Installing aftermarket deck on 02 camry

[pakilarka2003]

i have 02 camry xle trim

jbl factory system

couple of people have told me that its factory amplified as jbl factory unit is toyota premium sound

i wanted to replace it with after market deck, however after all the installation i am confused if the factory amplifier is still being used or its bypassed

if u want to use factory amplifier, how wuld u go about it???

[05_se_lunarmist]

There is a special wiring harness you need to buy to keep the JBL amp in play (metra harness 70-8113 i believe). I have an 05 se with the jbl system and I chose just the standard harness and bypassed the amp overall. The JBL amp is probably not much better then a quality head unit built in amp anyway. Try both if you want and return the harness that you dont use...

[pakilarka2003]

i think thats what the guy used if i remb correctly

is there a way to tell if factory amp is indeed working

i just thught its not working because my sony deck manual says it shuld beep when ignition off to remove the head unit before leaving the car and if it doesnt beep it means factory amplifier is not being used

thanks for quick reply though

[05_se_lunarmist]

if you used that wiring harness and have the rca connectors plugged into the low level (rca) output on your head unit there will be no sound if the amp is not working. Only way to power speakers is with the deck or the external amp. A good way to test it is if your hu has options for preout settings listen for changes. If a preout setting is changed and no changes in sound, you are probably using the head unit's built in amp.

[pakilarka2003]

the thing is i never installed it myself so i dont know the details but i do know he used rca connectors

i will try to see if hu has preout amps
and test different settings


thanks for ur help

[highalti2d]

I just completed installing an aftermarket JVC radio in my 2003 XLE which utilizes the factory JBL amplifier. It sounds nice when incorporating the amp so I figured I'd post this tip about the wiring harness adapter I used for the installation. It's a Metra 70-8113 designed to be used with the factory amp. It worked great except it was missing a wire to connect the radio illumination wire to the factory harness. However, I found a workaround which allowed me to avoid cutting into the factory wiring.

In the photos, you'll notice a solid blue wire on the Metra harness which was originally marked "Power Antenna". After locating the correct "Illumination" wire (dark green) on the factory harness, I identified the corresponding pin location on the Metra harness (which was empty). After a few minutes of tedious work, I was able to carefully remove the solid blue power antenna wire and relocate it to the new "Illumination" location.

After that, plugged everything in and completed the install. Everything from amplifier turn-on to dimming with headlight functionality works great (not to mention the awesome sound when comparing to the factory head unit!). I should note that I used the four RCA connectors on the Metra harness to plug into the aftermarket head unit (RF/RR/LF/LR) RCA outputs. Very happy with the install so I hope this tip helps someone else who is thinking about a gen5 camry head unit swap.