- Update 3-11-2013 -
User Larry Z in the comments actually found a replacement auxiliary jack part online. It looks like it’s available for about $3.00. I haven’t bought one of these myself to confirm if it actually works but it definitely looks like the right part. Rather than trying to bend the metal pieces back into shape like I describe in this article, it would probably be a much better and easier solution to just replace the jack. You can find the replacement part here.
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When I first bought my 2008 Nissan Altima back in 2009 I used the auxiliary input jack on the stereo all the time. I noticed it was a bit finicky though. It seemed like you could push the stereo plug in most of the way but the final “click” into place was difficult. Eventually (about a year ago) something broke. The sound quality was suddenly terrible and I was only getting the left channel. If I wiggled the jack the right way it would start working again, but even that stopped working after a while. I figured the problem was probably a bad solder joint and wouldn’t be difficult to fix if it wasn’t built into my car. So I stopped using the auxiliary input jack. For a year. Last Monday night I finally decided it was time to fix this problem once and for all. I drove the car down to Eugene Maker Space and pulled into the shop.
Here is a photo of the stereo unit as a whole.
And this was the main problem.
Before taking anything apart, it’s important to disconnect the ground from the battery. This helps prevent any accidental short circuits.
I was able to find some information online about how to remove the stereo. It’s surprisingly simple for the newer Nissan Altimas. In almost a scary way. It made me realize just how easy it would be for someone to steal the stereo if they were so inclined.
The first step was to remove the plastic panel around the air vents. The ideal tool would be a plastic pry bar but I didn’t have one of those. I used a really old Visa gift card to start prying the plastic away, then I used a flat screwdriver for more strength. I used the plastic card to protect the plastic from the hard metal screwdriver. I didn’t want to scratch or dent the plastic panels if I could help it.
I had to pry apart both sides of the panel. At some point I heard some snapping sounds that were quite scary but it seems it is actually perfectly normal. Once I got past those snaps the panel just sort of slid out towards the back of the car. Then I was able to lift it up.
Once the panel was removed, I could see the two phillips screws that hold the stereo bracket in place on top.
Next I had to remove the bottom plastic panel to expose the bottom two screws. This is done much in the same way as the top panel, only I found it to be a bit easier.
Next I covered the shifter area in cloth (lab coat) to protect it from getting scratched when I pulled out the stereo.
Then it was time to remove the screws.
Once all four screws were removed, I was able to pull out the stereo. It actually snapped in around the sides so it took a bit more effort than I anticipated to pull it out.
There were a total of four plugs connected to the unit. One is for the proprietary Nissan antenna connector, one is for the AC controls, and two go to the stereo itself.
The plugs were in there pretty good but after some wiggling and finger strength I got them all out.
Once I had the thing out of the car I had to figure out how to take it apart in order to get to the stereo jack. My first inspection led me to believe I had to remove four torx screws on either side of the unit. It seemed like these were holding the main stereo into the whole assembly and removing them would allow me to slide out the stereo piece to access the audio jack.
I managed to remove the four left side screws, but I ended up stripping out one of the screws on the right side because the torx bit I had didn’t fit perfectly into the screw. Oops. At this point I thought I might have been screwed but further inspection showed that I might not actually have to remove those side screws after all. I decided to remove the top metal panel to get a look inside of the stereo.
Once I got a look inside I was able to see that the audio jack wasn’t actually physically connected to that large unit anyway. The jack is in the small square whole near the top center of the below photo.
I inspected the unit further and decided that the front panel looked like it should be able to come off. I found two small phillips screws on either side holding it on, so I removed them.
Then I realized that there were four more black torx screws holding the front panel to the main metal unit. I didn’t want to risk stripping them out and I couldn’t find the right size bit anywhere in the shop. Luckily we are only two minutes from Harbor Freight! I drove down there (with gaping dashboard) and managed to find some security bits that included the proper sized bit.
So now it was time to remove the torx screws. There were two on the top.
And two on the bottom.
Once all the screws were removed, the plastic was still holding on snug. I looked around and saw that there were some small snaps holding it in place around the edges of the unit. The below photo shows some of the snaps after I pried up the plastic to get it off.
Once all the snaps were pried up, the unit just came apart into three pieces.
This allowed me to get direct access to the solder joints of the audio jack.
Surprisingly, they didn’t look too bad. This made me worry a bit because I was hoping to just fix a solder joint or two and be done with this project. I plugged in the stereo plug and used a continuity tester to see which solder joints corresponded to ground, left, and right channels.
I was able to find the ground and left channels, but not the right. This made sense because the right channel was the one having problems. For the hell of it, I decided to just reflow all of the solder joints and see if it would magically fix the problem. I tested continuity again and got the same result as last time. That indicated to me that the problem was actually inside of the audio jack and not just a solder joint. Time to take this thing apart even further!
First I removed the PCB from the front plastic bezel.
Once I had the PCB separated from the bezel I was able to remove the audio jack. I used some desoldering braid to make quick work of the job.
After inspecting the jack, I saw some snaps on either side that looked like they would allow me to get inside of the actual jack. This was a good sign because if I couldn’t get inside then I was going to have to replace this jack with a duplicate, which I didn’t have.
In the below photograph you can see the metal contacts around the outside of the jack.
I tested continuity again on all of the plug’s pins and still the right channel was not working. I had to figure out which one of the pins went to the right channel and remove it. I just used some pliers to slide out the metal piece.
That tiny piece of metal ended up being the cause of the problem. I think it somehow got bent out of shape and wasn’t making contact properly. I tried a few things to help the problem. First I sanded the edge to get rid of some of the corrosion but that didn’t work. Then I put a small blob of solder on top of the edge to raise it up higher in hopes that it would press against the plug better. That only made it more difficult to push the plug in and resulted in the metal piece bending further. Then I noticed that the inside of the jack looked like it was a bit curved. Like if I pushed in the metal shim it would bend up toward the plug due to the curved design. I removed the solder and tried straightening out the metal shim so it would go further into the jack. This seemed to work. It took a lot of trial and error to find the exact way the shim had to be bent. If it wasn’t bent enough then the stereo plug barely snapped into place and could fall out easily. If it was bent too much then the stereo plug was really difficult to push in and sometimes would even bend the shim back out of the way again. I finally got it into a place that I thought would work for me. A continuity test proved it.
I soldered the jack back onto the PCB and did another continuity test just to be sure it would work. It worked. I put the stereo unit back together and re-inserted it into my car. I hooked up the battery ground cable again and turned on the stereo… It turned on! The buttons all seemed to be working! Now the moment of truth. I plugged my cell phone into the auxiliary input jack and started playing some music. The quality was superb. I got both left and right channels and it sounded so much better than it did before I was blown away. I forgot how good the cell phone audio was supposed to sound coming through the stereo. I screwed the stereo back into the dash and replaced the vent and bottom panels.
A job well done! The stereo got the last laugh though. Removing the power caused it to forget what time it was and also forget all of my saved radio stations. Easy enough to fix. It’s hard to believe all of that work had to be done because of one tiny piece of metal. I’m hoping it won’t get bent again. If it does, I’m going to have to try and just replace that audio jack. I’m keeping my fingers crossed though.
Need more detailed information.
I tried it. I removed everything. I am getting a new aux in to replace the faulty one. It took me 6 hrs. I have no regret doing this I just wish there is more information on all the steps like the location of all the snaps. I might try making a video since my bro’s car has the same issue. Thx for the post.
Hi Stephen. I’m sorry there weren’t enough details for you to be able to easily duplicate my process. This post was really meant as a way for me to document the process as I went through it and figured it out, not really as a step by step guide for others. However, you are the second person I know of who has found this post and used the information here to help them fix their own stereos. I hope this post was at least able to help you out in some way. If you put up a video, let me know as I would be interested to check it out. I might even edit the post to include a link if you don’t mind. Also, where did you order the replacement part from? I may need to order one in the future if the auxiliary jack breaks again.
Hey Rick. Thanks for sharing this. I am having the same issue and went to the dealership to see if the aux jack can just be fixed and they wanted to replace the whole unit for $700. Obviously I think that is ridiculous but I’m not mechanically inclined to try to do this myself so I’m wondering if you know where I can purchase a new aux port for our stereo? I found the below one but it is for a different model. Sorry if this is an elementary question I don’t know anything about cars except what google tells me. Although now that I know it can be done I may just go talk to a different rep at the dealership.
http://www.courtesyparts.com/28023-jack-audio-altima-l32-2007-2011-p-558460.html
Hi Timia. No need for apologies. I actually have pretty much no experience working on cars or car electrical systems, but I do have some hobby level experience working with electronics, so that’s what lead me to believe I might be able to fix this problem myself. The audio jack in the link you sent definitely looks different and would not work in my model of car. The fact that they even have that other style of input jack though, makes me believe that maybe they realized the problem later on and replaced the auxiliary jack with a better quality one. We are obviously not the only people to experience this problem so it stands to reason that they may have upgraded later editions of the stereo to use a more reliable input jack.
Unfortunately, I don’t know where to locate a replacement that would work in our type of car. I was actually hoping to be able to repair mine myself because I really didn’t know where to look for those odd types of parts. One good website for general purpose electronic parts is digikey.com, however I’m not sure that they would carry this part. And even if they do carry it, I’m not sure what it would be called exactly so it wouldn’t be easy to find. I think you are on the right track with searching on these web sites that specialize in car parts. Sorry I can’t be of more help with this. Maybe you can find totaled Altima at a junkyard somewhere that you can scrap for the part? Maybe a dealership could point you to a source for parts? If you do find the proper replacement part available somewhere, please let me know how you found it and I’ll update this blog post so other people will be able to find it easier as well.
Timia:
1. I actually purchased that aux-part from Courtesy. That’s actually for the previous Altima.
2. Search Youtube for now if you have any questions about any steps SUCH AS HOW TO SOLDER/DESOLDER. I am a newb at this too.
Rick:
1. I’m gonna try my local body shop guy to see if there’s a parts number for the aux-in jack. I will let you know the PART NUMBER and maybe a picture.
2. As a back up plan…I might just buy the whole unit, it’s only frigging 120 bux on ebay or just replace factory aux in with an aftermarket one with Bluetooth support.
3. Your post should be gaining popularity from now on since your commenting is working now.
Rick, Thank you very much for the instructions. I have Nissan rogue but the process was same. My aux is broken too, i am trying to see if i can get the exact same one. I took it to a car stereo repair shop and he is charging me arms and leg to just replace the aux jack.
Stephen:
If you can tell me where you are getting the AUX jack from i would really appreciate that.
Hardik Mehta,
I got it at the same place as Timia. THE PROBLEM IS it DOESN’T work for my car. The aux-in I bought is for older Nissan Altima(2002). THE ONLY WAY TO FIX THE AUX ISSUE is to either replace the whole circuit board or readjust the metals like Rick did. SORRY ABOUT THE BAD NEWS guys.
The good news is if u wait for a good deal on ebay. You can get the whole thing for 100 bucks on ebay. I am talking about the circuit board, cd player, and display.
I am just going to get a bluetooth module from 3rd party.
If any of you are still interested in that video on how to take ur unit out of the car, here’s a link from Youtube.(provided by the bluetooth module company that I am interested…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lyeK5oDxdw
Hi Rick,
I followed your steps exactly. Can you tell me which pins correspond to ground, left and right. I am not able to figure out. When I test using my multimeter with 200 ohm setting, I get some reading on few pins and zero reading on most of the pins.
Thanks,
Deepak,
I don’t recall which pins are which from memory and I didn’t write that down anywhere unfortunately. I might know a way you can figure it out though. If you have a 1/8″ stereo audio cable you can plug it into the jack and then use a continuity tester to see which pin is which. If you do a google search for “stereo jack pinout” you can find images like this one that show you which part of hte cable is which. You can see that the base contact is grond, the middle contact is right and the tip of the cable is left. If you plug the cable into the stereo jack you can attach one test lead from the multimeter/continuity tester on the loose end of the cable on the part that you know should be ground. Then take the other test lead and run it along the pins on the jack to see which one beeps. does that make sense?
Also, where did you find the part online?
Hey Rick!
Just an update. Your instructions were great! Was able tor remove the system all by myself & I didn’t break anything lol I was never able to find the part for my vehicle so I shipped the whole unit to this company (link below for anyone else who may be interested. I will vouch for their work) to fix/replace the aux piece. Only cost $130 with shipping and for me that was a more feasible option then taken the chance of taking it apart and still needing a new part. Just wanted to thank you for your help!
http://carstereohelp.com/nissan.htm
I found a website selling replacement AUX jack
http://www.pacparts.com/part.cfm?sku=330N9KF874D7772
Hi Larry. That definitely looks like it! I might have to buy one or two of these in case mine finally bites the bullet. Thanks for the link, hopefully this will be of some help to others who have the same problem.
Larry,
OMG! You are a Genius! That is the part! Nissan doesn’t even sell it! Thank you so much! I already installed a Bluetooth adapter though.
Rick,
Congratulation on being the #1 result on google now!
Wow that’s really cool! Hopefully more people will find this page and get the help they need. I’m gong to update the post to include a link to that part so it’s more obvious.
I was wondering if you have to take the whole thing apart to install this part that Larry has found, or does it just plug into place after removing the part face plate which I have done.
Carla, Once you have that front plastic face plate removed, you have to separate the circuit board from the plastic piece. Then you can use some soldering tools to remove the broken AUX jack from the circuit board. Once it’s removed, you should be able to just pop the new one back into place and solder it back on, assuming it really is an identical part. Does that answer your question?
my car was broken into and after-market stereo was ripped out, i still have original factory stereo but having problems re-installing it. i am trying to see if i can save hundreds of dollars if i go to a shop for this repair but i am not able to figure out exact wiring……. there are two connectors for stereo, one for antenna…..and other is 20-pin plug that goes on opposite side of antenna…. antenna plug did not any wires out of it, but 20-pin plug had most wires cut…. after i reconnected wires…, it still wont work…. any help?!
i am not able to find if i need any other connectors for this stereo that may have been removed when off the market stereo was installed (at shop)….
Thanks so much for posting this, I had the same issue with only the left side audio was coming through when using the Aux cable. After following your tutorial I found i had the same issue, when I did the continuity test, I could only find the ground and left channel. I followed a link that someone in the comments posted for a replacement aux input, and purchased it. Turns out someone had broken off the very end that looks like a tube, the new one works great, and was very easy to unsolder and replace. Thanks again.
You’re welcome Brian! I’m glad it was able to help you. I think it’s ridiculous the price that the dealership expects us to pay to fix such a simple problem. Especially since so many people are having the same issues.
Ok I bought the replacement part… Let’s see if I can take on this project
Good luck Luis! Let us know how it goes. If you come up with any tips along the way, please share them here so others can benefit from your experiences.
So I bought the part and installed it and still the audio is messed up. Second time the aux input has messed up since I bought this car in 2008, the first time it was under warranty. The second time was just a few years ago.
Hi Jessica. I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you. Maybe your problem has a different cause? If it were the audio jack I would expect the sound quality to change when you wiggle the jack around while playing music. If the audio always sounds the same then you might have a different problem.
The part Larry Z posted does work. I pulled the head unit myself following your instructions and took to a radio repair professional. He fixed it and we tested by plugging in and it worked great! However the am/fm is now static. I have double checked the connections. Did not unhooking the ground when we reinstalled it cause the obvious antenna issue? If so is there a fix? Any help is greatly appreciated.
John, I don’t know a lot about car stereos. My first thought is maybe your antenna connector came unplugged from the stereo. That would explain getting static, since the reception would be terrible. Perhaps it didn’t get plugged back in? I know you said you double checked the connections but are you sure the antenna was one of the ones you checked? Honestly, I’m not sure if leaving the ground connected would cause this issue but I’m guessing that would not be related.
Thanks Rick. Yes, I actually triple checked to make sure all the plugins were plugged in properly. I had been especially careful not to pull the wires from the plug head when working with them. I really appreciate your page and how it saved me $$$ and walked me through the pull out. Just wasn’t brave enough to break it down all the way. I drive Dodge chargers at work and sometimes their antennas do the same thing. Might have to just save up all that money you saved me by posting Larry Z’s link and have a different shop to look at it.
Wow! Boy do I feel, well…..I looked back through your pics and saw the back of the unit and realized I had plugged in….wait for it…3, not 4. I opened her back up and sure enough, that 4th plugin had hung off to the side out of view! Bam! fully operational. Would never had the confidence to do this with out your page. I know I am gushing with praise but it is so nice to have the resource to research this and not pay the dealership way too much money.
Thanks for the kind words John. I’m glad you got it figured out and that it was such a simple problem. Beats having to pay for a repair.