How to Install a Car Stereo in a 1998 Trans Sport

The original Trans Sport minivan introduced in 1990 more resembled a space-age door-stop than a minivan, with its long, shallow-sloped hood and windshield. While this look was unique, it was not what the typical minivan buyer needed or wanted. In 1997, Pontiac released a newly redesigned Trans Sport with a more conventional design. The 1998 model year marked the final year for the Trans Sport, as the Montana replaced it the following year. The 1998 Trans Sport came standard with an AM-FM stereo installing a new radio in this vehicle is straightforward, as you only need to remove one panel to access it.

Instructions

Removal

1

Open the ashtray. Press the metal tab inside the ashtray to release it, and pull the ashtray from the dashboard. Remove the screw behind the ashtray with a Phillips screwdriver.

2

Look to the left of the ashtray just above the cigarette lighter and find the screw in the small indentation. Remove this screw with a Phillips screwdriver.

3

Grab the radio bezel the trim surrounding the radio and climate-control knobs by hand and pull it from the dashboard to disengage its retaining clips. Remove the radio bezel and set it in a secure location.

4

Remove the four radio-retaining screws with a ratchet and 9/32-inch socket. Slide the radio from the dashboard chassis far enough so you can reach the wiring on the rear of the radio.

5

Press and hold the unlocking button on the radios wiring harness, and pull the harness from the rear of the radio with a slight wiggling motion. Pull the antenna wire the thick, black cable from the rear of the radio. Remove the radio from the Trans Sport.

Installation

6

Plug the wiring harness into the receptacle on the rear of the radio; listen for the harness to click into place. Plug the antenna wire into its receptacle on the rear of the radio. Slide the radio and its wiring into the dashboard and tighten the four radio-retaining screws with a ratchet and 9/32-inch socket.

7

Position the radio bezel back in place around the radio, lining up the clips on the rear of it with the slots in the dashboard. Press the bezel onto the dashboard to snap the clips into place. Tighten the two screws one above the lighter and one inside the ashtray cavity with a Phillips screwdriver.

8

Line the ashtray up with the track inside its cavity and press the ashtray into the dashboard to close it.