some links or tips to help me understand the stereo upgrade please?

[fenixus]

Hi

So I received my new JVC Arsenal head unit from Crutchfield's, it has the amplifier integration adapter for my car, some instructions and such ... but I still have no clue LOL!

so I have this mess on the table and wondering how the hell I am going to connect all the stuff after I remove the factory head unit:


can anybody shed some more light, some helpful links, tips or such?

I found only this:

You Tube

You Tube

but it doesn't really tell anything on top of "easy" instructions that only summarize connecting wires like it was a snap of fingers

I have all the electrical tools, crimp ratchet, stripper, butt connectors, spade connectors, crimp caps, splices, electrical tape and all (no soldering here though)... but still am totally confused ... the new head units plug comes with like 15 loose wires ... I believe some of them (5 or 6 I think) should get paired with Toyota wiring harness adapter for my car, right?

what about the rest?

geeez, I need to pull up electrical wiring diagrams for my car ...

[fenixus]

... ahhh .... I think I found the magical page of instructions in the HU's box

that explains some more hehe:


geeez and I thought this very last project will be a simple plug and play ...
hopefully I don't have to run any new wiring, just connect/splice the wires and good to go ... I really hope so ...

[gr91]

Yeah you just basically have to match wire colors, as for amplifier yeah, for the amp turn on, you need to run a seperate wire and the rca's from the Head Unit. all the way to were your amp is. (you will also run the power wire from the battery to the amp, and put a negative from close by). well anyway, it is very simple. Ive changed out the HU on my 91 corolla like 6 times and each time only a total of 15 minutes, on this 92 camry took me about 5 minutes to take out the old one, but i have yet to get a new one :/

[pmesfun]

Yup, that head-unit instructions is what you need, can you take a better/clearer of the wiring instructions from the head-unit and the adapter sheet and I'll tell you exactly which wires to connect.

[fenixus]

... wait ... so I do not use the HU's speaker wires at its power connector all? and only plug the RCA cords from factory amplifier (through the adapter) to the back of new unit?

If this is right then it seems I don't need 8 wires for speakers ... and 2 of them seem like an option for ... steering wheel remote? brown (ground?) and blue-yellow (steering wheel remote).

hmmm ... doesn't look so bad. one question though, where do I tap in for Illumination?

I will get better pics of schematics in a sec.

EDIT:
gr91, I have a factory amp with wiring in place and also an adapter for my amp's harness connector (where it normally plugs into the factory head unit). I suppose I don't have to run any new wiring then? just find good grounds and the match wires together?

[pmesfun]

sending you a PM.

[pmesfun]

Originally Posted by fenixus

... wait ... so I do not use the HU's speaker wires at its power connector all? and only plug the RCA cords from factory amplifier (through the adapter) to the back of new unit?

If this is right then it seems I don't need 8 wires for speakers ... and 2 of them seem like an option for ... steering wheel remote? brown (ground?) and blue-yellow (steering wheel remote).

hmmm ... doesn't look so bad. one question though, where do I tap in for Illumination?

I will get better pics of schematics in a sec.

Nope, the speakers wires are connected to the amp, the RCA jacks are from the amp to the headunit, like you said.

Sending you pm on the other questions.

[fenixus]

2000+ Toyota w/ JBL wiring harness adapter schematics:


JVC Arsenal KD-AHD79 wiring instructions page schematics:


you will have to download those pics to your computer and zoom in to see details. They look not bad from here, should be readable.

Thanks for the help!

[gr91]

AHHH you already have an amplified system -.- just do exactly as the diagram says for the jbl system,!
Illumination (orange with white strip) Never gets used! Dont connect it anywhere!

[pmesfun]

Factory Adapter Harness----------------------- Head-unit Harness
*connect to*
Black-Chassis Ground------------------------------Black-Ground
Blue/White-Amp Turn On AND Blue-Antenna-----Blue/White-Amp Turn On
Yellow-12 Volts Constant Power-------------------Yellow-12 Volt Battery
Red-12 Volts Switched Power----------------------Red-12V Ignition Switch
RCAs are shown where to connect to in the manual and adapter sheet and that's pretty much it, and like gr91 said you don't connect illumination.

[fenixus]

thank you preparing the final connections for me and answering the questions
oh boy, I guess I would have miswired the thing a bit, phew

So what's that Illumination wire on HU is for anyways?

and just to make sure on grounds here, I want to do this right.

I simply connect them (adapter Chassis Ground & HU Ground) together and that's it, right? what I mean is, the adapter's ground wire is already grounded on the other (amp) side? or no?

asking and double checking, because the HU's power adapter had this yellow sticker attached to it:

... and it rather suggests I should ground the wire to a chassis ground (bolt), so what should I do? merge both grounds together (splice) and then ground it to chassis ground physically? or all I need to do is connect them together?

What about the AMP Shield Ground which I have too separate wire on the adapter side? is it unused? or I ground it too?

There is also something called Rear Ground Terminal on the back of HU, leave it alone or it calls for extra ground wire?

[gr91]

illumination im not sure, all i know is a friend connected it to ground i think? and the lights on the dashboard didnt turn on, the lights on the HU were on but not the screen, idk why its there, also yeah Black wire to black wire!
thats all i know since ive never done a pre amplified system, i always do non amplified system with aftermarket external amps and subs ;]

[fenixus]

OK hehe, this Illumination wire must be for some other vehicles I guess.

I will double check Ground (Black) wire continuity on the integration adapter side to good chassis ground to make sure this is really a ground, before I connect the HU to it (and not to a chassis ground point)

what about the AMP Shield Ground (black-white) wire? it comes from the integration adapter (separate from Ground wire), no one mentions where it goes?

[fenixus]

also I have a question, since everybody says not to touch the Illumination wire on HU.

does your HU's buttons/screen dim when you turn the car's head lights on? I think the factory one does that (as well as clock and instrument cluster).

anyways, I checked EWD for my car and there is nothing like Illumination/Dimming wire on the amplifier, so that would explain why there is no corresponding wire in the integration adapter. I guess I will pass on searching for a solution to that. I don't want to overcomplicate it.

also the AMP shield ground is coming from the AMP, because the speaker connections between the factory AMP and the factory HU are shielded. so, any idea where I should attach the Amp Shield Ground wire to?

EDIT:
I found this in relation to Amp Shield Ground:
"Amplifier shield ground" on 2003 Sienna w/ JBL system

It seems the Black Chassis ground should also be connected to the Amp Shield Ground, otherwise hissing in speakers can happen... I may contact Crutchfield's Tech Support on that one to get it sorted out for sure.

EDIT2:
found out that the factory plug (with amp connections) for the factory HU actually is supposed to have a Pin labeled Illumination (pin 2 on my car's plug), there is also another one named Dimmer (pin 12) ... weird:
http://crutchfield.custhelp.com/app/...TnpOR29ZRGs%3D

... so if pins are there, why no wire connection for it on the adapter?

[fenixus]

I think I found answers from a JVC user (Solara owner) who posted a review of Toyota Integration Adaptor:
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1207081...977&tab=review

let me quote:

Works, but...
Written By MarkS, Marietta, GA on Monday, January 24, 2011

This harness works, but as others have said, there's missing wires. My '03 Solara
Convertible with the JBL Premium sound system had more features and wires than this
harness had wires for. I had to first figure out which wire in the car's harness was the
dimmer (white - green stripe), and cut it behind the plug to splice it manually. Then I had
two ground wires and only one ground wire for the radio. Crutchfield tech advised I splice
all three together (worked, no hum-thankfully). There's also no way (that I was able to
discern with the new radio) to control the the antenna for just the radio...the power
antenna is always up if the radio is on--the factory unit would put the antenna down if a
tape or cd was playing (I think this is more a limitation of the radio). The JBL system has
a crossover in the system that takes the signal and pushes the bass to the
subwoofer...there's no need for a subwoofer pre-out connection (which this harness
doesn't have) for the Toyota.

There is also one more in same tone:

Works Pretty Good
Written By KennethB, Houston, TX on Wednesday, December 15, 2010

This harness wired up the major components. But it does not have a lead for the
dimmer control. Why in 2010 Crutchfield would be selling a harness that does not
capture this wire I have no idea.

So keep in mind you will need to have some taps on hand so you can connect you're
radio's dimmer wire to the car harness' dimmer wire.

and the third one, same complain on this adaptor:

3.5 STARS
Written By broderp, Dayton, Ohio on Saturday, July 11, 2009

I would rate this a five star product if it wasn't for two things:

1. The harness is missing a wire for the DIMMING feature found in most radios.

If you want your display to dim when parking lights and headlights are on you can't do this with this harness. You will need to buy a second harness just for the wires, and tear it apart to get the wire so you can snap it into the first harness.

2. I bought a harness (same type , but for different car from crutch field almost a year ago) and it had the same issue. Seems like my concerns fell on deaf ears as this newer harness still is missing the wire.

Crutchfields price is GREAT, but when you factor in the cost of two, plus the time and effort to tear one apart (it is difficult to do they are made quite well) it's not as good deal anymore since shipping cost more than taxes (unless you get if free with a radio purchace.)

... so I'm gonna put one splice on original harness and connect the Illumination wire manually