68 ohm resistor to replace stereo on NAV equipped LC and LX (4 Viewers)

[kgrove]

A few questions here:

1) Is this something that should be easily repeated at a car stereo install place without breaking the bank? How many man hours of work should this take?

2) Is any of this documented anywhere but here? I've searched a few times and this is the closest to a documented solution I've been able to find. I like to think of myself as a smart guy, but I'll admit some of the descriptions are over my head and launching into this project is a little intimidating.

The tape deck in my 2007 Nav equiped LC is BY FAR my least favorite part of the car. It kills me I can't just replace it with a modern stereo and not lose AC controls, etc. I've considered finding an old wrecked LC with manual controls and going old school dials, but that also seems difficult, risky, complex, etc.

 

[jerryb]

you can't do dials in 07 LC or LX, or jan 1 production 06 LC or LX. (airbag stuff)


1) Is this something that should be easily repeated at a car stereo install place without breaking the bank? How many man hours of work should this take?
yes, probably not, many many hours for me.

2) Is any of this documented anywhere but here?
The prius people started this a long time ago. There are harnesses with resistors in there already straight from metra for the prius, so there's a ton of info there.

The service manual specifically states what resistance the screen is looking for in the beginning of the AV lan section.

If I got stuck today with another lc or lx and parts weren't available for the non nav conversion I would go this route again.
I wouldn't move the screen though. I would settle for a single din and have someone make something for a faceplate/riser.
OR just stick with a shallow mount kenwood.
You could still remove all the underseat stuff and just keep the camera ecu and mount an amp there.
I wish someone would make an aftermarket 7x2 cover that would just snap onto the stock stereo faceplate that takes the convex curve out.

That is the simplest, cheapest option.

 

[abuck99]

Have you looked into 3D print service for that part? Heck once you have it set up, you can make a pile and sell on Amazon to recover your cost.

Heres a list of ideas-

37 Marketplaces to Share, Buy and Sell Designs for 3D Printing - MakingSociety

 

[kgrove]

you can't do dials in 07 LC or LX, or jan 1 production 06 LC or LX. (airbag stuff)


1) Is this something that should be easily repeated at a car stereo install place without breaking the bank? How many man hours of work should this take?
yes, probably not, many many hours for me.

2) Is any of this documented anywhere but here?
The prius people started this a long time ago. There are harnesses with resistors in there already straight from metra for the prius, so there's a ton of info there.

The service manual specifically states what resistance the screen is looking for in the beginning of the AV lan section.

If I got stuck today with another lc or lx and parts weren't available for the non nav conversion I would go this route again.
I wouldn't move the screen though. I would settle for a single din and have someone make something for a faceplate/riser.
OR just stick with a shallow mount kenwood.
You could still remove all the underseat stuff and just keep the camera ecu and mount an amp there.
I wish someone would make an aftermarket 7x2 cover that would just snap onto the stock stereo faceplate that takes the convex curve out.

That is the simplest, cheapest option.

Walk me through the resulting functionality of the "base level" modification you first did where it appears you just replaced the tape deck with a single din receiver (the one where you had a black bezel and show the photo of the working ac controls). Did the NAV system still work? Or just the backup camera? I assume all the steering wheel controls for the stereo were gone... never seen a good fix for that. Did the hands free phone capability run through the old tape deck and therefore would need to be replaced? Or is it it's own system and would survive the tape deck amputation?

I'm shooting for a simple solution that just replaces the tape deck with a modern receiver with blue tooth, audio inputs, usb, etc. While I've got everything exposed I might

 

[Lxcruiser91]

There are alot of us lx owners that are in the same boat as you kgrove.

 

[jerryb]

you get steering wheel controls back with an adapter. You could keep nav, but if you want an aftermarket amp you'd have to fit it under the seat along with the other stuff, or some place else in the car. An amp next to the harness that has the speaker outputs is easiest though. Removing the nav ecu is easiest also. You'd have back up cam and stock screen functions.
I'm sure you could wire it to keep the stock nav, it would take some experimenting/ wiring interpretation skills.
Same with rear seat audio.

phone capabilities will run through the new stereo. The phone buttons on the steering wheel will not work. The steering wheel adapters only work for audio controls. The mode button will still sweep though all the audio input modes.

Read through your audio with navigation wiring book section and see what goes through the three stereo plugs. Anything in there will be lost unless you wire them to work.

I'm thinking you sell the CD changer, and the nav ecu s to pay for an amp and a single din and then you haven't spent a dime yet. Splurge for the smallest five channel amp but try to maintain something with at least a little quality to it.
then-
resistor
antenna Y adapter and micro to motorola plug
Some amp wire
two sets of RCA cords
ATO fuse holder
I think that's it.

to keep the stock nav voice output I think you'd have to keep the amp, I'm unsure.
It might also work if you ditched the stock amp and ran the output for the front left channel from the new aftermarket amp into the nav ecu and then out to the speaker(s) The nav ecu might not like the signal though.
It's easier to use your bluetooth on your phone to output voice commands from google maps, or whatever.
To get any sort of quality you need to ditch the nav ecu and the stock amp. Most people would be very happy with a 4 channel amp, new speakers, and single din stereo. That's enough volume for anyone to handle.
I had never bought a class D amp before until I did for the LC. They are surprisingly good these days.

 

[kgrove]

you get steering wheel controls back with an adapter. You could keep nav, but if you want an aftermarket amp you'd have to fit it under the seat along with the other stuff, or some place else in the car. An amp next to the harness that has the speaker outputs is easiest though. Removing the nav ecu is easiest also. You'd have back up cam and stock screen functions.
I'm sure you could wire it to keep the stock nav, it would take some experimenting/ wiring interpretation skills.
Same with rear seat audio.

phone capabilities will run through the new stereo. The phone buttons on the steering wheel will not work. The steering wheel adapters only work for audio controls. The mode button will still sweep though all the audio input modes.

Read through your audio with navigation wiring book section and see what goes through the three stereo plugs. Anything in there will be lost unless you wire them to work.

I'm thinking you sell the CD changer, and the nav ecu s to pay for an amp and a single din and then you haven't spent a dime yet. Splurge for the smallest five channel amp but try to maintain something with at least a little quality to it.
then-
resistor
antenna Y adapter and micro to motorola plug
Some amp wire
two sets of RCA cords
ATO fuse holder
I think that's it.

to keep the stock nav voice output I think you'd have to keep the amp, I'm unsure.
It might also work if you ditched the stock amp and ran the output for the front left channel from the new aftermarket amp into the nav ecu and then out to the speaker(s) The nav ecu might not like the signal though.
It's easier to use your bluetooth on your phone to output voice commands from google maps, or whatever.
To get any sort of quality you need to ditch the nav ecu and the stock amp. Most people would be very happy with a 4 channel amp, new speakers, and single din stereo. That's enough volume for anyone to handle.
I had never bought a class D amp before until I did for the LC. They are surprisingly good these days.

Thanks. You have no idea how jealous I am that you can rattle off all this stuff as matter of fact. I'd like to think I'm smarter than the average bear, but automotive electronics has never been my strong suit.

 

[jerryb]

Thanks man.
It's pretty simple if youre careful

 

[outdoorsman]

Jerryb is the man!

He is the 100 series electrical resident expert.

 

[jerryb]

No no no. I'm not an electrician.
Thanks though

 

[RiverRatMatt]

Why not clip the wires and solder the resistor between them then plug the harness back in?

 

[jerryb]

Back into a metra adapter you mean?

 

[kgrove]

you get steering wheel controls back with an adapter. You could keep nav, but if you want an aftermarket amp you'd have to fit it under the seat along with the other stuff, or some place else in the car. An amp next to the harness that has the speaker outputs is easiest though. Removing the nav ecu is easiest also. You'd have back up cam and stock screen functions.
I'm sure you could wire it to keep the stock nav, it would take some experimenting/ wiring interpretation skills.
Same with rear seat audio.

phone capabilities will run through the new stereo. The phone buttons on the steering wheel will not work. The steering wheel adapters only work for audio controls. The mode button will still sweep though all the audio input modes.

Read through your audio with navigation wiring book section and see what goes through the three stereo plugs. Anything in there will be lost unless you wire them to work.

I'm thinking you sell the CD changer, and the nav ecu s to pay for an amp and a single din and then you haven't spent a dime yet. Splurge for the smallest five channel amp but try to maintain something with at least a little quality to it.
then-
resistor
antenna Y adapter and micro to motorola plug
Some amp wire
two sets of RCA cords
ATO fuse holder
I think that's it.

to keep the stock nav voice output I think you'd have to keep the amp, I'm unsure.
It might also work if you ditched the stock amp and ran the output for the front left channel from the new aftermarket amp into the nav ecu and then out to the speaker(s) The nav ecu might not like the signal though.
It's easier to use your bluetooth on your phone to output voice commands from google maps, or whatever.
To get any sort of quality you need to ditch the nav ecu and the stock amp. Most people would be very happy with a 4 channel amp, new speakers, and single din stereo. That's enough volume for anyone to handle.
I had never bought a class D amp before until I did for the LC. They are surprisingly good these days.

I highlighted areas for a few questions.

I assume you are referring to the service manual? I don't have one unfortunately, and certainly no documentation for the system. If anyone has a service manual for a 2007 w/nav and can post those sections, I'd appreciate it greatly... or shoot me a link where I can find it.

There is value in the cd changer and nav system? I'm surprised. I would have chucked it directly into the dumpster.

What is the antenna Y adaptor for? And the micro to Motorola plug?

Lastly, I know audiophiles will puke all over this idea, but what do you think of skipping an external amp and just using the amp on the head unit? Clearly not the best sound, but adequate? My previous experience has always suggested the first 90% of the sound improvement comes from replacing the OEM speakers. After that you can throw more time and money at amps and higher end speakers, but the cost/benefit is nowhere near as what you hear on the speaker replacement.

 

[jerryb]

Read the non nav threads for all the PDFs you want.

An ac Delco to Motorola mini and Motorola Y adapter to use both antennas.



Yes deck.powered would be fine.
Sell he m
Amp. Nav. Deck. And CD changer if you want to. Those will sell fine on eBay or mud.

I've always been under the belief the first 75 percent comes from the power you give the speaker. Radio shack speakers can sound fine with good signal.
I always plan starting with the amp first, speakers last.

 

[jerryb]

And if going deck powered. Don't go Sony, jvc, walmlart, etc. Stick with Kenwood/alpine

 

[RiverRatMatt]

Back into a metra adapter you mean?

I mean regarding the original post, from what I understood there was a loss of a bunch of functionality from having to leave the harness unplugged while the resistor was there - instead you could just cut the wires that the resistor needs to bridge and solder it on then plug the harness in as usual

 

[Biga27110]

ifl

 

[kgrove]

And if going deck powered. Don't go Sony, jvc, walmlart, etc. Stick with Kenwood/alpine

So here's the new plan - I'm going to for sure replace the amp and all speakers - have Alpine gear lined up with the exception of a 6 3/4" JL subwoofer to replace the OEM one in the back. The head unit is up in the air. Part of what started this is my front speakers went out recently... occasionally will turn back on, but generally are off. If the front channel on the factory amp went bad, I'll leave the existing deck in place and add a bluetooth module (either the BT45-TOY or the VAIS SL3B-T) so that I can avoid some of the complication of fabricating a face plate to hide the gap around a new receiver and dealing with the touch screen issue of replacing the deck (the resister issue that started this thread). If on the other hand the front channel went out on the original head unit, then I'll have no choice but to replace the deck as well... which would get me out of having to add a separate bluetooth module, but will be a little trickier with the touch screen issues.

So questions:

1) What's the easiest / least invasive way to determine before I start whether my front channel has gone out due to the head unit or the amplifier? If I know before I start, I don't have to order all the parts and pieces to deal with either eventuality.

2) If the existing head unit is fully functional, what kind of outputs does it have? Does it only have speaker level outputs or does it have RCA outputs? If my suspicion is right and its speaker wires, then what considerations should I take in picking the amplifier? The 5-channel amp I've got my eye on only has line inputs (Alpine MRV-500), so I'd either need to get something to covert the speaker output to line input or change to a different amp that takes speaker level inputs directly.

3) Is there room under the passenger seat to just swap in a new amp and leave the nav system in place? Or by replacing the amp, does the nav system effectively force me to find a different location for the new amp (not something I'd look forward to doing given my low level of expertise)?

4) My preference is to leave the existing deck in place to keep the dash looking more professional given that whatever face plate I fabricate will probably look like a 3rd grader made it for fathers day. Admittedly in doing so, I'll have add a bluetooth module and probably converters to deal with the speaker level outputs. Am I just shooting myself in the foot? Is it easier to fabricate a good face plate to go around a single din receiver that will look just fine? It will actually be about the same cost to replace the head unit as to keep the existing one given that the bluetooth module costs about the same as a head unit plus steering wheel control adaptor. The reason I'm avoiding this is the extra man hours and the complication surrounding the face plate and the touch screen issues.

What I'd really like to do if I was brave enough is to rip this whole NAV system out and go "old school" with the buttons and dials for the AC system and let me pick whatever double din system I want to put there. I really don't have the confidence in my electrical capabilities to take on that project, however. I think there is way too high a chance I'd fork out the $1500 in parts and end up with a rats nest of exposed wires, then have to pay a kings ransom to find somebody to piece things back together again.

 

[Biga27110]

Does the resistor trick work for an 05 lx470 the faceplate looks different so i might hide the headunit in the glove comparement

 

[jerryb]

Does the resistor trick work for an 05 lx470 the faceplate looks different so i might hide the headunit in the glove comparement

yes I dont know why it wouldn't. but you can't separate the ML for LX deck and amp. You'd have to replace both.