EC Off Road CarPlay/Android DIY Install for 2016 Land Cruiser (2 Viewers)

[DomSmith]

EC Off Road CarPlay/Android DIY Install for 2016 Land Cruiser

(Updated with correct rear screen video connections).

*****Perform at your own risk! I am not liable for trying to help you out and you f*** something up. But it’s pretty straightforward…

There is a thread on this CarPlay/Android unit here:

EC Offroad CarPlay Solutions For 2016+ 200 Series LC

======= A NEW VERSION OF THIS MODULE WAS RELEASED IN SEPTEMBER OF 2020. I HAVE STARTED A NEW THREAD FOR DISCUSSING THE NEW VERSION HERE. ======= I have placed an order for the interface module unit that adds CarPlay to 2018-2020 LC's, but wanted to start a new thread as discussion of this...

forum.ih8mud.com

I wanted to do a write up of the installation of the CarPlay/Android unit sold by EC Off Road (Car Android Head Units Touch Screen Multimedia Systems GPS Navigation) out of Australia to document my experience and hopefully this thread is some help to others. There are other options, but this is the one I chose. I am not a car stereo expert or electronic wiz, I’m a cruiser enthusiast that likes to take on projects and do things myself when possible. This is obviously not the only way to do this so if you have a better way, positive input, constructive criticism or simply like to flame people go ahead.

Special thanks to @greynolds and others for their input and assistance.



For my 2016 I purchased this unit...

Interface Module unit For LandCruiser 200, Car Play & GPS, Android system. 2016-July 2018

I used three different resources for instructions along with tips from @greynolds and others:

• The one-page instructions that shipped with the unit.
• A PDF that I received via email from EC Off Road.
• A you tube video posted on the NaviPlus thread by @stolikat.

One-page sheet that came with the unit:

 

[DomSmith]

Here are the PDF’s supplied by email…

 

[DomSmith]

I posted pictures of the unit on the other thread but will add them here as well…



Basic components:

One white RCA cable that connects the one yellow RCA coming from the main EC Harness (V-IN) to one of the many yellow RCA plugs going into the EC box (V-OUT). *I initially did not use this which caused no video to rear screens...

GPS antenna...

LVDS Cable which gets connected to the screen...

USB Bundle...

 

[DomSmith]

AV/CAM Bundle (this did not get connected to anything but the control box)...

DTV/V (IN/OUT) Bundle. Must connect the white RCA cable to yellow "V-OUT" RCA plug in this bundle.

(Initially this this did not get connected to anything but the control box, causing no video to the rear screens)...

Speaker…

Main Power Bundle. This includes the "V-IN" RCA plug that connects to the white RCA cable above, then to V-OUT in the bundle to get video to the rear screens.

WIFI Antenna...

 

[DomSmith]

Control Box...

All laid out…

 

[DomSmith]

I read the simple PDF instructions and watched the youtube install video a few times before getting into this.

Here are the tools I used:

Blue Painters tape
Multiple towels
Interior trim pry tools
10mm nut driver
10mm ratcheting wrench
10mm socket, extension and ratchet
Small hex key
Small flat head screwdriver (wrapped in blue tape)
Zip ties
Wire cutters
Electrical loom tape (non-adhesive)
Electrical tape


A Few notes: I placed each piece on a workbench next to the car after removal to prevent stepping on something or damaging it. I wrapped the ends of the pry tools with blue tape to help prevent scratches or marring. I did not mess with the DIP switches on the EC box. The instruction sheet shows they don’t do anything so maybe for a different application? (EDIT: EC says to leave the DIP switches as they came). I did take photos of all the wiring connections prior to pulling anything apart. I also considered running a longer yellow RCA cable with trigger wire to the glove box in case I wanted to add another camera in the future without pulling this all apart again but I chose not to.


I did have 2 fails during the install that may have been prevented with a little more care. They aren’t big issues for some but for me they bug me a lot. My OCD strikes again. I’m working on just letting things go.



Install begins...


First I disconnected the battery. Then I came to realize why they send you an EC Off Road coozie. It makes the install more enjoyable...

Next I taped off some of the areas that I thought might be scratched or damaged during disassembly. This actually turned out to be harder than I thought because the blue painter’s tape did not like to stick to the surrounding soft trim very well. Hard surfaces yes, but the vinyl/leather no.

Next I Pried up the top speaker grill using the interior pry tool. I started in the rear corner on the driver’s side. Unplug the sensor wire to completely remove the grill. This plug has a tendency to fall back in so be sure it’s accessible when putting it all back together. (Sorry I didn't include this pic, too many files attached already).

Next I moved to the lower kick panels (drivers and passengers). These were hard to get off but they will come. Just be sure to move along the edges and to pull very close to the attachments (see pic). These pieces will flex and could possibly be damaged or bent if you pull too far away from the attachment points.

After the kick panels are off you need to remove the equal sized hard plastic cover pieces behind them. They are held on with two 10mm screws (blue arrows) and one plastic push in retaining clip (red arrow). I used a small hex key and gently pushed in on the center of the black plastic pin to release the push in retaining clip located closest to the firewall. I like to use nut drivers on the nuts so you don’t get too much torque and overtighten. 4 of these bolts screw into plastic and it's easy to strip them if you overtighten! The other two are threaded into metal. As you can see from the pic I had to use the ratcheting 10 mm wrench on one bolt due to access. Repeat for each side. Once the fasteners are out you can pull these panels off. Everything was snug and some reasonable force was used but remember if it’s not coming off double check before you break something. There were several times where the pieces popped off with some force and I could’ve easily scratched some things.

Releasing the plastic fastener...

 

[DomSmith]

Next I pulled off the vents. I put blue tape around the screen to prevent any damage. Again, these were snug and I was nervous about scratching stuff. The easiest place to start for me was at the top of the vents because the top speaker grill removal allowed a purchase point to pull with your fingers. Then I used a pry tool to work my way down to the bottom. Be careful here not to scratch anything.


Next I removed the mid panels on the sides of the head unit. These pull out mostly forward but at a very slight angle and once removed the driver’s side needs the START button unplugged to completely remove it. Be careful that the wire doesn’t get pushed back into the dash while you are fiddling with the install as it had a tendency to hide itself.

At this point I unscrewed the shift knob and wrapped it in a cloth and taped it up. I did not use the shift override to pull it away from the console. I laid down a few towels below the unit to provide some protection.

Once all the trim is removed you can move on to the screen and then head unit. There are 6 visible 12mm bolts at this point and 2 hidden behind the screen. You can do just the 4 for the screen but I did all 6 at this point (you can see the 3 on this side in the pic). Once removed I was able to firmly pull out the screen. Again, it takes some force. Be sure all the bolts are out.

Once removed there is not a lot of wiggle room with the wires connected. Make sure you’ve got a towel between at the front of the head unit (not seen in this pic). Pull the screen and set it down close to the head unit. Be extra careful here. Later in the process of fitting the wiring and pulling and installing the screen a few times I did get a scratch on the faceplate of the head unit near the volume knob. The metal bracket for the screen is protruded and will scratch your s***! Fail #1.

I disconnected all 4 wires and placed the screen on the workbench. The blue CONNECTOR wire is the only one that you will need to swap and connect to the EC unit…

 

[DomSmith]

Next comes the lower door assembly. I used tape below it and again the painter tape did not stick that well so be diligent. I also added a towel near it to help with protection.

This literally just pulls straight out but this one was again very stiff. You can see in the pic below that there are 2 connectors on each side. Here they are just barely pulled out. Pulling near these will help.

Here it is removed. The cover door trim looks replaceable with screws attaching it so I am hoping maybe the head unit faceplate is as well if the scratch I caused bothers me too much. Since my scratch came after I had re-installed the head unit I didn’t look to see if it has a removable faceplate. I recall my 2004 was not replaceable but I could be wrong.

 

[DomSmith]

Next I removed the last two 10mm bolts and the head unit could be removed. A straight pull out. I was lucky to have noticed that one of the yellow clips had come off and almost fell into the crevice of never to be found. It was the lower clip so back on it went. It snaps into place.

Fell off here:

Re-installed...

 

[DomSmith]

There are only 2 wires to remove from the back of the head unit. The larger one needs to be released with a screwdriver or the like. I made a note of how it released on the harness from the EC Off Road unit so it was easy. All the other clips are pretty straightforward. I did not struggle to remove or install any of the plugs. If it’s really difficult or you’re feeling a lot of resistance something is wrong.

I just let this rest on the towels during the job and did not unplug everything...

The wiring is straightforward. I left everything connected to the EC unit before installing and just ran the EC wiring main power bundle down from the upper area (screen) to the lower area (head unit). You will see the OEM looms and I just followed them. I connected the large and small connector from the OEM plug into the EC harness and the new EC harness into the back of the head unit. Only 2 wires. Then the blue connectors from the EC unit to the OEM harness and screen. It’s self-explanatory and there’s no way to plug the wrong thing into anything.

 

[DomSmith]

EDIT: Initially I made the mistake of not hooking up the yellow RCA's that allow video to pass through to the rear screens. Looking back now it was pretty straightforward so I won't make any excuses. Bottom line is you use the supplied white RCA cable to connect two of the yellow RCA plugs together. The yellow "V-IN" plug from the main EC Off Road harness (there's only one RCA) and the yellow "V-OUT" plug in the DTV/V (IN/OUT) Bundle. To be sure they didn't come loose I added a bit of yellow electrical tape on the connectors:

To secure the unit I decided to use good quality adhesive Velcro on the rear air ducts and on the EC unit and a zip tie to the lower metal support tube behind the dash.

I oriented the EC box with the writing upside down based on how the wiring fit best inside the cavity. EDIT: This did not last long. After opening everything up again for the rear screen debacle it seemed like the unit had settled down a little and the USB wiring plug was resting on the metal cross bar. I resolved this by adding some foam to the edge of the unit on each end to keep it off the metal. I also re-did the zip tie so it wasn't quite so tight. Now it rests up a little higher and the wiring looks better. I also found the speaker had fallen off from it's initial location so I removed the sticky foam from the back of it and used the same 3M velcro to secure it on the EC box. This is an updated pic with the new location of the speaker and the mounted box with foam...

Wifi antenna…

I zip tied it up on the loom of the temp sensor…

 

[DomSmith]

Speaker was initially placed loosely towards the driver’s side but eventually was stuck on the vent duct on the passenger side. As stated above the speaker did not stay put. It is now attached off to the edge of the EC box with 3M velcro. We'll see how it stays.

I initially routed the 3 USB cables to the glove box using the air filter door. The access panel cover closes on one side and will stay on but it’s a little wonky.

UPDATE: I moved the 2 USB cords to the lower portion of the cabin air filter door and it closes just fine now...

I eventually decided to run the cord labelled “USB” (USB 0 in the instructions) under the center console and out the passenger side near the carpet. No need to remove anything just push it up under the trim near the carpet. I’m not sure of the final location for this USB yet.

GPS antenna was placed under the top dash grill near the driver’s side front. When I first installed this the grill didn’t sit quite flush, maybe a 1/32” gap. So I took it off again and moved the antenna forward (closer to the occupants) and it sat flush.

 

[DomSmith]

Once everything was connected, I tested the system. I attached the negative battery cable and turned on the ignition. It powered up and went straight to this screen…

Then the Toyota startup screen and it seemed good to go. To get the CarPlay app to connect I had to plug in my phone to the USB…

I shut everything down and organized the wiring the way I wanted and zip tied the loom together. I finalized the locations of the EC Unit components as stated above and secured them.



Re-installing all the Toyota trim components was pretty straightforward. Just be sure you have enough room behind the head unit as it’s a little snug with the EC wiring loom. I just pushed the connectors off to one side. Once the head unit was back in and secured with the 4 bolts I pushed the cubby door trim piece on. Then on to the screen. I put it in place and removed it a few times resting it in front of the head unit. I did not pay attention to the fact that I didn’t have the towel in front of the head unit and noticed after install that it had scratched the face. Bummer.

Once the screen is in place and secured with the 4 bolts it was easy to add the vents, under kick panels and covers, etc. I used the 10mm nut driver where possible to prevent overtightening. As a side note on the plastic interior kick panels the small black push in fastener pin gets pushed in to release. When you are putting it back together you have to pull that pin out to get the fastener in the hole then push it back flush to secure.



The second fail was much less obvious but is concerning to me. After putting the top dash grill piece back on I removed the blue painter’s tape from the top of the MFD and it seemed to pull a tiny bit of plastic covering off the piano black finish? At first I thought it was tape residue but the more I looked it seems like the thin protective film that you would cover something with to keep it from getting scratched but would be removed after taking delivery. But it’s definitely not supposed to be coming off in my opinion. So I guess I’m just stuck with it. I’m mostly just concerned for what happens over time. Not very noticeable unless you’re looking for it but it bugs me. I have worse scratches on the truck but for some reason this one makes me mad. I honestly don’t know how it could have been prevented except for not taping that area and risking a scratch or being extra careful peeling the tape off. Maybe peel from front to back so you’re not pulling towards you at the edge of the film?

I won’t booger up this thread with a lot of details about the operation of the unit but it’s nice to have CarPlay even if it is a work around of the Toyota system.


And Netflix works too...

 

[Sac Cerevisiae]

View attachment 2400684

Touché Screem..... not inspiring confidence in their product.

Great write up!

 

[dnh1]

This is a very nicely detailed and informative post. I hope you enjoy it. I have the Naviplus and have really enjoyed it. I was in the NC mountains last weekend and Google Maps helped me avoid two major traffic jams on the interstate. That is pretty cool that you have Netflix. I can't do that with the Naviplus unit. Then again, I would probably crash if I had that.

I am trying to be sure that this unit does not have a wireless connection for CarPlay? It seems very nice but it is apparently over $500 more than Naviplus which does have a wireless connection. I am sure I am missing something. In the end, its just nice to have CarPlay as opposed to the factory system, however it gets done.

 

[greynolds]

This is a very nicely detailed and informative post. I hope you enjoy it. I have the Naviplus and have really enjoyed it. I was in the NC mountains last weekend and Google Maps helped me avoid two major traffic jams on the interstate. That is pretty cool that you have Netflix. I can't do that with the Naviplus unit. Then again, I would probably crash if I had that.

I am trying to be sure that this unit does not have a wireless connection for CarPlay? It seems very nice but it is apparently over $500 more than Naviplus which does have a wireless connection. I am sure I am missing something. In the end, its just nice to have CarPlay as opposed to the factory system, however it gets done.

It does not support wireless CarPlay. EC Offroad said they used to support it but found it to be unreliable. My opinion is that I would want to plug the phone in to charge anyway for anything other than a quick trip, so wireless isn't a big deal.

 

[DomSmith]

Touché Screem..... not inspiring confidence in their product.

Yes those things are not ideal for perception, at least to me (and sounds like you too!). I'm hoping it's not a big reflection on the product itself but time will tell.

I really wanted to be very transparent on everything so people can evaluate and decide whats best for their purposes.

 

[Romer]

Now that is what I call an Install thread

Added to the FAQ!

Thanks for putting in the effort

 

[DomSmith]

I was told via email that it did support wireless CarPlay so there's obviously some miscommunication somewhere.

I'm of the thought that wired is much better but I like to keep my options open. I tried really hard to use the limited functionality of Entune back when it had Pandora built in. Wireless connectivity was a mess and always having to relaunch the app on the phone was cumbersome to say the least. Then Pandora went away and now it's dead to me. This seems like a viable option for Waze, Pandora, Google maps, etc while still retaining full functionality of the stock system. I will say I'm easy to please having come from the 100 series MFD system.

I'm sure both of the current units people are installing have their pros and cons and I don't know if one is better than the other.

I'm glad folks are enjoying the NaviPlus unit. I'm sure they will both improve over time!

 

[DomSmith]

Now that is what I call an Install thread

Added to the FAQ!

Thanks for putting in the effort

Thanks Romer!