would be awesome. Thank you in advance.

 

I bought my son a 2003 and he wanted to replace the radio. That was a major PITA. At some point I gave up and told him to drive it to a radio place and pay to have it removed. That shop gave up too, so we got back after it again. Finally got the bloody thing out, but wow, it was not easy. It's been a while, but I don't think there was a trick per se, just get the radio pulling tool(s) and keep after it. The tools, if I recall, are thin metal that slide in on the left and right side. Something gets released and the radio pulls out.

 

Theres two small clips on ether side of radio that actually pop off. Then you can see some holes at either end of radio you need to use either a awl or I used small allen keys. You have to push them into 2holes at either ends then hold them in there which releases the tabs that are holding it in place. Then you pull the whole radio out good luck....

 

There are specialized removal tools for these stereos.

 

Surprised you asked this question in forum before checking youtube lol.

 

That is obviously a fake video. It didn't take him multiple days with much grinding and gnashing of teeth to remove the radio.

 

People said that about replacing the rear mount. Took me 20 mins and all I took off was the air intake hose and battery so I could see what I was doing on an angle and to get my hands in there to reinstall the new one. The trick to reinstalling the new one is to remove the front mount so the engine can move freely as you try to align the middle bolt of the new one which noone talks about cause they are too busy trying to hold the engine up unecessarily and Im not even a mechanic.

The front and rear mounts are only support mounts, they dont actually hold the weight of the engine. This is obvious by looking at what they are attached too. They arent attached to the chassis, they are only designed to dampen the rocking motion of the engine when is loaded or unloaded.

Same thing with the stereo. You shouldnt have to gind anything. If it was installed, it means it can be uninstalled just as easily, you just have to take you time and figure out what you need to take off first. The first time is always going to be longer because you are learning and the second time is faster cause you know what to remove and what not to remove. If something doesnt come off easily, then you havent uncovered the missing bolt thats stopping it from coming out.