Well, sadly it finally happened. I DROPPED MY MKIIA!!! In a frenzy I rushed to insert the player back into my car to search for signs of life. That's when I realized what heppened. It landed right on the female connector (harness) on the back of the unit. What this did was break the connector so it doesn't line up properly anymore. And bent the case inwards.

After several minutes of cursing I was able to bend the chassis back to it's original form and rig the connector so it would line up again. With great anticipation I turned the key to my car...... Yes I know I could've just applied AC power but I wasn't thinking clearly at the time . Anyway: IT IS ALIVE!!!! However the connector tends to wander now so I've decided to replace it.

Now I've already ordered the part from digikey and it should be here Monday but I was just wondering how difficult will it be to actually replace it? Is it just as simple a moving the pins from the current connector to the new? can anyone forsee any potential headaches I should be aware of?

Thanks

Were the screws that hold the connector to the case bent as well, or were the threads damaged? Make sure to get some loctite on those screws so that this doesn't happen.

can anyone forsee any potential headaches I should be aware of?

Only that you need to be really careful about making sure the right pins go into the right holes. Removing and inserting the pins is covered in a video here, so make sure to watch that. And of course, you'll need to open the player and remove its drive tray, so if you haven't yet done that, review the steps here.

Were the screws that hold the connector to the case bent as well, or were the threads damaged?

No. Thankfully the screws are fine. The connector stayed flat, It was the actual chassis that bent inwards and the entire side wall of the connector that broke. I double-checked the screws and they loosen and tighten just fine.

Thanks for the links I'm feeling a little better about it now. Pretty much the same proceedure as moving the wires out of the broken molex connector on my PC's Power Supply.

I'll post the outcome Monday night.

Just an update: I made the switch. All went very well and the player is happy again.

Thanks for the help.

Congratulations! Glad it's all OK.

Could have been much worse: You could have broken the fill nipple.