2003 Land Cruiser with Nav amp (1 Viewer)

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I pulled my passenger seat out earlier to clean up the carpet a little from stains made by the PO. Out of curiosity, I went ahead and pulled the nav DVD player up to access the amp. I unplugged the amp fully and while I had no sound (as you would expect) my climate control still worked fine. Everything I've read has said that unplugging the amp would cause the integrated climate controls not to work so I'm a little confused. Right now it seems like I would be fine to replace the JBL amp with an aftermarket unit without any side effects. ??
 
I am looking to replace my amp as well, but the wiring configuration is ungodly, though that's because I have a 2000. I need a rewiring to handle the new power going to the front speakers when I upgrade the amp, but I''m picky and want a five channel Alpine amp. So this novel idea is on hold.

I have already added two subwoofers as my wiring configuration called for that, but that wiring the sub from the amp was an easy upgrade. Having discussed this with others, it's my understanding you can install both amps side by side(factory + after market) and simply steer the music connections through the new amp leaving everything else intact.

it would be difficult, in my opinion, to overrule that approach, because the wiring into the factory amp is confusing as a hell, and I'd prefer to avoid it at all costs and I don't have the options you do..

Bottom line, give the dual approach some thought..
 
Out from the JBL amp and in to a secondary amp, then from there to the speakers. That was my original plan until I noticed everything works without the factory amp hooked up. Now I'm wondering why I should keep it intact....
 
Your wiring is perhaps different than mine. Short answer is it shouldn't be problematic at all to yank the JBL and go with an aftermarket.

I have new subs, new alpine speakers and a new console unit but no new amp and it sounds MUCH better...

Be ready for some hair on end improvement.
 
I unplugged my 2004 JBL amp and lost temp controls and GPS...all that showed on screen was the "info" screen
 
so, what I have ended up doing is moving cassette deck to behind the passenger side rear quarter panel - putting a new single DIN head unit in it's place. JL audio speakers all around with a JL audio 6 channel amp. All wired from the head unit - but, I had to leave the original amp and cassette deck wired to the GPS or I lost climate control. It's insane
 
I'm going to recheck on the weekend again. I only checked the climate control since that is what I read was lost. I'll unplug it again and check the info and nav functions to verify everything works without the amp. Worst case though, I'll take the feeds out of the amp and run those to a new amp and then on to the speakers. With all of these new power sports micro amps I'll probably just do two and stick the sub amp in the back with the sub. I can wire up my DVC 2 ohm sub to 1 ohm and get 100w RMS in a 2x3x2 package that doesn't even require a separate remote wire be run. I guess there actually are a few good things about improvements in tech.
 
@Simplespirit. Interesting ... I experienced the same thing recently in my 2003 while I was installing a new amp. The climate controls still worked until I ran the inputs into the new amp and then they were greyed out and unusable. It could be that I goofed something up, but I ended up running from the factory amp to the new amp. I'm curious to hear how it works out for you.
 
Guys if you pull the AMP in a 2003+ it cuts power to hvac contoller and cassette. The radio or amp itself has no bearing but passes power to other devices (HVAC in this case). you'll need to tie the wires together at the amp location to send power up to the dash.

Here is an example for the 1998-2000 Stereo Wiring: Land Cruiser / LX 470 (1998-02)
 
I sorted through the wiring diagrams for a 2003 and can't find any connections for pins 3,7,8, & 9 on connector S7. On another note, the FL speakers get audio via the nav unit (passes out of the amp in to the nav then from there on to the speakers). Also, on the input side there is only one wire per channel (FL, FR, RL, and RR).
 
I am interested if you have made any progress on your project. I am looking to install a new amp, but was worried about how to tie in to the factory amp and prevent the hiss most people experience.
 
I haven't messed with it much more. After finding that the front left speakers go through the nav/dvd unit though, I'd be hesitant to replace the amp without knowing a lot more about how much power the nav/dvd unit can handle flowing through it. That or you just lose the nav prompts. At this time I feel like the best solution is routing the high-pass wiring from both the factory amp and the nav/dvd unit through another amp added at at the end of the line. The simplest way to do that IMO is to use separate amps at the front and the sub. There are plenty of small powersports amps available now you can sneak in. In addition to being highly efficient they are more element resistant than the traditional models.
 
I ended up installing a JL Audio XD700/5v2 amplifier, JL Audio C2 speakers (front and rear), and added a JL Audio CS112LG-TW3 subwoofer. I like JL stuff, so I just kept everything the same...it sounds fantastic.
 
Cut the speaker wires on the output side of the factory amp. Ran the outputs from the factory amp into the high level inputs of the JL amp using some of these XD-CLRAIC2-SW and a set of RCAs. Then ran nine conductor speaker wire from the JL amp outputs back to the speaker inputs near the factory amp.

There isn't any noise when the volume is turned all the way down like others have experienced, which I am contributing to the differential balanced input section of the amp. I pulled the factory subwoofer and installed the amp in that location.
 
So what year is your LC? On my 2003 the front left goes out from the amp, in to the nav unit, then out from the nav to the speakers. If you cut them after the amp you would lose the nav voice. Of course I've never used the nav and don't plan on selling so maybe it is a non-issue.
 
Mine is a 2003 and I haven't used the Nav in so long that I didn't even worry about it.
 
I have a 2003 as well and did the same thing as @ncmarine with an aftermarket amp. I spliced the left front speaker after the nav unit and it works fine.
 
question, if the tape deck is relocated to keep the hvac functioning, can i hook up a single din aftermarket headunit and connect two aftermarket amps to it, a 4 channel amp and a sub amp
 
question, if the tape deck is relocated to keep the hvac functioning, can i hook up a single din aftermarket headunit and connect two aftermarket amps to it, a 4 channel amp and a sub amp
yes
 

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