Replace OEM radio with JBL amp in 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid

[KTT]

I would like to replace the 2-din head unit in my 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid (non limited edition) which has in-dash 6 discs CD changer and JBL factory amp. The factory head unit (HU) has the 20 pin connector, among others. I'm replacing this HU only because I need 1-din space for a VGA touch screen. Replacing the factory 2-din HU with after market 1-din HU was the only solution.

I would like to connect my after market HU to the factory JBL amp. This sounds pretty straight forward, until I heard (unverified) that the JBL factory amp needed a digital on signal from the factory HU to turn on (!). Relocating the factory HU elsewhere in the vehicle and leaving it in the ON state seems a very inefficient way to go about this.

Luc mentioned that the JBL amp powers the OEM HU (!?) in this thread. Does this mean that it's not possible to use an aftermarket HU with the JBL amp???

Please, does anyone on this board have experience with the Highlander Hybrid JBL audio system who can verify and help with information on connecting an aftermarket HU to the JBL amp? Am I stuck with either relocating the factory HU or scrapping the JBL amp and factory HU altogether?

Also, does any one know of a source for the 20-pin into-car harness for the 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid OEM HU? I would prefer not to cut the car's HU harness if possible. I can solder, just need housing and receptor pins.

Thank you very much!
Khoa Ton

[cam2Xrunner]

What headunit are you putting in? Does it have an onboard amp? I think you'd be best off using the headunit's built in amp to power the factory speakers.

Oh and are you doing a carputer? If so what kind of setup are you doing?

[KTT]

I bought a Pioneer DEH-3700MP for my HU. My main selection criteria was mainly to replace the 2-din OEM HU with a 1-din unit with AUX input and steering control capability (with additional adapters). This Pioneer unit was affordable and fit the bill. Yes, the Pioneer unit does have speaker level outputs. I'm leaning towards this option if I can't easily get the Pioneer HU to drive the JBL amp.

Yes, I will be puting in a carputer. My first sucessful carputer went into my Honda Pilot with ease, since the Pilot didn't require replacement of OEM HU.

The carputer is:

VIA EPIA MII120000 Mini-ITX, 1GB RAM, 60GB 7200RPM 2.5"HD, DVD+-RW, Wi-Fi.
Power provided by M1-ATX (auto starup/hibernate triggered by ignition)
Motorized VGA touchscreen (1-din)
Running Windows XP Tablet Edition, with very simple Girder scripts to start/stop/iconize and switch desktop for applications with one click:
- Delorme Street Atlas 2006 with USB GPS mouse
- Cabin and Rearview cam using USB Logitech QuickZoom cams
- iTunes for MP3 library

After she got used it the carputer in the Pilot, my wife wanted one in her new Highlander. This OEM HU swapout is giving me the biggest headaches! All this just to get a 1-din space for the VGA touchscreen!

I'm no expert at car audio and would appreciate all help.

Khoa

[cam2Xrunner]

Does your highlander have the 6 or 8 speaker system? I'll get you the wiring diagram then you can just hardwire the speaker outputs of the Pioneer to the speaker leads after the onboard amp. Will that work for you? (it will sound better too BTW)

For the power, ground and Ign. turn on I can find out which ones are which to tap into, or there might be a harness that will work.

But before we do all this, pull out your factory headunit and check behind to see if there are prewired bypass harnesses. Do you need a link with instructions for this?

If you do have the bypass harness it will be similar to this situation

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t70082.html

Just to rule that possibility out ya know.

[KTT]

Thanks cam2Xrunner for your help. From what I've gathered, Toyota stopped including the amp bypass harness in cars that had factory amp standard. I also didn't find any 8+ pins harness in the car when I removed the OEM HU, but I'll go look again.

My Highlander has this audio system (from the Toyota site):
JBL 3-in-1 AM/FM Cassette/6-disc in-dash CD changer, eight speakers in six locations and in-glass antenna with FM diversity reception.

I'm pretty much set on your suggested amp bypass straight to speaker solution now. A shame I can't use the "premium" JBL amp, though. Seems like a decent system for an OEM sound system from this site. The speaker and amp locations on that site hasn't been updated for 2006 Highlander Hybrid, BTW.

I'm going to try to get at the amp (somehere in the rear compartment) to see it's speaker connections. Will report back.

Khoa

[JLTD]

I am not sure why you would want to do this anyway. If everything else is going to be the OEM system, and you could pull it off, it would be a lateral move at best. It probably can't be integrated anyway because Toyota does not want you to. It is not uncommon for bus system amplifiers to have volume and tone controls built in.
If you were looking to improve your system, replace the speakers add an amp and connect it all through this: http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_c...php?page_id=94

[KTT]

I believe you might be right, JLTD. From another post regarding a Toyota Highlander JBL amp, the poster found the amp, which was marked "Leather" to match his leather interior. JBL advertised matching their OEM sound system to Highlander interior trim, leather or fabric. If the amp is specific to leather/fabric, I would wager it has an internal equalizer that gets input from digital tone/volume signals from the OEM HU.

I would love be shown wrong by someone who know definitively about Toyota/JBL, though.

Thanks for the link to the JL amp. My primary goal is to get the Pioneer HU to work with as much OEM equipment as possible, just to save time and $, hence the wish to connect to OEM amp and speakers. Looks like it's harder than it seems to do so...

Khoa

[qckfrze]

I'm kind of exploring the same carputer install in the highlander, but i've only seen the single din motorized screens. I'm wondering if you explored the issue of doing a "factory" look, similar to the one for the factory installed DVD nav system, and how you dealt with it.

I can provide more info.

THanks!

[cam2Xrunner]

Originally Posted by qckfrze

I'm kind of exploring the same carputer install in the highlander, but i've only seen the single din motorized screens. I'm wondering if you explored the issue of doing a "factory" look, similar to the one for the factory installed DVD nav system, and how you dealt with it.

I can provide more info.

THanks!

http://www.tmz.com/wrx/bezel.html

[KTT]

Hi guys,

I've finished my carputer install over the Thanksgiving weekend. I'll post some pictures soon.

I ended up driving the speakers directly from my Pioneer DEH-3700MP after market HU's built in amp. Sounds terrific, rivaling the JBL system. Luckily, the 6 speakers in the Highlander Hybrid were driven from 4 channels (FL, FR, RL, RR) speaker connectors at the factory amp output. Thanks to tlbmds in this http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t93584.html thread for the wiring info. The HU connections were done by pulling +5, ACC, GND from the factory harness. Thanks to Luc from this http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t97292.html thread for wiring info.

I was able to use those input connectors to the speakers with relative ease. The most time consuming part was bringing the signals back to the right rear where the amp was, but it was moderately easy to do. With additional electronic hardware, I was able to pipe the aux input from the computer into the HU, and control the HU from the factory steering wheel controls.

Qckfrze, I toyed with the idea of modding a full 2-din VGA touchscreen (which retails about half the price of the motorized 1-din version), but the Highlander only had 2-din space to spare on the console. Using all that space for a 2-din screen would leave no space for the HU/stereo. Besides, I've never done cosmetic molding (with bondo/fiberglass), so I didn't think I can do a good enough job with making things look factory. :-(

I'm almost completely happy with the install. One nagging issue:

The Highlander Hybrid has two antenna inputs to the OEM HU, while the after market HU had only one. I taped off the smaller antenna lead from the car and used the one that fits into the aftermarket HU. The FM reception is poorer than in the OEM HU, and I can't get AM reception at all. Perhaps the AM antenna was the small lead?

Does anyone know about radio antennas in the Highlander Hybrid? Is there a antenna unifyer for this car so that we can put both inputs into an aftermarket HU to improve FM and get AM reception?

Thank you very much cam2Xrunner and JLTD for your help in the forum. Your input has been invaluable!

Khoa

[cam2Xrunner]

Cool, glad it worked out. Hey if you're ever bored and you want to do like a DIY-HOW TO Write up, I'll sticky it in the Hybrid Highlander Forum

Thanks for the update, glad it all worked out.

[jazz391]

Originally Posted by KTT

Does anyone know about radio antennas in the Highlander Hybrid? Is there a antenna unifyer for this car so that we can put both inputs into an aftermarket HU to improve FM and get AM reception?
Khoa

the smaller antena connection is for the rear diversity antena, i think. does your highlander have a motorized antenna? using the larger cable should have had very little affect on you reception and definately should not have caused you to not have am signal. did you buy the deck used? maybe there is a problem with the pioneer?

my 4runner also has 2 antennas, but when i put in my aftermarket head unit i got better reception.

[qckfrze]

cam2Xrunner,

What's that "tmz.com/wrx.." link to? Link is broken. Is it a WRX frame?

Thanks!

[cam2Xrunner]

Originally Posted by qckfrze

cam2Xrunner,

What's that "tmz.com/wrx.." link to? Link is broken. Is it a WRX frame?

Thanks!

Shoot, the page is no longer available. This guy built a frame to house a Lilliput(IIRC) 7" monitor into a double din opening. They were selling it for 75.00 usd.

[Luc]

KTT, glad to hear your new radio worked out in the Highland hybrid.