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I gotta say, I'm so glad I stumbled on this thread. The previous owner had installed a Nav-TV box with aux rca cables, and I was using this third party Anker bluetooth transmitter to get by. It wasn't the best in terms of functionality and when music was paused, there would be this soft whine that would get louder as the revs got higher while driving.
I decided to get the LAPower unit as suggested by this thread. The sound quality and integration into the PCM are fantastic. My only real criticism is that the instructions that came in the kit were pretty much useless. The posts in this thread were far more useful. Huge thanks to the posters here by the way! Installation was quite painless as well, the Nav-TV box installed previously follows the same idea, so the fiber optic loop work and the cd changer bypass was already done. All I needed to do was swap out the box and rewire the power cables. I did accidentally burn the PCM's fuse, but thanks to the posts in this thread, I was able to quickly locate and replace the fuse.
This is the real deal folks, bluetooth integration is great, and the soft whine I had with the previous set up is completely gone. The only thing I still can't figure out is how to Pause/Resume playback with the PCM buttons. I don't have a multifunction wheel, and it seems none of the other PCM buttons can replicate the functionality.
How did you guys set up the 4 pins at the bottom of the LApower? And is it necessary to run a firmware update? If yes how?
thanks
It depends what you need.
I remember from the instructions that one pin disables the LaPower hands free in case you have the OEM hands free option.
The other pins are adjusting how loud the input is but I left all standard what works fine for me.
One unexpected feature I discovered. The LAPower will apparently connect to two phones simultaneously. I was in the 911 with my daughter who was streaming music via her phone to the LApower when I got a call on my phone. The music paused and the call connected via the LAPower. Wow! The factory bluetooth in our other cars don't do that (2014 VW and 2015 4Runner).
I believe tapping into fuse C1 or C5 - switched power should solve tis problem no?
Originally Posted by TheBruce
It turns out the LaPower unit has been causing a substantial parasitic battery drain every night - because I wasnt locking my car doors in the garage. If you lock your car doors the car goes into a low power mode and shuts that aux power circuit down. If you dont, even though the PCM is shut off the bluetooth module stays powered on. I was drawing -2.5 amps with the car off and doors unlocked and that dropped to -0.02 amps with the doors locked.
So in conclusion...either tap the PCM power cable or if you have already tapped the Aux cable, just make sure you lock your doors at night.
question to those of you whom have this awesome laPower unit installed on cars with multifunction steering wheels - i am reading that the MF steering wheel buttons can be used can be used, can someone with the MF wheel elaborate?
does the PHONE button on the steering wheel can be pressed to pick up incoming calls? can it also be pressed to activate some sort of phone menu (after which you would select the phone name/number) can call outwards? currently I just use the tranzit blu button and tell siri who to call.
Sucessfully installed my unit today. I have an 05 launch edition so a late 2004 production with PCM 2.1, Bose, Navigation but NO CD CHANGER. There was an early discussion about needing to activate the cd changer loop for the unit to work but because the PCM works with a fiber optic loop and the LAPower unit is installed sequentially right before the return fiber optic input into the head unit, I can see why not having a cd changer isn't an issue.
Haven't fully explored functionality, but so far so good. Great sound, no background noise and having had the Tranzlt Blu unit as well, I think this is better.
question to those of you whom have this awesome laPower unit installed on cars with multifunction steering wheels - i am reading that the MF steering wheel buttons can be used can be used, can someone with the MF wheel elaborate?
This I dont know but I assume so.
Sucessfully installed my unit today. I have an 05 launch edition so a late 2004 production with PCM 2.1, Bose, Navigation but NO CD CHANGER. There was an early discussion about needing to activate the cd changer loop for the unit to work but because the PCM works with a fiber optic loop and the LAPower unit is installed sequentially right before the return fiber optic input into the head unit, I can see why not having a cd changer isn't an issue.
Haven't fully explored functionality, but so far so good. Great sound, no background noise and having had the Tranzlt Blu unit as well, I think this is better.
Great job @SWO Daddy and thanks for clarifying on the CD changer. I just had a question from somebody on that the other day.
Also, quick update: I mentioned my USB cable stopped charging. I finally pulled out the unit to check what was going on and the USB cable had fallen out. I would recommend you put some electrical tape to hold the USB cable in. Its pretty loose and if you pull the cable too hard it can easily fall out.
Hi Bruce, Thanks for your reply -I will try to rewrite my questions and conclusion:
Yes the LaPower is installed.
To begin with my setup was following: PCM 2.1 with single CD, TEL module under front passenger-seat, No CD-changer, bluetooth or other devices connected.
I then installed the LaPower unit, connecting all wires as subscribed. My iPhone connected fine with the LaPower, but iPhone didn´t show on the PCM -I could hear music ande transfer calls from iPhone to car speakers.
Becasue my iPhone didn´t show on PCM, I decided to disconnected the TEL-module, and make a wire loop with the fibre/optic cables from the TEL-module. Turned everything on again, and the iPhone now showed on the PCM with name and signal-strength as you described, BUT everytime I turn the car on, I have to confirm Phone-Modul not active on the PCM-screen!
Question: Do you think it will help to re-active or de-active TEL in PCM with coding??
This was not a question, but a conclusion:-) my iPad mini is already installed in the car, and the LaPower works great with multiple bluetooth devices connected:-)
Another question: When you receive or making a phone call in the car, which speakers are then active??
When I listen to music all speakers are active, but when I make or receive calls only the speaker at the passenger-footwell is active
T.Hasse
I have the same situation with the factory phone module blocking the BT phone function of the LaPower unit. I was planning to remove the factory phone module from the MOST ring and expect the BT phone will activate after that, but with a new error message on the PCM. Did you try having the PCM reprogrammed to turn off the factory phone module feature? I think that would work since those without the factory module are having success.
Hi all, I received the new cables and proceeded with the reposition of the device in the cabin. Compared to having it in the front trunk, I can connect the microphone which is good. But the on the PCM it doesn't appear my iPhone... strangely enough it says no SIM card like the original telephone module is active. Though I can smoothly have phone calls via bluetooth. Any one has the trick for this?
Secondly, I cannot find a good position for the LApower in the central console. I put it now with some tape on the driver side at the back of the Aircon pipe which brings fresh air to the passenger footwell. But it doesn't look like an hospitable place for the device and very close to the accelerator pedal. Any suggestion?
sorry, on the contrary, when LApower was in the frunk, connected instead of the CD charger without loop, the iPhone was appearing but I was having every time the attached message.
I’m just dealing with the same issue. My car had the factory phone module but no cd changer. If you get a “no SIM card” message you have the factory phone module under the front passenger seat, and you have to take it out of the MOST ring to fully enable the BT phone functions. Once you do the phone buttons on your PCM will become functional with the Lapower unit, but you will get a new message something like “phone not available”. Since people who never had the phone module are not getting this message I believe the answer is to have your dealer turn off the factory phone option in your PCM program. I’m having that done next Wednesday and I will report back with the results.
Its to also interesting that my car, a 2007, did not have the cd changer but the Lapower unit worked without activating the cd changer program function. I can only conclude that the later cars had a more plug and play feature for the cd changer.
To unplug the phone module:
1. Raise up and move back the passenger seat. You don’t have to but it’s easier yet if you unbolt it and tilt it back, especially if you plan to mount the BT unit in this location.
2. There is a black cover pan under the seat and the phone module is mounted to the underside of it.
3. Pull back the carpet along the front edge of the cover plate and remove two bolts.
4. Lift the plate up and forward, detach the clip holding the wiring harness to the floor to get slack, then turn over the plate and unplug the MOST connector.
5. Peel back some tape on the wire harness to free up some fiber optic cable. You can now splice through the MOST ring like you would the cd changer and be done, or as I did just locate your Lapower unit at this location as a replacement to the factory phone module. If you do this you can tap your power from the connector that used to feed the factory phone module. The power wires loop in and out of the phone module connector so there appears to be two 12+ and two 12- wires side by side in the connector. The positive is red with a green stripe and the negative is the other paired wire (don’t remember the color). With the connector unplugged, use a multi tester to identify a combination that is constant hot.
6. If you install the BT at this location you need to mount it under the plate or it will hit the seat. So you need to attach any cables first. You can remove the inner door sill trim to route the mic cable forward and tuck it under the carpet upper edge in the passenger footwell all the way over to the PCM stack and then to the steering wheel location.
7. This makes a super clean install using the factory MOST ring location and everything is mounted where the factory had it. You will have to make a strap to mount the BT to the underside of the factory phone module mounting plate, or just use some double sided foam tape or Velcro to mount it to the the floor below the plate.
03-18-2018, 08:50 PM
