BT45-TOY Basic Install Problem

[gamecockLX]

Hi all, after lots of reading through the forums, I picked up a BT45-TOY for my 06 LX. Install seemed relatively straightforward. I removed the 12-pin connector closest to the passenger side of the head unit, plugged in the 12 pin connector from the BT45 (green circle), and plugged the original 12 pin connector into the 12 pin female from the BT45 wiring. However, when I crank the engine up, I can't seem to get it to appear on my phone's bluetooth. I tried changing the DIP switches on the BT45, pressing various radio inputs (AM-SAT, CD, etc.), checked that all the wiring clips were well fastened, and still nothing. Each time I tried to wait at least 60 seconds of discovering bluetooth but never saw the BT45 appear. Any ideas before I initiate a return and call it defective?

 

[Rad26rio]

I have this in my 07 LC and it works great. You do have the BT plugged into the pigtail too? To be clear, the included wire acts like a splice to have the BT be in the circuit between factory head unit and BT box. The DIP switches tell the head unit how to “see” the unit. US SPEC does have great customer service over the phone too.

 

[gamecockLX]

I have this in my 07 LC and it works great. You do have the BT plugged into the pigtail too? To be clear, the included wire acts like a splice to have the BT be in the circuit between factory head unit and BT box. The DIP switches tell the head unit how to “see” the unit. US SPEC does have great customer service over the phone too.

Thanks for the reply. Glad to hear yours works well. From what I can tell on the forums they seem to get great reviews all around, and for better or worse most of the "problems" I have found searching around on here involve where to place the box. Yep, I have the original 12 pin from the stereo plugged into the female 12 pin of the BT45 (red circle in the above picture, you just can't see the original 12 pin due to the shadows), that simple BT45 harness (not sure if that's even the right phrase) plugged into the BT45 box, and the other end of the BT45 harness - the male 12 pin - plugged into the back of the head unit (green circle).

I didn't think the DIM switches should affect whether or not my the bluetooth was working with my phone, but thought I would add that detail just in case. Planning to give USA Spec a call tomorrow to ask about it, just thought I would check IH8MUD's knowledge as well.

 

[skiwpk]

Just had a BT45 installed today at a shop locally that does a lot of Toyota and Lexus work and installer mentioned that about 1 in 5 BT45’s are defective. My Bluetooth connects fine via SAT but has several other issues: aux doesn’t work, steering wheel controls don’t work, bluetooth calls don’t auto-switch the input. Installer wants to warranty the unit.

 

[skiwpk]

Just had a BT45 installed today at a shop locally that does a lot of Toyota and Lexus work and installer mentioned that about 1 in 5 BT45’s are defective. My Bluetooth connects fine via SAT but has several other issues: aux doesn’t work, steering wheel controls don’t work, bluetooth calls don’t auto-switch the input. Installer wants to warranty the unit.

Update: installer warranted the unit and I’m hopefully getting the new one swapped this week.

Related question: from my IOS device the BT45 bluetooth connection seems to be on 24/7. It obviously connects when I’m in the car with ignition on, but it is on and able to connect with the radio off, with no key in the ignition, with the car locked and me 50 feet away in the house. Is this normal? If so wouldn’t this drain the battery? One would think the device would turn off with the car...

 

[highonpottery]

no real input on your situation other than saying I've had one of these in my 100 for several years and love it, I'd say it's a must-have for our older head units. It does sometimes have connectivity issues, especially when I'm trying to switch between multiple phones after one's already connected - I turn off BT on the connected phone, turn off the head unit/on gain and then connect the new phone, sometimes it will take a minute or two to register connected, other times it's within seconds. Haven't noticed anything about it staying connected when off, but we've left the 100 sitting for like a week with phones in range the whole time and it doesn't seem to drain the battery. Good luck

 

[jharley]

So I just installed this in my "new" 2002 LC. I plugged the cable from the BT45 directly into the head unit, WITHOUT using the included Y/Splice harness, nor the "required" CAS-TLC harness for my specific vehicle. The purpose of those harnesses is to preserve function of the CD changer in our vehicles---in my case, the CD changer doesn't work anyway. Set my dip switches to CD1 I believe as the manual suggests.

Regarding connectivity with car off--mine can only be connected with the car on.

I like it so far, but I have noticed a few times where I am listening to something, then I'll get a BEEP and the head unit will have switched itself to AM radio. Not sure wtf that is about.

 

[skiwpk]

Update: installer warrantied the first BT45 unit, got a new one directly from USA Spec that they bench tested, installer spent 8 hours re-installing then fiddling, but never got it to work as it should. Minor (but annoying issues): AUX doesn’t work, steering wheel controls don’t work, bluetooth calls don’t auto-switch the input. Major issue (which is why I had the installer pull out BT45 entirely): unit seemed to get continuous power. Would not turn off with the key out of the ignition, leading to draw of 150mA+ even several hours after car was shut down. Seems I need to try this myself on an upcoming weekend. Any tips in the meantime, please let me know.