Dual DIN 7" Touch screen radio install

[Crono0001]

So I got everything to hook up and work. The system is a little... slow... and I haven't really tested out the navigation yet. Bluetooth works fine, and I'm happy about that.

However, my sound does not work! I've checked the speakers (Vehicle Harness C, the yellow one) time and time again, and I don't know what the middle right wire is. It says System Remote Turn On (AMP), but my navigation system doesn't have a wire that hooks up to that. The speakers are all hooked up correctly, as i've checked them multiple times. Any idea?

EDIT: Turns out it was the amp cord. I don't have an AMP, so I just hooked it up to the ACC, and it worked great.

I have mixed feelings about this GPS system, and maybe those of you who bought it can chime in. The radio works great, and the bluetooth phone thing is so-so. I can't seem to make it so that it talks through my car's mic. Instead, it seems to talk through my own phone's mic, and just bluetooths to my car's speakers. I want to be able to talk to my car and have my phone in my pocket, but it's not working like that. I still have to hold the phone and talk to it.
My GPS is just pathetic. The logic sucks, and the roads don't display very efficiently at all. You can travel up to a road and it won't display what it is until you're on it. Not to mention, once you exit out of the navigation, I can't get back INTO navigation. It just won't load.

Did I get a faulty unit? It also seems A LOT slower than the one that jb92563 posted. I'm really quite upset about that. Same exact menus... just slower

[Crono0001]

Broken navigation - YouTube

[Crono0001]

Also worth noting, the bezel faceplate that came with the installation kit didn't work. This GPS system is too large. I'm going to have to find another faceplate.

If anyone has a plastic faceplate bezel for GPS systems, or would like to make one, I would happily purchase it from you

[SoK]

thanks for posting the issues with this unit. hopefully someone will post back and have some advice for correcting it. honestly looks like it could be a malfunctioning HU.

Try powering it off for a while and booting everything back up?

[Crono0001]

The guys at eurospeed motors were nice enough (upon request after a phonecall informing them that I BROKE their bezel faceplate :P ) to send me extra bezel faceplates. I'm gonna experiment with them in order to try to get it to fit this cheap aftermarket unit.

In all seriousness though, I've compared this unit to my brother's kenwood, and there's no competition. There's a reason why this unit is cheap. It just... feels cheap. The buttons aren't responsive, the GPS is buggy as hell, it's slow... Just a lot of stuff that can be improved.

The blue tooth is really cool though, I must say. Hearing my phone calls over the speakers is awesome, even if I still have to talk through my phone.

[tony_fury]

Crono0001:
Good luck with that unit..

I always had good luck with Kenwood, I have a DNX8120 in my Toyota Tacoma so I stayed with Kenwood. HD Radio, Garmin GPS, Backup cam
Garmin GPS is one of the best in my opinion.

If you contemplate returning that unit, here's a link to the unit I purchased.
Best price I found on the web $625 free shipping and no tax, normally $849 here in Cali.
This unit rocks, iPhone power via cable, HD radio built in, and Pandora
BRAND NEW KENWOOD DNX6190HD DVD/ GARMIN GPS/IPOD/NAVI/BLUETOOTH & HD RADIO 019048198242 | eBay

[Crono0001]

I may save up another four hundred dollars for the kenwood. We shall see.

As for the DIY part. It was really straightforward plug and play. If I can do it, ANYBODY can.

The system, although cheap and full of quirks, is still usable. And it does update the look of the car a fair amount. When I finish my faceplate and have everything re-assembled, I will take some pictures.

I do highly recommend the install kit by Eurospeed that you see on e-bay. It may be another $160, but they have some really convenient stuff in there. The cage is solid, and the wiring harnesses fit super easy.

[SoloBox1]

I have the same system and had no problems with the unit. The sound is great with the BOSE sound system. I had to by pass the BOSE MOST amp, but it sounds better. I may by a new amp later but I really don't need one. I also got the euro kit and made a few modifications and it fits now. The NAVI works good also, I put the GPS antenna under the alarm cover in the dash where it cant be seen.

After
Attachment 16448

[Crono0001]

You just trimmed the bottom to make it a little larger right?

I'm starting to think I got a faulty unit since my GPS is ass

[particlewave]

Dude, shrink those pics....I can see the individual atoms in your dash!

[SoloBox1]

I agree, I will remove them. I have tried to shrink them but it not working. May post later if I can figure out how to make them smaller.

[BruceH]

Originally Posted by SoloBox1

I agree, I will remove them. I have tried to shrink them but it not working. May post later if I can figure out how to make them smaller.

Try Ifranview for resizing. Very simple and quick.

[jb92563]

Originally Posted by Crono0001

So I got everything to hook up and work. The system is a little... slow... and I haven't really tested out the navigation yet. Bluetooth works fine, and I'm happy about that.

However, my sound does not work! I've checked the speakers (Vehicle Harness C, the yellow one) time and time again, and I don't know what the middle right wire is. It says System Remote Turn On (AMP), but my navigation system doesn't have a wire that hooks up to that. The speakers are all hooked up correctly, as i've checked them multiple times. Any idea?

EDIT: Turns out it was the amp cord. I don't have an AMP, so I just hooked it up to the ACC, and it worked great.

I have mixed feelings about this GPS system, and maybe those of you who bought it can chime in. The radio works great, and the bluetooth phone thing is so-so. I can't seem to make it so that it talks through my car's mic. Instead, it seems to talk through my own phone's mic, and just bluetooths to my car's speakers. I want to be able to talk to my car and have my phone in my pocket, but it's not working like that. I still have to hold the phone and talk to it.
My GPS is just pathetic. The logic sucks, and the roads don't display very efficiently at all. You can travel up to a road and it won't display what it is until you're on it. Not to mention, once you exit out of the navigation, I can't get back INTO navigation. It just won't load.

Did I get a faulty unit? It also seems A LOT slower than the one that jb92563 posted. I'm really quite upset about that. Same exact menus... just slower

Try using the reset button that is next to the mini usb connection.
You may have to reset multiple times. Its a quirk of Win CE that runs on the Navigation side of this unit.

I have worked with other WinCE devices and they exhibit the same quirk and I sometimes have to reset the unit 3 times after changing files on the navigator SD chip.

If you change any files on GPS chip the system needs a reset.

Also, the SYGIC gps software that I got is licensed for a particular SD chip so you can not just copy it to another chip and expect it to work.

I hope you got a license SYGIC gps system on the original licensed SD chip.

Mine does not have any of the issues yours is showing so something seems amiss with yours.

From everything that I have researched the way these Navigators are set up is that the GPS side is running on WinCE6 and the Radio/video and other stuff is run by another part of the unit and share the screen. If something is slow on the GPS side it probably needs to be reset. The other funtionality should not be slow.

I am actually impressed by the DVD player as it can play cd's that are so scratched up that neither my other car player nor my PC can play them anymore.

The menus although functional seem to lack some pizzaz in my opinion but overall I still think that it funtions as good or better than the $600-$800 units I played with in the store before deciding to go this route.

Sorry that yours is giving you fits, but perhaps after several resets it will behave properly again.

[particlewave]

Originally Posted by SoloBox1

I agree, I will remove them. I have tried to shrink them but it not working. May post later if I can figure out how to make them smaller.

I was just giving you crap.
They are pretty big, though.

[Crono0001]

After driving around with this GPS unit for a week, I've decided to return it and just upgrade for the full fledged Kenwood :P

[jb92563]

Originally Posted by Crono0001

After driving around with this GPS unit for a week, I've decided to return it and just upgrade for the full fledged Kenwood :P

Can you give the link/seller where you bought your faulty unit to help others avoid the same fate.

A couple of us are having no issues so anyone following this DIY should try the proven sources first for the cheap Chinese navigators if they want to take that route.

[Crono0001]

High Tech 7" Motorized Car GPS Navi DVD CD Player USB/SD Ipod Bluetooth+Camera | eBay

This was the link that I used to buy the unit.
To be honest, it doesn't have much to do with the fact that the unit isn't working as promised. That's secondary to what I believe are the bigger issues. Allow me to list some:

The iPod cord that comes with the unit does not charge my iPhone. It only allows me to play music.
The bluetooth microphone is very low quality, and it's not as clear as I want it to be. It is especially muffled when I'm driving and talking through it.
Connection is slow. There is a lot of lag time between menus, and the logic isn't very well refined.
The bluetooth music does not allow me to browse my music or tell me what's playing... Simply a 'barebone' menu is given.

You get what you pay for. It doesn't lie: it offers all of the features listed... It just feels and functions cheaply. And personally, after trying the Kenwood units, I would much rather have that in my car.

[politby]

Originally Posted by Nimbus117

I bought the fitting kit, it was rubbish. In the end I bought the trim off a member called trieullionaire on RennTech.org for $50, I got a cage with the Pioneer stereo which the trim I bought fits exactly. There is a photo of my installation of the first page of this thread.

The wiring kit that came with the fitting kit was also rubbish, in the end I removed it and bought a new ISO plug and rewired and added the extra wires to the car loom which got rid of the adaptors & mass of wiring. If I want to upgrade in future, the car loom is now standard ISO so never need a wiring kit.

If anyone wants the wiring diagram for a 2003 car, just ask. By the way, you can pick up a 12v+ switched feed from the aircon controller.

I am just about to start a similar install in my '03, similar to yours.

I have a Pioneer SPH-DA100 waiting to be installed along with a Pioneer GM-D9500F amp. My car also has the cupholder above the a/c panel and I want to relocate the a/c controls to where the CD holders are.



The plan is to take out the CD holders, enlarge the cutout and place the A/C panel there so I can keep the red color bezel.

I have ordered the Connects2 double din kit off eBay. Is this the one you referred to as "rubbish?" They say it is for cars without the cup holder but I figured I can lose the cupholder if necessary.

I also have the Autoleads ISO bypass kit. I have yet to figure out how it routes the speaker connections - the wiring diagram you mention would be a great help.

Are all the speakers powered by the factory amp or is the CR23 head unit powering some of the channels? As I understand it all the speaker connections are present in the multi connector at the factory amp and the bypass harness will plug into the factory amp connector and allow the existing speaker wiring to connect to the replacement amp. But at the head unit end I do not know which speakers get connected to the head unit's amp ouputs. My amp does have the large black connector:



The way it looks on the Bose amp pinout, ALL speakers are connected to it. So if any of the speakers are powered by the factory head unit, there would just be a bypass through the amp. I hate this Bose stuff

My plan is to drive the dash and rear mindranges with the head unit's built in amp and use the new amp to power the door speakers and the sub. I will re wire the Bose "subwoofers" in series to get a 4 ohm load and also dampen the rear enclosure while I'm at it.

I also note that the Pio unit you have has the same front panel design as mine - i.e. the display is not flush with the surrounding black frame. How did you get it to sit flush with the dash - did you have to remove the plastic surrounding frame? Did you simply mount the unit deeper into the dash cavity?

[Crono0001]

AFTER TWO WEEKS OF WAITING!!!!


Got everything installed today. All I can say is... wow. The difference between this and the chinese unit... It's not even comparable (well... considering how this one was 3x the chinese one).

Where to begin where to begin. First, let's re-assess why I returned the chinese brand GPS:
1. The GPS was sketchy. It would take forever to load and wasn't very logical. It also lagged. You couldn't see the streets half the damn time, and if you ever exited the GPS, you couldn't get back into it.
2. The Bluetooth was murky. You couldn't hear me half the time. Phonebooks and contacts were not synced. It was basically a telephone on your car, where you'd have to memorize the number, couldn't see who was calling, and they couldn't hear you anyways.
3. The menu was slow, laggy, and un-intuitive. It also wasn't very pretty.
4. The Bluetooth music sync wasn't also very compatible with my iphone. I could play, pause, and go next track or previous track... That was about it. Perhaps the most glaring problem was the fact that the music would cut in and out, depending on where you iPhone was. If it was in your pocket, the music would lag every few seconds!
5. The included ipod cable, although allowed me to play music, didn't charge my phone.


Now let's look at the Kenwood.
1. The GPS is Garmin. It is fast, reliable, easy to use, and even has updated traffic and street view.
2. The Bluetooth is CRYSTAL CLEAR, EVEN WITH THE TOP DOWN ON THE HIGHWAY! Phonebook is synced. I can go through my contacts, recent calls, and even tells me who is calling when I'm getting a call.
3. The menu is lightning fast, beautiful, and easy to navigate. There's no lag, and no frustration trying to go through the menus.
4. The bluetooth music is complete. I can browse my playlists, songs, artists, etc. It shows my album art, and there is absolutely no lag between songs or during songs. Everything is crystal clear and perfect.
5. The ipod cable (another $30) was able to charge my iphone. Something I was very happy about.

But that's not the best part!
I can use my iphone apps through the Kenwood screen. I can even play youtube videos from my phone on the screen. How amazing is that?

Granted, you're paying 3 times as much, but it is sooooooo worth it. This is coming from someone who has tried both. I would say go for the Kenwood hands down. It's only another $400, and it is worth every penny and some.

[boxster6354]

@ Crono0001 -

Nice Job!

Looks great