Hack: Adding Bluetooth to Car Stereos and Sound Systems

In this video I show how I integrated a Bluetooth receiver into my 20 year old car stereo system.
My Video about the first car stereo hack:
• Car Stereo Teardown, A...
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[@dpwellman]

You know, my Grandfather tried for my entire childhood to teach me electronics and machining and I never fully appreciated it until now. I wish he was still around to I could say thanks. However, I wish to extend my thanks to this channel for helping me realize that and I have hope to build on the foundation my grandfather laid. Great mod. Well explained.

[@ieiliniegiro7461]

David Wellman , your a granddissapointment

[@KnightMirkoYo]

David, I had the same grandfather, who passed this March from pneumonia. He taught me a little (e.g., how to solder, how to convert different number systems), but I should've spent with him 10 times more time than I did. I didn't think it would happen so soon, and I hoped I'd show him my projects, he would be so proud. I guess we'll have to continue finding inspiration on our own, but still imagining how cool it would be if they still were around.

[@DFMurray]

My phone broke. Time to take apart my car.

[@davidvilla4157]

Haha exactly.

[@ToddSage]

I feel both smarter and dumber (for not knowing how to do this) after watching this great hack, you take what looks complex and make it simple! Great job!

[@renegade2556]

Dude ! You can't expect be a Rockstar all the time! You Know you are good at your craft when people look at you doing your Job and you make it look easy!

[@SqueekyBums]

"takes up usable space in the car and makes for no fun" love it 😆

[@ccwwing-nutt6228]

Keep on doing your thing Inventor Man. I MacGyver when possible too, and I can totally relate to what your doing. Anyone in this vast world of stupidity and ignorance can "go buy a new head unit", however surprisingly few have the knowledge or the creativity to even consider thinking about doing this for themselves. For myself it's simply the appreciation difference that I get from the things that Ive built and/or modified. I hope to see more videos from you. Also, excellent narrating, the detail in your actions are noteworthy and very informative

[@johannfr]

I would have loved to see some glue added to the solder joints where you soldered the audio cable to the pads next to the audio jack as a strain relief. Also, I don't know if it's needed in Germany, but here in Iceland I would have tried to seal the voltage regulator pot with silicone or some hot-snot to prevent moisture from changing the resistance and thus changing the output voltage. :) Great hack! Good to see you back on your feet! :D

[@blacksheep_1971]

dude half the time i have no idea what you are talking about, but i love your videos and the way you explain what your doing, makes me want to grab a soldering iron and go crazy.

[@Thesignalpath]

"The switch had to be deleted." I love it.

[@ThePostApocalypticInventor]

The Signal Path Blog It had to be "terminated immediately" :P

[@robthesamplist]

+The Signal Path Blog I often find german people have the most novel use of english and often seem to have a more diverse english vocabulary than me which leaves me feeling stupid at my own language.

[@rossevans2814]

Just in case you wanted the real answer: the switch had to be removed

[@pb3786]

If you remove a feature from a car, it's known as deleting it. For example: www.darksidedevelopments.co.uk/egr-removal-delete/

[@livemeyer]

This ingenious hack could be used in old cars with old stereos, that for mounting purposes and originality a new stereo wouldn't work, look good, or would ruin the aesthetic in an old restored car. Bravo!

[@gamccoy]

Brilliant hack. Very useful, too. Not all of us have a modern car with this amenity built-in.

[@AlbertVicol]

You are such and inteligent and adaptive person ! a rare jewel !love every video !

[@MarloMitchell]

The gentle touch of my vice. LOL

[@rayofcreation3996]

Marlo Mitchell yes.

[@joaoassuncao9750]

"The gentle touch of my vice" :-)

[@josephheston9238]

I can't believe this video got 192 thumbs down. I guess some people don't appreciate ingenuity.

[@ibadtaylor]

Maybe they don't understand what love is dude 🤗

[@ImRichRu]

Maybe its because he doesn't even mention the car type.

[@rayofcreation3996]

Ibad Taylor you could say that.

[@rayofcreation3996]

Throttle Addiction its exactly that music which gave a good touch in the end according to me.

[@pieterbezuidenhout2741]

It's called JEALOUSY and it makes you nasty.

[@pibblesnbits]

At 10:00 you can hear the bottles of alcohol rolling into each other in the back seat. That aside, wonderful work!

[@simkarte123]

maybe it´s water bottles rolling arround?

[@pibblesnbits]

This guy is fancy, wine only.

[@pcfreak1992]

Now you know where the Patreon money is going :D

[@mdk-wc2sw]

what makes you think it is alcohol?

[@senorvillarruel8129]

its wine or beer

[@DJSolitone]

Still listening to impressive music !! I like it !! Good to have you back too !!

[@nomadic_rider42]

Nice to see this channel active again. Keep the good work coming.

[@unltdsec]

very smart. good for the environment and who would want to steal a modified factory deck that is 20+ years old ? no one ( i hope).

[@lourias]

I would steal his radio if he gave it to me... LOL

[@pathslesstrampled9906]

Dr. Strangelove hacks a car stereo. I love it!

[@cobrasixtysix3411]

I hate waste and adding to land fill. If something can be modified to make it useful again I'm all for it. I'm going to subscribe so I can learn about making things useful again. Cheers.

[@rayofcreation3996]

cobra sixtysix appreciate your attitude and spirit. I'm joining you too. Good luck and cheers. 😊👍

[@63ch31]

I love how you almost mix some German words into the English ones. Like Zwölf and Twelve turn into Twölf😂 Also, awesome hack. I have used your audio input hack on an old Grundig "Music Boy" radio reciever, and it works great!

[@shahinportohfeh1446]

ted clubber lang English language origin is German ... as he doesn’t have to speak English ... English has to learn German if they appreciate their own language ..,!!

[@tomf3150]

wasser -> water, strasse-> street, kalt -> cold, weiss-> white, grün-> green, blau->blue...

[@teemumyyrylainen9247]

Great video, but one thing caught my eye… car battery is all most allways above 12volts … charger pushes around 13,8 to 14.6 volts to battery while car is running. So when you regulate the power to your bluetooth , you should take that into account if the modules voltage limit is critical. Often they have quite large scale tho.. as most of their cut out voltage is way below 3.7v and when in charger those will allso charge at around 3.88v up to 5v in some cases.

[@zbow1974]

love the ingenuity and the how to of the video

[@Teknopottu]

You should make more of videos like this bringing older technology more usable using a bit of modern tech. Love to come back to your older videos.

[@MsOsoris]

Great work, great instructions, I have almost 0 knowledge in electronics, but your instructions are crystal clear, you just earned a new subscriber :). Greetings from Egypt.

[@ZerokillerOppel1]

Me: "I'll go out and buy a cheap BT car radio" TPAI: "I'll just hack and mod some stuff I've got lying around and before you come back from the store it's up and running!" Marvellous!!!!

[@jessewester6527]

I just stumbled upon this video. GREAT STUFF! Thanks for all you do. I'll be watching more

[@muh1h1]

thought about doing something simular for a long time :) Infact, i even thought about building my very own car stereo based on an Arduino or a Raspberry Pi with an LCD touchscreen :) Never got around to it though :)

[@tjjoker6563]

wow what a view from your driveway. you have a beautiful home.

[@joshlewis2612]

Thanks for this video. I'll be doing this myself soon. I have an older high end receiver that will now be brought in to the modern age.

[@chronobot2001]

Nicely done! I fully understand how hacking your radio to make it do what you want is much more satisfying than just buying a new new. Bravo !

[@ericinoregon5726]

Sir, you are very cleaver! I also wonder if you are a teacher? If you are not, you should be.. You explain your process very well. Thank you for your work, Eric in Oregon

[@preetshah9832]

Dan thank you very much for your reply, it had simplified a lot of thing for me and I'll check for videos about what you have suggested. thanks again

[@oatlord]

"this switch needs to be deleted..." I laughed.

[@FrancoAversa]

You are a genius, great idea to use a car-radio cassette.

[@chloethesemoments]

I wish you could lend me your brain for a day or so to install bluetooth in my car, too ;-) I really love the way you don't let yourself be pushed back by any boundaries.

[@xDR1TeK]

love seeing ingenuity in the making. great work.

[@blackdatto]

Best of all the dash looks factory (with some black paint) and nothing to steal if parked some place dodgy. Nice work!

[@kingpho79]

This is a motivating video. I was just motivated to purchase a car stereo with built-in bluetooth.

[@laghman9086]

...a gifted and skilled person... 👍🍻

[@brendanoshea4128]

Great hack. I can see this giving new life to my other audio gear. Thanks for sharing.

[@rayofcreation3996]

This is the first video of this channel I watched and loved it. I feel so good watching this. Beautiful country side and wonderful music. Could you pls share the info of that music with us? Thank you. Cheers!

[@caddyguy5369]

I just received a similar Bluetooth module for an old Pioneer. It has two wires for being hard wired to 12v and the output is Pioneer's IP-BUS connector that plugs right into the back of the headunit.

[@wtfiswiththosehandles]

Why didn't you replace the faulty jack in your phone? You definitely have the tools and skill to do it.

[@patbutete1722]

If the jack is anything like the one on my Asus fonepad,id be grateful if you could point to me where I might be able to source one! Seems like these jack sockets are proprietary.

[@wtfiswiththosehandles]

Pat Butete I would try aliexpress first... then Asus service centre. If all fails, you can look on ebay for cheap broken phone like yours and salvage the jack.

[@patbutete1722]

MasterBata Already tried Asus and no can do.They want $$$ to repair it.As for a broken ebay salvage job.It's a common problem broken jacks on these devices..so...not sure that is a wise move.

[@weedweapon]

aliexpress has them for 4 dollars, i checked for a friend last night . he needs an asus fonepad usb socket ($4+) and a battery ($6) If you don't like fine soldering, buy the power / usb board with usb socket attached for $48, bit rich in my opinion.

[@Fkidd702]

MasterBata lol that's EXACTLY what I was thinking.

[@new-knowledge8040]

Way back in the 80's, I designed a Pay TV Decoder and installed it in my SONY TV. My design decoded the signal line by line, so there was no PLL delay like the decoders on the market had. So there was no way you could see that you had selected a Pay TV channel. The total cost of the decoder parts was less than $6.00. I tried to sell my design to a cable company, but it was too good, is what they said. It had so few components, and all were old cheap standard components, thus anyone could copy it easily. Those were fun days back then.

[@keithking1985]

I really feel like I'm making progress learning electronics when I realised that I knew how this hack could be done early on in the video.. very Very cool vid👏👍👍👍

[@safdar88]

Beautiful road and location :)

[@eugenator59]

Absolute GENIAL!! This is just what I need for my 1986 DODGE RAM D-150 TRUCK. A bit over my pay grade, but I have a friend who can probably get this done. Super so see great examples of German Engineering - for household use! Liebe Gruesse as Nashville.

[@LarryDeSilva64]

Well that is a lot of work to go through to get blue tooth integrated into the car radio but hey true you dont have to worry about a voltage drain any longer . Great video

[@RealGengarTV]

Cool video :) perhaps you wire the play, pause, fast forward, rewind and skip track buttons to with the bluetooth controller to

[@Droid5X]

Great to see a new video from you!

[@gabiglaezer8685]

Super Video leider bin ich kein Elektroniker und vieles war für mich wie Chinesisch aber es zeigt dass es nicht so schwer ist wenn Mann sich etwas auskennt. Danke fürs zeigen!

[@soosaisteven3984]

You don't need to scrap the LiOn battery and you dont need the voltage regulator. Just tap a +5V from the 20 yrs old car stereo board and solder it on the micro usb port of the Bluetooth receiver.

[@ThePostApocalypticInventor]

+soosai steven the +5V voltage regulator of the radio is designed for only very small loads (DIP 8 package without heatsink). That's why I used another regulator. I also didn't "trash" the battery, it is not needed in this application and I will put it on the shelf until I will reuse it for something else.

[@soosaisteven3984]

+The Post Apocalyptic Inventor .. Oh, Ok. Great work. Inspiring.

[@sokol.murati]

+The Post Apocalyptic Inventor Please answe is this a Corsa or a Tigra

[@ibejohn987]

+Sokol Murati It's a Corsa, as noticed in another video ;)

[@srdjanzmaj1]

Hello friend, I want to add bluetooth to my old aiwa system, the more you watch scheme all the more confused I get, I realized something but not enough my knowledge of electronics is miserable I would be grateful for the help, to you is 20 min work, if you want me help, I would send you an email with device model that you can find scheme, Soldering and Remain is not an issue rather than where and what to add

[@noyb72]

Recently started watching your videos, as an electronics technician I can't get enough. Did you consider removing your original 3.5mm jack and using the jack on the Bluetooth board? It seems better than having a parallel input circuit.

[@titaniumdiveknife]

1:09 Wow, I have that exact phone. Righteous!

[@xolove3435]

Kool voice and ascent....goes perfectly together. You know your stuff!

[@jo31b]

Could you please put a recipe list in the description so us new to electronics folks can have a handy shopping/salvaging list? You have me pretty excited to start doing some of these projects and its pretty intimidating when I'm not sure exactly what to buy/salvage.

[@haydenc2742]

Awesome!!! Does it also support A2DP, as in you can hear an incoming call thru the radio and drive hands free while having a conversation? I love your channel!!!!!!

[@jerryg50]

This tech guy is terrific!

[@kjamison5951]

I had a plan to buy and fix up a 1965 MGB and install an iPod that only played music up to the age of the car... I like 60’s music. It would still have the radio and a Bluetooth module would be nice. I still have to buy the car.

[@MarloMitchell]

DUDE YOU ARE A LEGEND!

[@artifactingreality]

My moto G has a dodgy jack too. Didn't get as bad as yours but it will soon so I went ahead and got a new phone. Cool mod.

[@michaelhawthorne8696]

Great video and liked, but for gods sake what were you listening to at the end? Sounded very Medieval.

[@hosseinsalamat1138]

sounds like persian folk music

[@Allbbrz]

That's not a hack: that is called retrofitting. Good job with that !

[@Ghostpalace]

Brilliant! Unfortunately in most modern cars, you can't do hacks like these anymore

[@caddyguy5369]

What prevents this from being done in a modern car? What are you considering modern? Modern ones have Bluetooth from the factory at this point.

[@caddyguy5369]

Just noticed that was 6 years ago. I think that was roughly around the time it was becoming standard. I still don't understand what prevents this from being done in a modern car. Nothing stops modern cars from being modified. They just have to be treated like one big electronic gadget at this point.

[@PeNDmN]

This is genius and beautiful work of art. Great work!

[@EnderMalcolm]

This is really helpful. I have two audio amplifiers at home, but neither are bluetooth, and I don't wish to keep using my audio jacks, as they are easily damaged if someone tugs on the cable.

[@edbouhl3100]

Bully! That was sheer delight to watch!

[@6sensory]

I appreciate the video. Thanks. What camera were you using in the car towards the end? The zoom was much nicer than mine

[@southwest9389]

Your name alone rewards you a new subscriber. ✊🏿

[@Justinestabrook]

I like the auxiliary port added to the tape player. I might make one like this myself. I have a smaller tape opening. An old slot insert from a computer would work. Anyway all I have ever used is an iLive bluetooth receiver. I used a better quality tape adapter and ran the cable down through my dash to my floorboard in my 98 Grand Marquis. I had bought a Bell 3 12v adapter switch that has 2 usb ports also and uses a toggle switch as to not leave it on all the time. Used a 2 inch usb cable and the receiver was Velcroed to the carpet as well as the adapter. It sat on the transmission hump. All I had to do to use it was reach down and turn it own. I ran it off of battery and when it died I just switched the toggle switch on. Before I had it Velcroed to the dash trim along with the auxiliary cable ran through the dash up to it. Looked nice but no way to charge it and use it without it looking stupid. On the car's 12v port it was in the pull out cup holder. I removed it and had the Bell adapter plugged into it and hidden in the dash out of the way. Now that I had my 98 Ford Expedition XLT I am looking at all kinds of possibility to add it to places and hide gadgets to use. Already got a nice set up with an old iPhone 3g in an Otterbox defender case. I modified the holster to accept the charger through the bottom. It sets in my pull out cup holder. The tape adapter line is again ran through the dash and comes out the opening of the cup holder. My iPhone charger is ran from the 2 12v adapters across. The iPhone sets nicely down into the holder and everything is pretty much well hidden. I have added a toggle switch to the line to cut the juice when not running. The iPhone 3g is my favorite device to use for music in the car. I also have a nice dual screen dvd player set up in the back that is tied into the stereo through the aux port. When I add the bluetooth adapter I will need to come up with a way to have all three tied into the system without having to unplug and plug each time.

[@vorkev1]

Great video love the folk music.

[@oby-1607]

Way beyond my abilities right now. Pretty impressive.

[@kazwo]

Da fliegen die Bierflaschen durch das Auto :D

[@ThePostApocalypticInventor]

***** Jep :D

[@houskaX]

***** Das fliegen die Bierflaschen shoud be a song...something like Flight of the bumblebee :D

[@beakittelscherz5419]

like "The flight of the flensbourg-bierflasch"?

[@eyeswideshut7354]

That's some serious Shadowrun shit! Lol I love it! Keep up the great videos man!

[@Hitokiri926]

You're an amazing person.

[@dozerjohn]

You must be the happiest man ever when something breaks down and requires a new contraption.

[@ThePostApocalypticInventor]

John Grammaticus I never thought about it that way, but you have a point there :D

[@tobortine]

Superb hack, thanks for sharing.

[@aberakadabra1285]

Cool dude ; ) factory stereos have the best fm reception.

[@matthew-h]

10:00 lol Did I hear beer bottles rolling around in the car?

[@schwabentutorials]

nice to see you're still alive :D

[@tibialabs8919]

I love this video, so creative and useful!

[@MrPabsUk]

Great video, but one thing I was wondering, cars produce more than 12v when running, usually the alternator puts out 13.5v to 14.8v, so how well regulated would the pot based power supply you made be?

[@monoamiga]

What is this music? It's sounds nearly medieval! Great!

[@lucianbaitan287]

The Post Apocalyptic Inventor do I hear the distinctive sound of (beer) bottles at 9:59 mark? :) Great to see you again, I was thinking you went in holiday to be honest, good to hear you are disease free now.

[@koffibanan3099]

The Post Apocalyptic Inventor I was just going to post the very same thing! Here in Belgium, that's the sound I associate with 'day hikes' and 'excursions' :) Nice video by the way, glad to have you back! My brother owns the same phone, is there no way to repair the audio jack on your phone as well?

[@ThePostApocalypticInventor]

Koffi Banan I'm not sure. Actually I still have warranty but haven't come to send the phone to the manufacturee yet. That's why I won't try to repair it myself. I'm quiet sure though that it will be nearly impossible to find the exact replacement part. Hand soldering this will also prove extremely hard I guess. That's the problem with today's electronics...

[@scaleop4]

very simple and works very well .

[@vicenterebolledo631]

I really enjoy the concept of your channel. U are awesome!

[@tonyhewett3729]

You've just given me an idea for something else, Thankyou.

[@blahblahjumpswing1504]

This was cool, bluetooth to phone amd phone to data and BAM! Updates

[@vibemunster]

I heard the bottles rattle as you rounded the turn at the end....;)

[@ppratti]

hi that was a well needed one for me. thanks. and just to know is it possible to install a microphone also?. so that dont have to talk with the ph 😋

[@dazuk1969]

I love this kinda stuff...as luck would have it, i have a bluetooth receiver in my parts that i been what to do with. I wont be putting it in car stereo but i at least know how to wire it up when i find a good use for it....whoever you are dude, thanks for that vid. reaspect, peace

[@MartenElectric]

Nice hack indeed! the only thumb down is for the metal sheet instead of plastic cassette door. Looks very rough. Otherwise very nice!

[@zx8401ztv]

Very nicely done :-D I hope you wrapped some insulating tape around the bluetooth pcb, superglue is brittle and can crack and fall, shame for the module to earth itself on the bare metal. i have used the lm317 for many small supplys too, cant beat the simplicity :-) Oh you may notice a slight drop in volume if you plug in an external source, the pots will present 50k extra loading, but that may be good lol. I shall call you "Nimble vise" :-D

[@ThePostApocalypticInventor]

zx8401ztv Hey. I didn't use insulating tape. But I actually used a whole lot of mounting adhesive in addition to the super glue. I actually only used the super glue to "fixate" the PCB so that it would hold in place as long as the other glue isn't hardened yet. I forgot to show that in the video. The LM 317 is always a good choice when efficiency doesn't matter. In this case the power dissipated by the regulator is so small that there would be no reason to go for a buck converter. It would only generate noise etc... You are right about the 50k load. I really don't think that I will use the jack ever again though to be honest :D

[@superdau]

The Post Apocalyptic Inventor For small boards like this heat shrink is very useful (the bigger diameter type that you use for battery packs for example). Covering one side in hotglue works well, too.

[@zx8401ztv]

The Post Apocalyptic Inventor Im glad you used better glue, im sure you know im not picking fault in any way, i just like everyone to get the best out of there hobby :-D

[@zx8401ztv]

superdau yes its brilliant stuff :-D, i used to use large heatshrink when i fitted modules inside ham radios, there wasnt much space to mount a pcb so the pcb was insulated by the heatshrink, also a large double sided adesive pad could be applied so the module could stick anywhere :-D

[@AmirKhan-qx2lr]

The view when you leave your home is sensational

[@domothepilot]

really cool! good job. one could just take a 3.8 V DC-DC converter, but you even built that yourself =) Super Sache!

[@jix177]

Great hack, very nicely done.

[@themodmancarl]

Very nice, next you should try steering wheel control buttons for the radio

[@brucewayne-px4lv]

That was a cool video to watch.. thank you.Here's your thumbs up.