Chrisw83

Glad it helped you, that was my goal with this. I learned after I bought the parking brake bypass that you dont even need it. Just ground it lol

AleksanderSuave

I wonder if that workaround is specific only to certain brands of radios?

the one I bought is a pioneer (my only regret is that it doesnt have buttons), and read other DIY installs where pioneer and alpine both tried a couple of methods like that, and ended with buying a bypass. Figure for $10 it was a small loss if its a placebo.

Also, did you end up going the fused route after all, or figured out somewhere else to tap in?

arms

Hi all, I am new here and have a question on the installation I am installing the Sony ax5000. Chrisw83 gave an excellent post on the wiring. However I have one question that you may be able to help with. Where do I get the interface cable that goes from the wiring harness to the radio harness? A part number would be great.If not I guess I will have to splice the harness and I would rather not.Thanks .

Chrisw83

Afaik it should work for most brands, but dont hold me to that.
I used the fuse route but honestly sometimes the radio will power up but the adapter will now. Going to dig into this problem shortly

Mine came with the kit I bought, its no longer available on Amazon but I think you can order one from crutchfield.

AleksanderSuave

You can order the adapter from crutchfield or Amazon.

Depending on your model year and radio inside you’ll need either this Metra 70-9003 Radio Wiring Harness for Audi/BMW/VW 2002-Up
or this Metra 70-1784 Radio Wiring Harness for Audi 88-99/Volkswagen 80-Up
I used the second one but watched a YouTube video of another guy’s install and he used the first one, his car looked almost identical to mine but when he pulled the radio the factory wiring plugs were different.

order both and you’ll see which one you need.

don’t forget the radio antenna adapter Metra 40-EU10 Antenna to Radio Adapter Cable for Select 2002-Up BMW/Volkswagen Vehicles,Black

arms

Thanks Alex, So I looked at mine and I am sure the one connector is the Metra 70-1784. So the other connector 20 pin is not used at all?

AleksanderSuave

correct, one of the two connectors ends up being unused, I believe its the Can-BUS connector, which would make sense, since you lose some communicative features when removing the factory PCM radio (dont know what they are, I havent seen much of a difference)

You will only be using the connector from the factory vehicle wiring that provides ground, 12v battery wire, and the power on for the antenna.

In my photo with the harness attached in an earlier post, youll see a big black plug, that only has a black, a yellow, and a blue with white stripe for that.

keep in mind, you will need to de-pin and relocate the wires into the correct slots in the metra plug, if you want the wire colors to be accurate.

arms

Thanks all, my stuff will be in by the end of the week. Will let you all know what happens.

arms

Thanks for all the pictures and answers to my questions. I got everything done and it is working. Installed the backup camera also. Only thing left is the mic for the phone. As I installed the Sony ax5000 and sure boost some sound. These cars are little and no need for high volume LOL. Thanks again

Chrisw83

So at the time I started this thread I was daily driving my car and never ran into any issues. Well I am only driving the car now about 2x a week and randomly the audio does not come through. I decided to see if it was a radio issue or if its an adapter issue by buying rca to aux cable and the audio comes through to my head phones but wont come through through the car speakers. Any of you guys ran into an issue that if the car is off for a few days that the audio does not come through the adapter? I dont know if this is an issue from day 1 or just started to happen sadly.

arms

Not as of now. I have the same radio and setup. Only thing I could say is a loose connection. Especially after all that wire pulling we did.

Schwinn

Funny, I just read on a thread somewhere recently that some people have seen their MOST adapters get finicky on start up. Sometimes they don't activate properly and therefore don't convert the signals... and rebooting them (powering the car off and then back on, I guess?) fixes it? Have you tried that?

The test you describe is a good idea... as I think you're putting this between the RCA out of the HU and the input on the adapter, correct? That's a perfect place to check for this issue.

If you don't have an adapter, you could use a DVM... play some song (maybe a little "louder) and then check the AC voltage between the pin and barrel of either RCA connector. You should see some voltage there (typically <5V... probably around 1-2V depending on how much noise is coming through - you could use a white noise source to make it "consistent" rather than audio which varies a lot). You can also mute the radio and see that you get ~0V... this would save you from having to find/buy an adapter.

Chrisw83

My first thought was a loose connection, but I had already soldiered everything so I went and checked all of the pins in the connectors, everything is good.

So if I let the car sit for a few days then drive it, no audio. But lets say I drive it for 5 minutes and run into a store, when I come back out the radio works. So I think you are right that the adapter is getting finicky on start up. I think the car and adapter both have to "reset"

Correct, so what I did with the car running was unplugged the rca cables from the most adapter and plugged my headphones into those ports, also did the other 2 ports (2 ports for front and 2 ports for rear). I had also troubleshooted to make sure it wasnt the radio signal so tried bluetooth audio from my phone. But I am almost certain its the adapter now with this test

For the last paragraph are you talking about finding an rca to aux adapter? Walmart had one for $4, I think you can also buy them from the dollar stores for a little cheaper. I did test the voltages and stuff and everything seemed pretty accurate. Just cant really test the fiber input/output afaik

Thanks!

Schwinn

Correct, I was saying to use a DVM to test the voltage on the RCAs, so you can save yourself the trip/purchase for the adapter. If you can get the adapter easily, that's fine too, of course. Both will get you the same answer (RCA adapter may be a little easier if you're not as familiar with DVM usage).

Correct, I don't know of a way to test fiber. However, assuming it's visible light, you could disconnect it and look at it... in many cases, audio optical is a red light (eg home theater optical), so you might be able to see the light flickering, etc. If it's IR, your cellphone may be able to see it as human vision can't see IR, but cameras sometimes can (if it's near-IR and if there's no IR filter on the lens). I do this sometimes for remote controls, for example.

OKAYIMS

Having a hard time getting illumination to work. Found what appears to be two pairs of red/grey (albeit looks more light blue) in the harness behind the HVAC controller as in the CAI instructions, even tested with my meter showing 12v when lights are on and 0 when off, however the Sony does not respond by dimming.

Any ideas here?