sdgrant

My 1999 ES300's Nakamichi stereo system has worked well, but lately has lost the left side sound (right side is fine). I'm assuming the amp has gone bad. Also, the display screen has faded into an almost solid black mass.

I found a 2000 complete unit, including woofer & CD unit, on ebay. Assuming it all works, will it just bolt right in (by local stereo shop, not me). Will they have to do any "fitting"?

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

1. Check the connections [just in case]

2. Does that 'complete set' include the factory EXTERNAL amp?

The radio's in these did not have a build in amp, they were all external, found behind the glove box.

If by some dumb luck a regular amp [from the "base pioneer" system] will work, let me know. I have 2 or 3 at home I just came across the other day.

PS. forget the stereo shop, these cars are so easy to work on... there's tons of room for everything... I wish my subaru was the same!

lostape45

+1 on easy to work on. Don't pay someone to do it for you. I had no previous radio/sound experience and I was able to work through this car with little to no trouble.

sdgrant

Ad states "Up for sale this 2000 Lexus Nakamichi radio / cassette player with CD changer, amplifier, and subwoofer. Also included is the set of brackets and subwoofer bolts. Perfect working order. Mint cosmetic condition. Very nice!"

Photo shows a woodgrain background, but my '99 has a plain black background. Would I be able to swap the system into my existing black background?"

EPayne42

I've tried swapping the plain black stereo with a wood grain variety. My car is a 1999 ES and the donor radio came from either a late 1999 or 2000 car. I found that only one of the two radio connectors will fit the newer radio. I also tried swapping the face of the wood grain radio to the older radio. NO BUENO. There are slight variations between the models and it makes it pretty impossible to swap the faces ...mainly, the wiring/connector from the face that connects to the box is different. My next attempt is to use an aftermarket radio adapter and map out the wires between the car and the radio (for the connection that does not fit).

Check out: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1207081...s.html?tp=2977

I purchased this adapter. My goal is create a cable that converts the base radio connection to the new radio connection. I'm using a donor connector from a junk car with the newer connector and trying to patch this to the aftermarket connector that plugs into the car. Just have to get wiring diagrams.

If I pull it off, I'll post it.

Power6

Don't bother with the newer unit and You don't need to buy all that stuff. There is a 99 head unit for sale on eBay for 75 bucks right now. Start with that since you need to fix the display, and a right vs left problem could well be in the head unit, since the amplifier units are separated by front rear and sub.

If the head unit doesn't solve the problem you could then buy a used amp which would likely be the issue after he head unit. Only buy one part at a time. FYI the nak amp is swappable between all years 97-01 you can buy any year.

Also don't use pioneer parts, while a mismatched head unit and amp will work, it will sound very odd since the equalization of each is designed to work with whatever crossovers they have going on inside the amp.