new head unit install
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- #3
Kenwood dpx308u. No trimming needed. Removed a little trim piece on the front of the radio as per instructions but didn't have to cut or anything. Fits well nice and tight.
Does anyone know what wire on the car side I need to tap into to hook the dimmer wire from the radio into so it will dim the radio when the headlights come on? The radio harness from the car is not equipped with a wire to handle this
Does anyone know what wire on the car side I need to tap into to hook the dimmer wire from the radio into so it will dim the radio when the headlights come on? The radio harness from the car is not equipped with a wire to handle this
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re_guderian
SILVER Star
Does your HU support this? My Kenwood does not. There is a day/night mode in the hu that you can synch with the GPS? Anyway, I'll dig up the EWD, IIRC, it's a white/green wire...
Connect dimmer wire from new radio directly to Pin # 2 wire.
Don't cut the #2 wire in half but instead remove a section of it's insulation and twist them together, tape it and zip tie the connection.
This way if you need to reinstall the old radio the connection won't need repair
This was on a 1999.
Don't cut the #2 wire in half but instead remove a section of it's insulation and twist them together, tape it and zip tie the connection.
This way if you need to reinstall the old radio the connection won't need repair
This was on a 1999.
Looks great! Does that Kenwood come with garmin GPS built in? I really want to get a head unit with Garmin. I thought I read on here a while back that Kenwood is the only one with Garmin.
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- #8
ok where do I find that wire?any idea what color it is?
no gps in this unit, very basic, has cd player, I have my sirius wired into the aux input (did away with the fm modulator and it sounds soooo much better
no gps in this unit, very basic, has cd player, I have my sirius wired into the aux input (did away with the fm modulator and it sounds soooo much better
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Crutchfield sent you the metra 70-8112 wiring harness
Notice that the orange wire is missing from the #2 position of the harness
This is where you need to make your own connection, bypassing the wiring harness
Notice that the orange wire is missing from the #2 position of the harness
This is where you need to make your own connection, bypassing the wiring harness
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- #10
ok, so the factory harness that i plug into the crutchfield harness carries the orange wire? I can skin back some insulation from that wire (in the factory harness) and connect the dimmer wire (from the Kenwood's harness) to the skinned back portion of the factory harness? Is this right?
On a different topic, the factory subwoofer is now revealing it's poor performance. I was thinking of one of those sound ordnance 8" 120 watt powered subs to be installed (screwed into the panel where the factory subwoofer is. Has anyone tried to put one of these types of subs on top of the panel (covering up the factory subwoofer? I know it won't look as clean as hiding it (not really anywhere to do that) but it looks like this is doable. Chime in if any of you have done this and a picture would be nice too.
On a different topic, the factory subwoofer is now revealing it's poor performance. I was thinking of one of those sound ordnance 8" 120 watt powered subs to be installed (screwed into the panel where the factory subwoofer is. Has anyone tried to put one of these types of subs on top of the panel (covering up the factory subwoofer? I know it won't look as clean as hiding it (not really anywhere to do that) but it looks like this is doable. Chime in if any of you have done this and a picture would be nice too.
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Yes, you got it right
This is correct. I took a pin out of another wiring harness I had laying around and inserted it into the metra unit. I'm not sure why they omitted that because the HU is extremely bright at night.
I just installed an app radio 2 and use the ARliberator app on my galaxy nexus to mirror my phone on the HU. I ran my backup camera in upper half of the tailgate.
Did you check to see if the function is turned through your settings menu
Check your manual for instructions
You can choose auto, off, and manual contrast levels ( which I choose)
Also, you should be able to color match your display to that pale green if you want
Check your manual for instructions
You can choose auto, off, and manual contrast levels ( which I choose)
Also, you should be able to color match your display to that pale green if you want
re_guderian
SILVER Star
So I think there's some confusion here. Unfortuneately, Kenwood uses the word "dimmer" in a way that is confusing. You are looking for the "auto-darken-display-and-backlights-when-the-headlights-turn-on" function, which has nothing to do with the typical "dimmer" function of dash lights and OEM radio backlights (using the wheel/rheostat to the left of the steering wheel) The green/white wire I refered to is for "dimming" the cash lights, which also dims the OEM radio backlights. My Kenwood (DNX 6140) is not able to dim the display and backlights on a continuous scale like the OEM stereo. Hence the options in the set up menu. Unfortunately, you should be looking for a headlight wire to tap into? Assuming low beam to avoid DRL issues. Anyway, i didn't have to do that, as I have mine sync'ed to GPS for auto "dimming" at night.
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- #17
I settled with running the display at full brightness and the keys and accents at a slight dim level, this makes it perfect for night time while not sacrificing daytime illumination. It is hard to see the information on the display during sunny days due to glare on the screen, I guess nothing I can do with that but I can live with it. The benefits of more modern capabilities and the clarity of the music outweighs the negatives. Thanks to everyone for your inputs.
How hard was this install? Trying to decide if i should pay the asking price of installation.
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- #19
Very easy get the radio and harness from crutchfield. They will send you the harness to allow factory amp. I have pioneer speakers in the 4 doors with stock subwoofer and tweeters. Sounds 100 times better with this head unit because the signal to the amp is cleaner
