Eclipse AVN5495 install/review (gen4.5) *56k warning

[eecc]

So the supplies you need before going ahead with the installation is:
1) heatshrink tubing
2) 60/40 standard rosin core solder
3) soldering iron
4) wire strippers
5) wiring harness (Metra or Scosche)
6) socket to remove bolts
7) most importantly, the new headunit and a couple of hours.

Heatshrink and solder



Match up the colours from the wiring harness and the wiring for the new deck. Twist them together and solder together for the best connection. Refer to the instructions to make sure what each color wire goes to.




After all the soldering is done, remove the ashtray and cig lighter.



Put your hand where the ashtray was and give the trim piece a hard tug. There are 6 clips holding it in.



There are 4 bolts holding the headunit in the dash. Remove those 4 and slide the deck towards the back of the car. Unplug everything at the back of the deck while you're at it. There are 2 plugs at the top right corner that you use to by-pass the stock amplifier. Use those to plug into the wiring harness.

If my instructions are unclear, refer to cam2Xrunner's post on bypassing the stock amp. http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t70082.html



Remove the brackets from the old deck. Keep these brackets and bolts as you will need them for the new deck.



Plug everything back into the new deck, turn on the power to check if everything works correctly before putting it back in. This deck has GPS navigation so to tap into the speed sensor wire of the car, remove the glovebox. The Vehicle Speed Sensor wire is a purple/white wire from the ECU.



As for the ground wire for the DVD player, I just tapped into the ground wire from the harness. This way, movies can be played while the vehicle ismoving. Never watch a movie while driving though.

Next, attach the GPS antenna and run it to a position so it's facing the sky.



And of course now, some pics of the unit installed.

[Ruffrydasean]

sweet.. I was contemplating that, the AVN7000 and the INFILL T3... lookin good. Whered you get that great "conceiling" cover from?

[eecc]

the cover is from sony. (part #X33746052) It's around $30US.

You can order it from

http://servicesales.sel.sony.com/web/index.jsp

I got the idea from another thread on this forum by thisdj78.
http://toyotanation.com/forum/t33406.html

You have to cut some plastic off at the back of the cover in order to fit it properly. I also put a bit of foam at the back to make sure it didn't touch or scratch the head unit.

[Ruffrydasean]

hmm.. digital HVAC.. I wonder where i can find one of those.. the whole set up looks sweet. I think the only reason I wanted the 7000 was because it was newer, but the 5495 would fill up my double din opening... (I have single DIN radio and a pocket now), and the INFILL T3 is a carputer... but it'd be 6-700 more..

[eecc]

as for the digital HVAC, it's not plug and play for camrys that dont have digital to start with according to what others posted in this thread.

http://toyotanation.com/forum/t114203.html

The only downside I can see about the avn5495 is that it isn't satellite radio ready. Perhaps the avn7000 is. The carputer sounds like an awesome idea though...probably the best you can get.

[cam2Xrunner]

Awesome writeup, and great pics. Definitley sticky material

[timsmcm]

tell me what you think about this deck I am wanting one in the worst way.

[eecc]

The first thing I have to say after installing this unit is, it's distracting while driving. LOL.

I'm pretty impressed with the unit overall. As with any new piece of tech toy, it does take a while to get to know where all the functions are located. Since the unit is touch screen, most of it's functions are more buried in the menu system compared to, say, the stock head unit. For example, you have to press a couple more buttons to get to FM...but I'm sure nobody would mind that.

But let's get this straight first, no amount of 25cent pay phone calls and buying maps will ever cost as much as a navigation unit. But hey, you only live once right? Plus it's more about the bling factor imho.

AUDIO
The thing I noticed first when I popped in some music was the quality of the sound. The music sounded richer and fuller...especially with the adjustable equalizer and different sound fields. Note that I have stock JBL speakers.

It played everything it was advertised to play. DVDs, CDs, MP3s...(even on burned disks). A bad thing about this unit is that there it's not satellite radio ready. With satellite radio becoming more popular, it should. The only thing I couldnt get working on the unit was the memory stick music player. I'm still working on that one though so I'll keep anyone who wants to know updated.

Another positive thing about this unit is it's hard drive. It can store up to 20GB worth of ripped music from CDs. This is potentially a downside to the unit since it only rips the music from CDs in real time. If the song is 4 minutes, it will take 4 minutes to rip to the hard drive.

VIDEO
When it comes to DVDs, the unit does what it's supposed to. This isn't some high end home theatre system so don't expect it to perform like one. The video quality is above average. It does read dolby digital 5.1 disks but outputs it as stereo i believe. It doesn't, however, read DTS encoded disks. Please don't watch DVDs while driving. It not only puts you the driver in danger but more importantly other people sharing the road around you.

We havn't had a real sunny day in Vancouver as of yet, but the brightness and resolution is more than enough in my opinion. My windows are tinted as well so that may have an affect on different vehicles.

The control buttons on the side light up green so it matched my interior perfectly, although it doesn't dim. I'm not sure if I wired it wrong or it's like that? Would someone confirm with me please??

NAVIGATION
Now to the important part, the navigation system. (This is an all-in-one unit so there's no extra "brain" unit I have to mount elsewhere.) The nav is pretty accurate with the speed sensor wire hooked up. The nav processes relatively quickly since the nav info is already on the hard drive, taking only a couple seconds to get a route you want to take. You can search by address, phone #, point of interest, whatever.

MISC
The unit also comes with ESN... it's some security device for the unit. Once you set it up, if the unit ever gets cut from a power source (if your battery gets disconnected or the unit itself gets disconnected) the unit will be deactivated. It will function only after you punch in the password you set yourself.

CONCLUSION
For a unit that costs so much, you'd expect Eclipse to package remote controls with them. Unfortunately, you have to buy it as an extra accessory.

Hmm....What else can I say? you'll never officially "be lost" ever again in your vehicle (in North America that is). This unit however is already starting to be outdated since it's a product that came out last year.

This is just my honest opinion on the product. If you have any other questions about it feel free to ask.

[nadir]

though it was last year's product, still sweet!


where to buy the infill t3 system and how much??

[Ruffrydasean]

Off topic: That is a sexy fuggin Celica in your Sig.. I had a Red 86' GT that I had big dreams for that never got off the ground.

On: The Infill T3, you have to email them for a sample.. there is no official vendor yet, so Anybody who says they are.. are lying. It's about $3500 on the website.. but they offered to me for about $2600-2700 since I was an individual consumer