I have to admit that the display on the centre console was great and it was useful to have the steering controls. But having said that the sound quality and features on a non Citroen Radio are FAR superior, I would NEVER go back to the original Head unit having used the Sony one, the difference is amazing. Each to their own and thanks for checking out my video even though you wasnt taking out yours :)

Fantastic video which allowed me, a person who is cack handed in the extreme to change my standard Citroen radio for something slightly more modern in about ten minutes... not including the time I wasted waiting for the wife to rescue me after I locked myself out of the house :) I didn’t have a special torx screwdriver so I used a tiny flat head to undo the two screws.

Glad you found it of some use matey, always nice to see someone else break it or avoid breaking it before you do it yourself! that was the whole idea :) thanks for watching and bothering to post a comment, cheers!

Thanks for the thorough video! I've been meaning to switch my radio for a while now but haven't gotten around to it. This reminded me about it and even showed the ropes! Thanks again!

I've installed a few radios into my 2002 Xsara picasso and thought I'd shed some light on a few issues mentioned in the comments. Firstly the issue of the radio staying on with the ignition off, your best bet is to go get an ISO extension cable (£2.99 off ebay) and pull out the switched cable (Red) from the car side, you then need to tap off the ciggy lighter socket and connect it to this cable. The lighter socket turns on and off with the ignition. It seems that on mine the Switched and Constant terminals were switched also so I pulled out the yellow wire from car-side of the extender and moved it to the where the red one was. I then removed all the other power related cables from the extender so the only cables being used are a single ground, the yellow constant 12V wire (Yellow, going to the car) and the switched 12V wire (Red, Goind to the Ciggy Lighter socket). On the car-side of the extender only two power related wires are left. The speaker wires all match up perfectly so you can leave them all in the extender. Secondly, the disappearing display. If you were brave enough to do all this wiring with the battery still connected you will get this issue as the onboard computer tries and fails to communicate with the no-longer-connected RD3-00 radio. Pull the passenger seat forward (there's two tabs under the back of the seat) to reveal the battery. Disconnect the positive terminal for 30 seconds and reconnect. You'll find you need to re set the clock date but you will have your MPG, Trip, Fuel Etc. back. As an extra, while you have the lower section apart to take a tap off the ciggy lighter, take a tap off the back of the ashtray light. This comes on when you turn your headlights on, I attached this to the ISO "Illumination" pin. My radio now dims when I switch the headlights on. It must be said, however that you must do your own research, I can't be held responsible if you break your car, self or radio ;) - Grab the pinout diagrams for everything and compare everything.

Thanks for this! Exactly what I needed to know how difficult it would be to install a new stereo in my dad's car, having never done one before.

Cheers mate, The last time I fitted a stereo the manual choke got in the way (1992). It was easier to do after watching your video. I thought I was going to have strip wires as I didnt know about the adaptors. Thanks

good stuff, glad it helped allways nice to know what you are going to break before you break it! Enjoy your new stereo. :)

Thanks for this, its got to help people fitting theirs. I did swap the red and yellow myself and you are dead right. Thanks

your welcome matey, really glad it helped. cheers!

@ukmarc51 glad I could help both of you, always nice if someone else breaks something so you don't have to. enjoy your new sounds! and thanks for the comments :)

Cheers for the video, I have just bought a 54plate Xsara Picasso only to find when I got it home that the CD player doesn't work. So guess what I'm going to do?? Correct, buy a replacement off eBay and refer to your excellent video to help swap it over. I may look for an alternative but the retentive in me would like to keep it original. Thanks for a good clip though

Thanks for that mate, very helpful. Star man!!

You have a good point and since replacing my beesting aerial with a traditional one the reception is much better. But I have to admit the reception was better on the new unit too...no idea why that would be.

Thanks for the useful video - just what I was looking for. Quick suggestion: next time get a friend/wife/child to hold the camera :)

Thanks for your help mate

Nice bit of info many thanks

thanks for the tutorial, I have one published on cleaning the car!!!!!

Sorry you feel like that, that was entirely the point. I have never removed one and was worried about breaking/fusing things so figured over people may be in the same boat. So they could see what happened when I tried to save them the same problems. thanks for watching and bothering to comment. :)

Thanks for watching the vid hope it helps, the tool is a standard torx screwdriver, Im not sure of the size as it was ages ago and i just plucked it from my set! if you struggle post again and Ill see if I can work out which it was. good luck

Hope youve got your new player by now, did you go for an original unit or did you go for another brand in the end.

Hey nice video , I understand everything but , how do i know which radio's fit in my picasso ? I want that everything works , display , steering radio control etc. If i see an nice alpine , sony , or pioneer when do i know which radio don't cause any problems.

good tuition, like you I could not find out how to extract a mp3 disc that was fed into it by mistake, the bloody thing ejected the disc once but i wasn't quick enough to grab it, it hasn't come out since, it also wares away everytime the key or ignition is activated, Many thanks for your video.

thanks for this info, If anyone elses tries this and it works do please let me know.

Swap the Yellow and Red wires on the Radio harness to keep your Radio settings, to aviod the PSA (delay), find a switched live from the cigar lighter and wire it to the red wire on the radio loom.

Watched you video before changing my stereo for a Sony one and it was really helpful. When you turn the ignition off does the radio turn off? My switched power stays on for about minute afterwards keeping the radio playing for a minute. The old Citroen radio turned off straightaway.

Hello thanks for the video. Are you able to use whele key control?

hi, good vid, did the steering wheel controls work this stereo afterwards?

Having fit the new sony head unit, does the volume control on the steering wheel work with it?

excellent video thnks

Please can you advise what to search for when sourcing the adapters ?

My car takes a long time to switch off the aftermarket stereo after i remove the keys (like 1 min), but it doesn't happen with the original stereo. I heard it's because of the VAN communication protocol the car uses. Does it happen with your car?

Any ideas on how to remove the centre console trim on these cars . Mine is silver and its the piece that surrounds the air vents stereo gear stick heater knobs etc

Unfortunately the steering controls will not work. I know you can buy aftermarket add ons that you can wire in which bring them back to life, but Ive not tried them myself. Thanks for checkin the vid out and enjoy your new sounds

thanks pal

The display won't be gone forever .. Remove the power from the car in like 5-10 min. and it will reset the computer so you can use the radio with the display ;)

No I believe my radio stays on until I switch it off, not sure how long it would stay on for as I normally switch it off fairly soon after killing ignition.

Hi. I have one of these cars, and a CD is stuck in the original (factory) stereo that came with the car. Do you know of any way to release trapped CDs? And I really want to install a new stereo onto this car, but I've read that it can alter the trip computer, and make it stop working? I was wondering if you could give any clarification on this? Thanks.

when you say u lose the display on the console is it just the radio or do u lose the lot ie miles left, mpg,trip display

thanks very much glad it helped, enjoy singing in your card, lol

hi Zipster... I've just got a Xsara and I'm going to put my Sony DAB radio in it because it has Bluetooth for my phone, and the Xsara radio is wank.... does the display still show the radio station on the dashboard and do the steering wheel/column controls still work... not fitted mine yet so just wondering... cool video by the way, thanks...

is it possible to add a linein to the citroen radio?

did your radio remember the stations and settings etc with your wires that way? I've just fit a Sony to my car and it loses power after 10mins if being turned off meaning it resets every time. do I need to swap the red and yellow wires?

No matey, the wheel controls will not work at all, you will also loose the display on the console. you can make them work by buying specialised adapters but I didnt do this Im afraid.

Excellent video, but I have a small problem with mine. Dunno if it´s the same model, but my radio refused to turn off even though the lights were out (on the radio), just the dashboard computer display showing radio info, and only could use the steering wheel controls to do anything. So I built it out. It seems the computer was also built into the radio because now the top right display which showed how much fuel you use and all that has gone arghhh. Can I just build another radio in and forget that part of the display, or will I damage something?

hi, I've fitted a sony stereo in my 2001 picasso and it appears to be staying on after I take the ignition keys out, can you tell me which way to have the red and yellow wires so it goes off like the standard oem stereo. cheers, Dane

Didn't you get any weird anti-theft alarm like bleeps every now and then after replacing the stock radio? Most Citroens have this and it needs to be turned off by using a terminal connected to the board computer under the dash. Some people even got that when disconnecting and reconnecting the same (old) radio.

Same here. It stays on for about 20 secs. But my trip computer stopped working, does not show the gas usage or miles calculations. Anyone know howe to get those back?

is that the standard cage that came with the stereo?

hello I have a xsara picasso of 2009 I changed the original cd cd player citroen, with a cd mp3 player usb aux brand Lg, mounting this car radio I no longer read the information on the computer that were previously present, consumption, information related to problems or open doors, you have an advice to give me, I would like to keep this new car radio but I would also like the on-board computer to work again. bye thank you!

can you operate the radio with the steering wheel controls?

Hi zippysworld - quick query for you - I got an aftermarket stereo fitted by Halfords (Kenwood stereo, not Sony). They said they couldn't get the stalk controls working (which I don't mind particularly) they also said that the trip computer (showing mpg, range etc) will never work again. Is this true (I've heard it said that if I disconnect the battery and reconnect it then it will fix the problem). Plus something weird - the stereo kept resetting after they'd been working at it, so I discovered myself that the red and yellow wires were reversed - I swapped them back and it worked fine. Any reason why they should have been reversed and was I wrong to swap them?

Hello. I'm french and I don't understand all but I have the reader cd of my car radio which does not work any more. What is that I can repair it ?

does this work with Xsara 2001 model?

Hi My mate has just changed my stereo on my picasso, had to change the wires about slightly but the only problem is the radio does not remember any info once switched off, can someone please help ?? cheers

hi my volume has gone of my radio any ideas what's happened help

Not as far as Im aware, it doesn't seem to have any capability for a line in. swap it out for an aftermarket would be your easiest and probably cheaper option.

no, didnt have to replace any fuses at all.

does it affect the behaviour of the board computer?

just bought a 2002 Picasso dash lights are coming on don't know what they mean

Hiya This can't of worked properly as when you wire it up after 30 seconds of turning your ignition off the actually stereo then will lose its memory due to not having a perm live of 12 volts. so you would of had to wire the stereo to the battery somehow? you will also notice that when you open the drivers door the car stereo will come on by itself.

No matey, you just lose the radio display from the console all other items will stay on the display.

I bought the surround from Halfords for a tenner and it didn't fit properly! I cut it in half to shorten the length and it looks shit anyway so I wouldn't even bother. Also my radio won't turn off for a minute after the ignition is switched off and then when turned on again it loses all the settings like the permanent live is out. Also with the Citroen stereo removed, none of the trip counter / miles per gallon display works when pushing the stalk button. And of course the steering wheel controls are dead too!

sorry matey, Ive never had to remove that at all, so cant offer any useful advice. let me know if its a pig if you do try though :)

The citroen's radio cd is just fine no need to displace.Plus you have the monitor indicators on the central screen and the steering controls without spoiling the appearance.

Was pretty weird arse to me..but then you are talking to someone that rides a bike all year and hard to fit car radios to them. the point being Im a novice to this and wanted other novices to see the cables, connectors and weird arse connections. Thanks though

"weird arse one"?? ALL factory RF aerial connectors are like this, Ford, Rover, Peugeot, Renault, Vauxhall, VW, etc etc etc have this fitting.......

installed my new sony today with no problems. only thing is the miles to petrol station. mpg etc have gone. kinda gutted

what size torx do i need

Sony DSX100

bad reception, most likely needs a new arial. they do rust up inside very badly

No mate, didnt have to do anything like that at all.

Sony ?????? Massacre ha ha ha ha !

23:00 Brain fart