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Decided to put an android auto headunit in the Lexus but the install is looking a bit more complex than I'd hoped lol. The Lexus amp bypass cable I bought has a couple of loose wires that I'm not sure what to do with:

Orange wire that says "illumination", and a blue wire that says antenna remote - where would I connect both of these?

Interestingly the new stereo's loom also has a loose blue wire which is labelled "power control/antenna control" and not sure what to do with that one either.

Finally, the new stereo loom also has a "mute" wire which baffled me a bit - I'm assuming this would only be needed if I had a separate bluetooth phone kit?

 

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The orange illumination wire needs to connect to a wire that goes live when your lights are on. It's used to dim the screen. You may not need it if the system has a built in light sensor. You can't take it of the existing Lexus harness as it gets it's signal from the instrument ECU and you wouldn't know what you might be back feeding. Best bet is to take it off one of the existing panel lights. The easiest will be one the seat heater switch backlights lights as you will have them disconnected already with the headunit out. I would try it without first as most detect the lighting levels in the car. Does the Android want an illumination input? Have you got the pinout for it?

Blue wire for antenna remote goes live when you turn the system on to extend the antenna, or to power a radio signal amplifier. Unless you have one, that's not needed. Same with the other one labelled power control. If you want, you can use it to power anything else you want switching on when you turn the system on. (pretty low current though). Only one of the blue wires will work - it will be the one from the new stereo.

Yep, you are right on the mute wire - you would only need that if you have something external to your system.

I can't remember now, Has yours got the factory satnav in? Will you be using it or the Android one? Only because you will have to make another change or the satnav screen won't work, you have to fool it into thinking there is an original headunit.

Are you fitting a reversing camera too?  Well worth it for the price they are.

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Thanks Geoff! This is the unit I'm installing:

https://www.kenwood.eu/car/navigation_multimedia/multimedia/DMX8020DABS/

As I was researching this evening I came across the thread below which is quite a useful guide, but seeing as it looks like I shouldn't take the illumination off the existing wiring, are any of the other steps in it things I shouldn't do? Particularly the speed sense wire into the cluster, and should I ground the handbrake and mute wires? Also is the location of the reverse cam trigger correct?

https://www.my.is/threads/how-to-complete-guide-to-a-headunit-and-metra-wiring-harness-install.331788/

My car does have factory satnav but it doesn't work any more (shows DVD error all the time) so I'm not worried about that. I wasn't planning on installing a reverse camera but the store I bought the unit from threw one in free of charge so might as well do it!

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Haven't read through it properly but had a quick browse. I expect they are saying the same as me in respect of illumination - don't use the Lexus harness that goes to the existing radio, use one from an illuminated switch.

They are talking rubbish about taking more of the dash apart - the speed sensor is on pin5 on the nav ecu and is white with a blue stripe. The parking brake is the yellow with red stripe on pin 17 of the nav ecu. The reverse is pin 14, Red with a black stripe on satnav ecu. you will see the harness going to the satnav screen with the radio out. That's the one to tap into.

You can ground the parking brake if you want to yes. Don't ground the mute wire it will disable the audio and probably pause what is playing. Leave it disconnected and just tape up.

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I think they are suggesting taking the illumination from the existing stereo harness so I'll follow your path.

6 hours ago, Geoffers said:

They are talking rubbish about taking more of the dash apart - the speed sensor is on pin5 on the nav ecu and is white with a blue stripe. The parking brake is the yellow with red stripe on pin 17 of the nav ecu. The reverse is pin 14, Red with a black stripe on satnav ecu. you will see the harness going to the satnav screen with the radio out. That's the one to tap into.

And this is amazing! In the other thread that car didn't have satnav, but I did wonder whether mine would have the speed sense in the nav loom - didn't realise all the connections I needed would be there. I wonder why it has a reverse trigger in the nav - I'm guessing it's the same unit used in other cars that have a reverse cam?

That's absolutely perfect, should hopefully make the job a lot easier - thanks so much!

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I remember sitting in Wozza's car after he got his ICE installed ( by him ) and no joke the volume moved my hair!!  He sound proofed all the cabin that reflected the sound back into the car and by adjusting the sound it was reflected the sound containing it within the car. 

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9 minutes ago, Tony said:

I remember sitting in Wozza's car after he got his ICE installed ( by him ) and no joke the volume moved my hair!!  He sound proofed all the cabin that reflected the sound back into the car and by adjusting the sound it was reflected the sound containing it within the car. 

I'm sure he remembers, Parth was there too! :)

 

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I was indeed! Incredible audio install in that car, I've never experienced anything like it.

Started on this today, spent today deconstructing and removing all the old bluetooth audio kit I had installed, now the car is in the garage in bits lol. Fingers crossed tomorrow it all goes together easily!

Quick question for Geoff or anyone else that knows, is it fairly easy (and safe) to remove the a-pillar covers as long as I disconnect the battery? Bit nervous of all the warnings on forums to not set the airbag off!

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You will be fine! It pops off but takes a bit of force. There is no sensor in the pillar and you would need to introduce a voltage to trigger it (or a spark actual on the explosive). 

Taking it off and fixing any wires solidly is better, but you can actually get the cable down to behind the dash without taking the pillar cover off. Pull the door rubber off along the length of the pillar, which you have to anyway and shine a torch in. You will see the concertinaed light blue cloth of the air-curtain so will know where to drop the cable making sure it doesn't cross the curtain if it were to deploy.

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Unfortunately tried a test before putting everything back together again but the unit won't turn on - and I have the "Cruise", "ABS" and "TRC" lights flashing in the instrument cluster. When I disconnect the stereo, they all disappear so there has to be a wiring fault.

Considering the main part of wiring was plug and play, is there possibly an issue with the amp bypass cable I have? Or (and agree this is more likely) have I done something wrong?

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38 minutes ago, Geoffers said:

Have you connected anything else other than the bypass cable? By that I mean connected the speed sensor, etc? If so, try with just the bypass cable to eliminate or confirm which ones are causing the fault if you see what I mean.

I've now disconnected everything else, so it's just the bypass going from the cable at the amp into the Kenwood harness and into the stereo.

Good news is the warning lights are no longer flashing, but bad news is the stereo still won't turn on. Have I possibly blown a fuse?

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It's possible. It is labelled in the footwell. (Think passenger side fuseboard not drivers).

Do you have 12v between ground on the perm and IGN cable going into the stereo? I'm out at the moment but will look for an installation diagram when I get back later. Also, which bypass cable do you have?

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I checked the fuse on the radio itself, and also the one in the driver's footwell (is there one in the passenger footwell too?) and both are fine, so it's not those fuses. It got too dark to do any more investigating so I've just reassembled the car for now so I can use it during the week, and I'll have to look into this next weekend.

First visible sign that something is wrong, I tapped the illumination off the passenger heated seat switch, and now that switch doesn't light up - given the switch wasn't in the car I'm guessing it's not the bulb itself, so what would cause that? I actually forget whether the TRC OFF button lights up but that one isn't lit either.

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I'll have a proper look at the bypass cable tomorrow, I've just got home.

What was the colour of the wire you picked up for illumination? Is the lighting working for the other switch? 

The first link isn't showing - if it's your google account, will you check the public rights on it?

 

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Green wire is right. Yes, the TRC OFF switch should have night illumination too so suspect the lamp has gone.

There is little to the heater circuit so I can't see how it could damage the illumination supply - if it did it would take out the illumination fuse and all others would be off. All the illumination cabling is wired together.

Silly question and I'm sure you have tried this so forgive me for asking but have you swapped over the heater switches just in case the lamp has gone in it and you hadn't noticed?

It looks good in there! Did the surround come with it or did you have to make it up yourself?

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Good tip I'll try swapping the switches over - hope it's just the bulbs! And thanks, I bought the surround separately (it's also a Connects2 item), it's not a bad match and a decent fit. I had to do a tiny bit of trimming on the inside to make it fit over the headunit but it worked well.

Prob won't get around to looking at this again until the weekend, but how should I start testing what's wrong and why the stereo won't even power up?

 

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Do you have a Multimeter? If so you need to check for a permanent live and switched (ign) live on the feed to the aftermarket unit. Not sure what there are yet as I've not found the wiring diagram for your model but I will take a look before the weekend. It should give me an idea also as to why it's putting the bus in error so you get the dash warning lights.

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Can't remember if I do to be honest (had one that died and can't remember if I replaced it) - but either way will get one! Looking at the instructions the red is ignition and yellow they call the battery wire - is that the permanent live?

Could the issue be caused by my lazy use of scotchlocks? I don't have the skills to solder in these kinds of tight conditions, are there any alternatives that would be a better connection?

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Yep, yellow is permanent for the memory and Red is switched (ign).

Scotchlocks aren't the best but usually ok and you would get something even if you had a bad connection. (flickering, switching off, clicking from the speakers, etc.) You can strip the wires back and make your own connection without soldering. I did a little write up a while ago, I'll dig it out.

Looked it up and there is also a fuse in the engine compartment labelled Audio or Radio no2 depending on revision.

 

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Found the images to it but not the write up. Basically you strip back the sheath on the existing loom without breaking the copper. Create an "eye" with something pointy in the copper. Put new wire through and twist it all together. Then tape it up with Fireproof insulation tape. (not stuff from Poundland). Soldering can cause more problems because if the wires vibrate, they can break as they join the solder joint because it is so hard. 

Lets see how it is with the Scotchlocks first - you'll probably find they are ok.

 

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