Assistance finding radio wire harness connectors / parts

[greynolds]

I recently installed a Tesla style head unit in my 2020 LC and am having a couple of wiring problems. One is pretty important, the other is a nice to have.

The Important Issue:

Starting with the important one, the connector that is needed for the 360 degree camera function doesn't fit the provided harness correctly. I have chatted with the vendor and they either don't understand the question (somewhat understandable as we each have different native languages) or isn't really interested in helping.

The first photo shows the 4 wiring harness connections on the back of the factory screen. The 2 of interest are the 2 middle connectors, one blue and one black. The difference between them is how they are keyed - notice that the blue one has a slot near the bottom right and the black one has a bump in the bottom right. As far as I can tell, the 2 connectors are otherwise identical in their physical design.

I don't know what function the blue one serves, but the black one is needed for the 360 camera functionality. The head unit manufacturer provided a cable that is supposed to accept the plug that goes into the black connector that then plugs into the back of the Tesla style head unit. But the problem is that the connector they provide is keyed to match the factory cable that plugs into the blue connector. For now, I have forced the plug in so that I can get the camera to function, but the resulting connection is extremely sensitive to being moved.

So... Does anyone know the part number for the plug that plugs into the blue connector. AND does anyone know if the electrical connections can easily be swapped between the plastic shells?

Further, does anyone know what the function is of that blue connector (this is purely curiosity unless it's the factory GPS antenna)? With the Tesla style head unit, that connector doesn't even get used. So I suppose I could just swap the connections over if it's easy to do so and attach notes to the cables indicating they would need to be swapped to go back to the factory display.

I think the other potential option is to take a razor blade to the adapter cable that came with the head unit to remove they keyed ridge that is preventing me from plugging the correct cable in easily.

The 2nd photo shows the adapter cable that came with the head unit - I don't have a head on photo showing how the end of interest is keyed. The end labeled 7 is the end the factory cable plugs into.

The Nice To Have:

Does anyone know which connector on the factory harness is the GPS antenna? I purchased 2 possible Toyota GPS antenna adapters that have SMA connectors on the other end (which is what the Tesla style head unit uses for GPS) and have had no luck so far finding something that plugs into the adapters and gives me a GPS signal. The head unit came with a GPS antenna, I would just like to eliminate the extra antenna if I can make use of the factory antenna. From what I have seen of the wiring diagrams, the GPS antenna connector should be somewhere behind the factory screen and radio unit, but I haven't found any good photos of the factory GPS antenna and connector to be able to definitively track it down.

 

[FerrisBueller]

It does look like that black connector is different. My 2018 LC doesn't have the bottom-right notch, and would probably fit that aftermarket connector fine. (I know this isn't helpful, but explains why they think the connector should work).

 

[FerrisBueller]

@greynolds Can you take a head-on picture of the end of the cable's connectors?

 

[greynolds]

@greynolds Can you take a head-on picture of the end of the cable's connectors?

I should be able to do that without too much difficulty as I’ve left my left vent partially pulled out to give me easy access to this for the time being as going over bumps in the road can be enough to disable the 360 feed. The hard part will be pulling the connectors apart as they’re a really tight fit. I normally wouldn’t proceed with something that clearly doesn’t fit properly, but needed to have it working for a ~2800 mile trip.

The vendor suggested wrapping the connection tightly with electric tape to hold it in place. I don’t think that’s a good solution without other changes.

 

[greynolds]

It does look like that black connector is different. My 2018 LC doesn't have the bottom-right notch, and would probably fit that aftermarket connector fine. (I know this isn't helpful, but explains why they think the connector should work).

View attachment 3083961

Yeah, I did send them the same picture I posted above of the back of my screen showing the factory connectors, but the language barrier makes stuff like this especially difficult to deal with.

 

[greynolds]

@FerrisBueller here are some photos.

First, here are the blue and black factory connectors. As far as I can tell, the only physical difference between these 2 connectors is that they are keyed differently (which, of course makes sense so you can't plug them into the wrong place).

Next, here's a different angle on the black connector.

Finally, this is the female connector on the head unit harness that the black connector is supposed to plug into. As can be seen in the photo, the keyed bump near the bottom right has been partially destroyed by plugging the black connector into it. I suspect that if I just remove that piece with a razor blade, I may be all set. I'd prefer to just have things fit correctly, but the higher priority is to have everything work well. These are relatively small connectors, so it may be a bit tricky to get a razor blade in there (I've got a set of Xacto blades, so I think I can do it with those).

 

[FerrisBueller]

I can usually find the source of connectors, especially when clearly 3rd parties are using them, too. But I can't find this one... maybe it's relatively new (not just to the LC, but in general). Maybe someone else can figure it out.

 

[kcjaz]

So @greynolds, I believe your Tesla unit did not come with the camera decoder box like EC Off-road provides. For the EC Offroad unit that white plug goes into the box and the harness provided with the box goes to the head unit. That achieves the plug/clip conversion. Seems like your HU does whatever happens in the camera decoder box but they didn’t change the physical connector.

 

[greynolds]

So @greynolds, I believe your Tesla unit did not come with the camera decoder box like EC Off-road provides. For the EC Offroad unit that white plug goes into the box and the harness provided with the box goes to the head unit. That achieves the plug/clip conversion. Seems like your HU does whatever happens in the camera decoder box but they didn’t change the physical connector.

It looks like the company making the head unit just assumed, incorrectly, that 2020’s (or whenever the connector changed) are the same as 2018’s. In any event, I think modification of the adapter cable that came with the head unit is going to be my best option. I’m almost certain that the electrical connections match up properly since the camera does work.

 

[kcjaz]

It looks like the company making the head unit just assumed, incorrectly, that 2020’s (or whenever the connector changed) are the same as 2018’s. In any event, I think modification of the adapter cable that came with the head unit is going to be my best option. I’m almost certain that the electrical connections match up properly since the camera does work.

FWIW, I have re-pinned OEM connector s on the front camera and a side mirror. It’s possible but every plug comes apart differently and the trick is figuring that out without breaking the plug.

 

[greynolds]

FWIW, I have re-pinned OEM connector s on the front camera and a side mirror. It’s possible but every plug comes apart differently and the trick is figuring that out without breaking the plug.

Yeah, not breaking the plug is one of the key things as I want to at least have the option of switching back to stock later should I want or need to.

I think I tracked down the part numbers in the electrical wiring diagram (thanks for providing the ISO, @linuxgod):

The blue connector appears to be part #90980-12C80
The black connector appears to be part #90980-12C82

The big caveat on the part numbers is that the electrical diagram is for 2016-2021 and we seem to clearly have different connectors between 2018 and 2020. The diagram doesn't seem to include a 3rd connector of this type, but with a different key configuration. The other caveat is that a search for those part numbers on Google came up empty, so they don't seem to be readily available. I found these under (it's amazing how non-descriptive many of the names are as they provide pretty much no clue as to what function the connector provides):

Connector List > Instrument Panel No.2 Wire > Multi-Display Assembly / F87
Connector List > Instrument Panel No.2 Wire > Multi-Display Assembly / F89

 

[greynolds]

I just took an Xacto knife to the problematic piece (circled in red in the image) that was preventing the black plug from sliding in easily. It's amazing how little plastic ended up getting removed, but it made just enough difference that the connector slides in pretty easily now. Further, I can now freely move this cable harness around without causing issues with the picture freezing or going away completely. I'll obviously know better after living with it for a few days or weeks, but I'm cautiously optimistic that the problem is solved. Thanks for the extra sets of eyes and input on this.