Installed it on a 2003 Ford Taurus SES. Bit of a pain to install (no fault of iSimple, just how the car is laid out/built) but once I got it in and working, it works quite nice. I can't hear any static even with broadcasting silence (no signal) with the radio volume turned up to more than 75%. And the audio quality when broadcasting a signal is pretty good. Just make sure you don't turn your iPod/Phone volume up too much or you'll overload the input of the IS31 and get a lot of what sounds like static but is really audio signal clipping on the input. Its also a bit quieter than your usual radio stations, even with the IS31 gain settings at max so you'll probably need to turn up the radio volume to a higher setting than usual when listening.
First things first thou. If you're going to install it, you should your research before actually doing the install. And be comfortable getting your hands into all those wire harnesses with wire clippers. Here's my experience and notes with my install on my Ford Taurus.
The antenna plug that the IS31 plugs into is in the trunk, behind the driver side wheel well covered up with that molded carpet/felt. This antenna port is on some sort of remote amplifier unit that communicates with the instrument control panel up front. If you want to install this unit in the trunk (which I did), you'll need to splice into the wire harnesses that run into the unit. And you'll need to look up the important wires to splice into for power which was a real pain as there's up to 3 wire harness connectors in the back and I had to splice into two different ones (12V always hot, left most harness - red/yellow; Audio System On signal, middle harness - light green/black). I also added a power mosfet (IRF510 if you care) into there to act as a switch using the Audio System On signal as a logic signal (could use a relay as well) so my IS31 automatically turns on whenever the radio turns on and it turns off whenever the radio is off. You could probably skip a switch if you don't care about the power drain while the car is off or you're not worried about overloading the Audio On signal line (I have no clue how much current that line will support).
I then ran a standard 3.5 mm to RCA 25 foot adapter cable from the trunk, along the doors and under the trim, under the dash, to a location up front which is easily accessible for hooking up to a phone/ipod, etc. I left the actual on/off switch in the trunk (pretty much always stays on) as it doesn't seem to interfere with radio reception aside from the intended FM channel picked for modulation. I can listen to all of the FM radio stations I care about while the unit is on.
I also had to buy a Ford Antenna Kit ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009UHHW/ ) because the existing antenna port was some proprietary Ford connector which didn't fit the iSimple universal plug. Make sure you get a kit that has both of the adapters as you'll need one to go from the Female Ford Antenna Connector -> Universal Female Antenna Connector and another to go from Universal Male Antenna Connector -> Male Ford Antenna connector.
Took me a couple of hours with a wire cutter, wire stripper, soldering iron, multi-meter, electrical caps, electrical tape, and a bunch of wiring diagrams to install. And a fair amount of research to figure out where everything was and how to wire everything up. Much more of a pain than I expected originally but its working well with no complaints and its pretty much invisible, can't even tell its installed with the exception of a 3.5 mm plug up front. I also never had to pull out the radio unit. All of the wiring was done in the trunk and pretty much just sits between the body and the molded carpet lining.
| Item Weight | 8.8 ounces |
|---|---|
| Product Dimensions | 7 x 1.9 x 5.6 inches |
| Country of Origin | China |
| Item model number | IS31 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Warranty | One year |
| Height (inches) | 5.5 inches |
| Weight | 17.01 g |
