'04 LC Aftermarket Head Unit w/Climate - It Can Be Done!!! (1 Viewer)

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Dozer18

SILVER Star
Joined
Sep 7, 2006
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Location
Springfield, VA
With some help from Mud, I attempted to install an aftermarket Pioneer head unit in my 2004 LC while maintaining full functionality of the MFD (including climate, backup cam, trip info, etc), and I can say without question that it can be done. I took out the factory tape deck and installed the new head unit in that space, and once complete I still had climate control, nav, cam, etc. The result had no hissing, other noises, or any other issues. I can't speak for LXs of any year or even any other Land Cruiser, but this is how it's done on an '04 (and would probably work on '05-'07 as well).

First, the parts list. Here's what I bought in preparation (all prices what I paid at the time on Amazon):

- Pioneer AVH-3300NEX ($454). This is a SINGLE-DIN unit with Car Play, Android Auto, SiriusXM compatibility, Pandora, Spotify, Pioneer Nav-compatible, etc.
- Metra 70-8113 Amp Harness ($7.50). This is plug and play for the '04 LC. It does not bypass the factory JBL amp; it provides RCAs to deliver the sound signal to the amp. Use this.
- Metra Axxess AWSC-1 Universal Steering Wheel Control Interface ($46). This will enable you to keep your steering wheel control functionality when used with...
- Metra 70-8114 Steering Wheel Control Wiring Harness w/RCAs ($9). This allows you to connect the AWSC-1 directly to the factory plug AND the head unit's harness. It is plug and play as well with a slight mod that will allow you to retain the MFD/Climate controls. Buy this also.
- SiriusXM SXV300v1 adapter kit ($40). This is optional, but I opted for it. Very easy to connect.
- Batige USB 3.0 and 3mm aux car mount flush cable ($11). This isn't absolutely required (the head unit comes with a USB cable but not an aux cable), but it installs so cleanly in the spot where the cig lighter was and give you instant USB and Aux functionality; it's a no brainer.
- MicroBypass parking brake switch interface for the Pioneer model ($14). This allows you to avoid wiring the head unit to the parking brake switch. People argue that it's technically illegal because it will allow you to watch video on your head unit in drive, but I don't have anything providing a video signal to my HU. May be different if your HU has a DVD player or you actually connect a video input to the back of the HU.
- 68 Ohm, 1/2 watt resistors ($5 for a 10-pack). This is absolutely critical to keeping your MFD/Climate functionality; you must score these. Don't try some other size/resistance; this works. Thanks, @jerryb!

I also recommend that you get a cheap set of trim removal tools ($6), some crimp caps ($4.50 for an assortment of 200), a good crimping tool if you don't have one ($15), some electrical tape, and some double sided tape.

All in, including the tools, cost me $612. You can easily do it for $550 without XM and if you already have the tools.

Here's a pic to whet your appetite. More posts coming soon with step by step details and pics; stand by!

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So, to get started I used the trim removal tools to take out the panels on either side of the center display. Very easy; once you get the top tabs out you just pull the middle and bottom out and unplug the connector.

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Repeat one the other side, take the four screws holding the panel out with a 10mm socket on a driver, then pop out the top of the center panel, then the bottom.

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Disconnect all of the plugs from the back; there are three for the stereo (tape deck) which the FSM labels as A, B, and C. You will be plugging the Metra stereo harness into "A" and the Metra Axxess ASWC harness into "C" (with one small but critical mod). B is left to hang. The three things you will lose from that are the CD changer (but you shouldn't care about that and should just take it out of the center console anyway), the rear audio control (again, why would anyone care? As jerryb noted elsewhere, take that out and put rear USB chargers in), and the control of the power antenna. People seem to have a connection to the power antenna, but I didn't really mind. I hear there is a workaround (@jerryb?) but I will probably put a fixed flexible antenna in its place.).

All of the plugs you will disconnect can only go back into its respective receiver, but still a good idea to take a lot of pics of what went where.
 
Once I disconected the plugs and freed the center panel to come out, I took it apart so I could get the tape deck out. It took an 8mm socket on a driver to get the screws out of the side brackets. To free the tape deck, you have to free everything else.

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You had my hopes up.
The bulb in my nav screen is going bad so if I go aftermarket something is going in that spot but I want all the functions too.
 
From here, it's a matter of wiring up the Metra harness to your particular stereo; pay attention to the install guide for your stereo to discern what wires are coming out of the harness provided with the stereo and how they match up to the Metra 70-8113. I only had to connect the red, yellow, orange, black, and blue/white (amp power). The rest of the stereo wires I taped with electrical tape (on the ends). I connected the RCA outs from the stereo for the front and rear speakers to the Metra harness; my HU had sub outs, the the JBL amp only takes the front/rear output and forms the sub signal from that. The Metra harness does NOT have RCAs for the sub, but that works perfect.

I also wired up the AWSC and Metra harness before putting things back together. I ended up using crimp caps, and I capped the red power wires from the AWSC/Metra/and stereo harnesses together (this will be obvious as you'll have three red wires). No need to find and then tap into another power wire.

I also wired in the MicroBypass parking brake bypass while I was at it, capping the green line on the bypass to the green wire from the stereo; capping the blue/white from the stereo and Metra with the blue from the bypass; and the black from the Metra and the bypass:

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I got excited during this install and did a poor job of taking pictures, unfortunately.
 
You had my hopes up.
The bulb in my nav screen is going bad so if I go aftermarket something is going in that spot but I want all the functions too.
Spike, you'll have Nav, camera, climate, trip info, etc. Do you use the rear audio controls or the CD Changer (which you wouldn't be able to use with any aftermarket HU anyway)?

Really all you lose is the antenna, but like I said, there is a workaround out there... I just didn't care enough about it to find it first. Will address another time, possibly.
 
You had my hopes up.
The bulb in my nav screen is going bad so if I go aftermarket something is going in that spot but I want all the functions too.
Though now I see what you were saying. Yeah, I don't know about replacing the MFD and keeping functionality. That might be a bridge too far
 
I want to emphasize before going any further that everything up to this point I did by just following the instructions that came with the Metra harnesses, the AWSC, and the stereo. I have zero car audio install skills, so I just made sure I understood from the installation guides which wires needed to marry up from harness to harness and which wires weren't needed. The Metra Axxess steering wheel adapter called for its own ground, and even though I probably could have connected it to the other grounds I just went ahead and ground it here behind the console:

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Getting ahead of myself though. After the harnesses were all connected, I mounted the HU to the brackets where the factory tape deck used to live. The holes mounted right up (by the way, the factory deck was made by Pioneer). I had the option with mine to choose from a few mounting holes to determine the depth, and I would recommend choosing the shallowest install possible (very little room behind the deck).
 
Since I used the Sirius XM adapter, I went ahead and found a place to put the box. Placed the antenna in the center of the dash at the windshield and ran the wire around the dash (between it and the windshield), under the A-pillar weatherstripping, and into the dash beside and above the glovebox. Had to take the glove box out to do this (forgot pics) but it was very easy. Here's where I mounted the XM adapter:

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Passenger side of center panel next to HVAC duct.
 
Anybody have any clue what this is?

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I unplugged it from my main antenna and took it out. My factory nav still works, so I have no idea what this was supposed to do. It had another thick cable that ran into the dash behind the steering wheel, and I just coiled it up, zip-tied it, and left it in case it was a critical thing I might need later.
 
Two last accessories I had to put in place: the mic and the USB/Aux port. I wired the mic through the dash behind the left center panel and pulled it up to mount just in front of the instrument cluster and just above the ignition key. Fits perfect there and is not in the way at all while picking up my voice very well. I will post a pic of that later (after I get one!).

I also popped out the panel below the center panel (the one with the ashtray and cigarette lighter). You have to loosen the center console and pull up on it a bit to pop this panel out. I then worked the cigarette lighter mount loose so I just had the hole there, then I installed (without any drilling out or other modification) this combo USB/Aux port:

https://www.amazon.com/BATIGE-USB3-...qid=1513742222&sr=8-1&keywords=Batige+USB+aux

As I mounted the center panel with the HU in place, I connected the HU's aux to the Batige aux and the Batige USB to the HU's USB port. Easy peasy.
 
As I was preparing to make the final connections, I also had to plug the truck's main antenna plug into the receiver's antenna recepticle. The LC has a secondary antenna in the PS rear glass, but I taped that up with electric tape and let it hang.'

One thing with the steering wheel control adapter: it has both RCAs and a 3.5mm jack to deliver the signal. I had the RCA inputs on the stereo available as well as a 3.5mm jack for a hard wired remote control; I plugged all of that in just to be on the safe side (the 3.5mm jack I used for that was separate from the aux in jack used for the Batige port).

With everything connected, it was just a matter of plugging the A and C plugs back in and firing it up. With fingers crossed, this is what I saw:

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This was no bueno, so I knew I really did have to use the 68 ohm resistor trick.
 
I don't know if he was the first to circulate it, but @jerryb posted a fix on another thread that involved using a 68 ohm, 1/2 watt resistor to jumper the blue and pink wires (pin #9 and 10 IIRC) on the vehicle side C-plug. If using the Metra Axxess SWC harness like I did, you're going to be plugging the harness into the C plug. So, I jumpered the resistor in the truck-side plug first, bent the resistor over the plug, then connected it to the harness like so:

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Once I did that, my life changed:

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Once I verified everything was working on both the original MFD and the new HU, I just buttoned everything back up in reverse order. It took some maneuvering to get everything tucked in there but it still went (not having the XM would make it a little easier, I think).

Here are a couple more pics of the finished product:

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The major downside for me is that it leaves a big open ring around the HU:

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I had a couple of aftermarket trim rings but nothing I thought would look right. To complete the job, I'm going to take it to a good audio shop and ask them to fabricate something to make it look as clean as possible.

Overall, I'm extremely happy with this install and with the HU. The Pioneer is awesome; I really do love it. I got a lot of help and inspiration from a few of the other threads on this topic, from @jerryb, and from the FSM and the manuals that came with the parts. If I could do this, anybody can - trust me - and I did it without another set of hands (though another set would've been helpful). Again, I have no car audio skills, and this whole thing took me about six hours.

Feel free to fire question or criticism. I apologize for not taking more pictures; just got too excited and, working alone, it was hard to stop for a snapshot sometimes when my hands were full. I do owe pics of the mic placement and the USB/aux port (though it can be seen in the bottom center of the pic above).

Thanks for reading, and I hope this helps someone else! :cheers:
 
Looks good.
The blue/white wire from that specific pioneer harness needs to connect to the blue AND the blue/white on the metra, auto antenna would work then. To be more clear, both the black/red for the antenna trigger and the black/red amp trigger, pins 3 and 13 need the blue/white wire from that pioneer.
Verify your metra has a blue and blue/white, in pins 3 and 13, or a jummper, and connect them together and then connect that to your blue/white remote on that deck. Some pioneer harnesses have both a blue and a blue/white.

There's a small antenna adapter plug and a Y harness to use both antennas if reception is lacking. -
Scosche Mda-B Micro/Delco Antenna Adapter Tip
METRA 40-UV43 MALE TO FEMALE MOTOROLA ANTENNA CABLE
 

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