Ack! Dremmeled my hand up installing scion head unit!

SF80 · 11-20-07, 04:42 PM

Well, I just bought my new (to me) 95 80. Since all of my speakers were blown ant the factory head unit would not accept burned audio cd's, I thought the first upgrade would be the speakers and head unit (yes, before the lift and new tires, I know...)

Anyway, found a 2008 Scion xB head unit on craigs for $150 (a nice T1808 w/ iPod control) and some speakers at Fry's. The speakers went in no prob (no mods to the door panels.) Moved on to the head unit and that is where the fun began.

So, pulled the dash bezel off (easy peasy), slid the head unit in to start shaping the bezel around it, and looked like everything was going to fit. I just needed to take a *liitle* off of the right side ans SLIP! I ended up cutting the top of my hand with the serrated saw disc at full speed! It hit 4 places on my hand, a small nick, then a HUGE gouge below the ring finger, then another big gouge through the middle finger, then a small cut on the index finger.

A trip to the ER, several stitches for tendons and skin, an arm cast (to immobilize the hand) ended that day.

The next day (yesterday) my friends and I tried to get everything finished up and put back together. No such luck. I had read that the Scion unit and the factory head were "plug-and-play", but the 20-pin connector that was on the orig HU does not fit the Scion HU. There is a grey connector that fits (and seems to give power to the Scioun HU) but the 20-pin that I'm pretty sure goes to the speakers does not The orig HU 20 pin is @ 1/16" to 1/8" too tall for the Scion HU.

The left pic is the Scion HU jacks, and on the right is the orig HU jacks.

I'm kinda at my end here with this project (I really wanted plug and play!) and I'm sure that only having the use of one arm now isn't helping my outlook...

Any advice on the connectors?

mot · 11-20-07, 05:42 PM

YIKES!!!

No advice to give, other than "BE CAREFUL!!!"

Pics? j/k

GOOD LUCK and please don't try to lose any(more) body parts!

JOFS · 11-20-07, 05:55 PM

The stock wiring should work. You will need to plug in the gray plug. You also will have to unplug the amp. I don't remember the exact wiring set up but you can see from the picts in the link below I put in a scion unit with the same jacks as you.

The issue is going to be the Ipod cable.

see this link for details.

http://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/129577-scion-hu-install-ipod-control.html

You can do it with one hand. I did the install after I had surgery on my right hand for severed tendons.

John

Firedog · 11-20-07, 06:23 PM

Use the grey plugs (should be two of them), unplug the amp behind the right dash speaker (access by removing the glove box) and enjoy! Best audio "Bang for the buck" I have ever purchased!
BTW - This guy sells the IPod cable on Ebay and it works GREAT!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=200172236617

SF80 · 11-20-07, 10:26 PM

Great! I'll try it out tomorrow. I guess I assumed that the 20 pin had to be attached. I'll try it without. As for the ipod cable, the craigslist seller had the ipod cables with the unit, so hopfully that will "just work".

Oh yeah, just got back from meeting George. He sold me a set of dome lights and map lights, can't wait to try them out. He also has a very nice 80...

XR-boy · 11-20-07, 11:30 PM

I was unlucky enought to stick my left hand index finger into an electric planer, yikes. And yup, I'm left -handed. By the time I realised what that high-speed pulsing feeling was, I'd lost my fingertip to the bottom of the nail bed.Almost had to laugh when the plastic surgeon asked 'if I still had the bit that was sliced off". Sure, I said, it's about 10,000 shavings splattered all over the wall, along with the blood spray when I jerked my hand out of the still spinning blades...Hey, good luck with the head unit.

SF80 · 11-20-07, 11:40 PM

Thanks. I think what happened was that i pulled up and away (your most likle reaction to anything with your hands), which only made it worse... I pulled UP into the dremmel.

I know I should have had more respect for the tool and been more careful, but at that point things were going relatively well and I wanted to get the project done. Oh well, a learning experience.

One good thing is that I'm learning to use my left more and more.

brownbear · 11-21-07, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR-boy

I was unlucky enought to stick my left hand index finger into an electric planer, yikes. And yup, I'm left -handed. By the time I realised what that high-speed pulsing feeling was, I'd lost my fingertip to the bottom of the nail bed.Almost had to laugh when the plastic surgeon asked 'if I still had the bit that was sliced off". Sure, I said, it's about 10,000 shavings splattered all over the wall, along with the blood spray when I jerked my hand out of the still spinning blades...Hey, good luck with the head unit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SF80

Thanks. I think what happened was that i pulled up and away (your most likle reaction to anything with your hands), which only made it worse... I pulled UP into the dremmel.

I know I should have had more respect for the tool and been more careful, but at that point things were going relatively well and I wanted to get the project done. Oh well, a learning experience.

One good thing is that I'm learning to use my left more and more.

that's it...you two just made me waay more careful for a lot longer.... complacency is easy with power tools when you use em a lot. Dremels seem innocent cause they are little.

Power planers scare me anyhow, same as my table saw. Fawking kickback...

SF80 · 11-29-07, 01:18 PM

Ok, so I unplugged the amp, plugged in the two gray plugs into the scion HU, powered it up, and no sound. Tied am, fm, cd... nothing. Nada.

Am I correct to think that the 20-pin plug that was in the orig HU should no longer be necessary? It sure does not fit into the back of the Scion HU. Should the two gray plugs provide power and wire directly to the speakers?

I have found plenty of wiring diagrams on the net that describe the wires in the 20-pin connector, but none that describe the wires in the two gray plugs. I'm also not having any luck finding pin-outs of the scion HU, as this could tell me if it's outputting anything at all (I was thinking of hot-wiring an old speaker directly to the pins in the back.)

John, also looks like you used brand-new harnesses for your install?

http://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=129577

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Brian

Clutchee · 11-29-07, 02:11 PM

I posted a thread about the same thing......couple of the plugs would work but one would not.....end up that the unit would power up but no sound or function.

Seems like you have to have a certain unit for this mod guess I just picked wrong.

Ended up going & having a Alpine unit installed w/IPOD attachment.

Sounds Great!

Doc · 11-29-07, 02:23 PM

So, which is the 'correct' head unit, and which is the 'wrong' one?

Firedog · 11-29-07, 03:31 PM

I have the Scion T1806. I just plugged in the grey plugs to the stereo, unplugged the amp and everything worked great. there wasn't much volume until it was cranked up to about "40" (out of 63), that is, until I set it for the correct vehicle. (xB? whichever one is the box)

I justwent out to double check, I only unplugged the grey plugs from the amp (there were two) I left everything else plugged in.
Hope that helps

SF80 · 11-30-07, 12:12 AM

Ok, found the pin-outs for the HU's and stereo harness:

http://carstereohelp.net/wireharness_Toyota3.htm

I'm going to try to bench test the HU and test the continuity of the harness to speaker and see which is bad...

Any good ideas for sending a signal to the speakers through the harness? Battery pop test?

Brian

Doc · 11-30-07, 06:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Firedog

Hope that helps

Yep, exactly what I was looking for. Now I just need to find one at a 'reasonable' price.

MTBGUY · 12-02-07, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Firedog

I have the Scion T1806. I just plugged in the grey plugs to the stereo, unplugged the amp and everything worked great. there wasn't much volume until it was cranked up to about "40" (out of 63), that is, until I set it for the correct vehicle. (xB? whichever one is the box)

I justwent out to double check, I only unplugged the grey plugs from the amp (there were two) I left everything else plugged in.
Hope that helps

My experience was identical to firedogs- I even used the same unit (T1806). I wonder if you have a blown fuse inside the new head unit?
I am assuming that the previous stereo in the dash worked, meaning that you did have power to the head unit....

hope you are healing up!

SF80 · 12-02-07, 02:58 PM

Well, turns out it was a bad HU. Bench tested it and there was no output from either the front or rear speaker outs. We opened up the HU and ther is no fuse, just a PCB, so it got thrown out. I did a continuity test on the factory harness and that checked out ok.

I ordered a pulled T1806 from an auto re-cycler and should be in my Tues. It's $50 more than what I found on ebay, but this one has a 30 guarantee.

The bad HU was not a total loss, as it came with the ipod & aux harnesses which I can re-use on th T1806.

Brian