How To: Build and Hardwire an Auxillary Input to OEM Stereo

[GSLEXXX]

thanks for the reassurance :-) ordered my relays today, looks like I'm spending another weekend in my car soldering :-P

[RTIS250]

Originally Posted by GSLEXXX

thanks for the reassurance :-) ordered my relays today, looks like I'm spending another weekend in my car soldering :-P

Weekend? Naw.. From start to finish, i think it took me a total of about 2 hours. Including soldering the relays together Good luck!

[GSLEXXX]

Originally Posted by RTGS400

Weekend? Naw.. From start to finish, i think it took me a total of about 2 hours. Including soldering the relays together Good luck!

Thanks. Usually I find running wires a longer process than the project itslef :-P Wires must not show or it drives me insane. While taking the glove box down I might as well take on the "fix glove box rattle" project. http://www.clublexus.com/forums/show...center+console
And have to build something for the cup holder to mount my sirius Sportster 4 :-P

[RX469]

Originally Posted by qha_vn

if you are serious of using the seat heater button, go getting a center console ashtray on model which has seat heaters. the buttons look nice and easy to access. i am thinking of getting it re-print something like AUX IN in place of the heater symbol

will keep everyone posted

How do you get buttons re-printed???

[PureDrifter]

use sugar to sand off whats there and use VERY small vinyl decals?

it works on cell phone, you'd have to take the switch out to do it properly tho.

[qha_vn]

just completed hacking my LS400 Pioneer system yesterday, it works like OEM, it plays MP3 music at (nearly) CD quality. BIG THANKS to PureDrifter who has started this threat.

i havent got the relays intalled cos I wanna test how it works first. one more thing is that my CD changer stops working already. so my work is as simple as cutting the wires and connecting the iPod. Will think of installing the replays when i install my car computer. doing so i will have 2 sources of input (ipod and car pc)

One important note for '90 LS400 users, there are 4 wires at the back of the head unit with exactly the same color as CDR+ CDR- CDL+ and CDL- (violet, light green, blue and pink) but they serve the 2 front speakers. I cut them and ended up having no sound from my 2 front speakers. the correct wires with the same color need to be cut have the BLUE connector, while the WHITE connector is not some thing you should cut. please refer to the wiring diagram i posted earlier for more information

regarding the re-print of buttons, i am thinking of using a sticker (or sticky label) that people use for computer asset labeling. black sticker printed with white letter should give an OEM look. i havent tried that anyway

[qha_vn]

this is the pix of my temporary setup. you may notice that my CD changer doesnt work any more but HU stills works fine with CD "Err" indicated. So like PureDrifter said as long as your CD changer can still turn on, you are fine

[Champak]

So what happened to the final part of the instructions? The 12V and switch connector I believe. Please complete this for those of us who have no clue. Would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Coco-bun]

Originally Posted by Champak

So what happened to the final part of the instructions? The 12V and switch connector I believe. Please complete this for those of us who have no clue. Would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Champak]

I understand that, but which wire is the 12V wire? And the switch wire I don't understand....is that suppose to be the wire running into the switch and then a wire running out of the switch to some metal component to ground it?

Another problem I see after I've pulled everything up. It doesn't look like I have a damn amp! What do I do now? I know it is suppose to be either under the passenger seat or under/over the CD changer in the trunk. No luck in either spot. I have a 94 LS400 with a Pioneer Changer in the trunk that actually has a 93 manufacturer sticker on it. The changer looks nothing like the one in this link:
http://www.carstereohelp.com/stereor...400CDChgrR.htm
It has the same black housing, but the changer itself is sunk down deeper in the housing/shell and looks like this:
http://carstereohelp.com/lexus.htm (scroll down to CDX-M8036zt, actually that same model number is on mine, but the changer says Pioneer...don't ask me)
NO OTHER WIRES anywhere else around the changer besides the two blue connectors connected to the changer. Those lead somewhere back into the car.
As far as under the passenger seat goes, My vent looks NOTHING like the pic at the beginning. There are no screw or screw covers, the vent itself looks nothing like the one in the pic, and the carpet covers all the way through the floor except for a slot for the vent that is there, and a slot for some wires rising out of the floor, which I assume is the cars computer or some other type of wiring.
So where is my amp...or does my car not have an amp like everyone else'? ....odd I would think. If I don't have an amp, what do I do now?

[GSLEXXX]

the 12V+ is the bridged 85 terminals. Ground is the bridged 86 terminals, also you put the switch in between your ground and the relays. You flip the switch, the relays are grounded, circuit is completed, all 4 relays switch L+L-R+R- from the changer to the aux inputs.

[PureDrifter]

Originally Posted by GSLEXXX

the 12V+ is the bridged 85 terminals. Ground is the bridged 86 terminals, also you put the switch in between your ground and the relays. You flip the switch, the relays are grounded, circuit is completed, all 4 relays switch L+L-R+R- from the changer to the aux inputs.

thats pretty much it for the switch.

please note that The vehicle i installed into for the DIY was a 2000 LS400, which has wiring that is completely different from the 1st gen cars.

i will say this once, ALL FIRST GEN LS400s HAVE AMPS.
please search in the LS400 forum (please dont just create a thread to ask)

p.s.
if you search for the word "amp" on this forum you will not get any results, type "amp*" into the search box for the LS400 forum (without the quotes but with the *) and results will start turning up.

[Champak]

OK, I set the thing up a couple hours later and everything is fine. HOWEVER there is NO--NO--NO--NO amp. As I said I've searched the places that the amp is suppose to be and it is not. So I just wired the thing direct to the headunit. Now let me be clear though, I personally don't consider amps inside stereos or headunits to be amps...I just look at it as part of the system. So if the headunit has an "amp" in it, and that is what you mean...then OK. But if the headunit doesn't have an "amp" then the previous owner must have taken it out.

I do have a problem however. Hopefully someone has come across this. When I have my device switched on, AND it is plugged in the cigarette lighter for power, I get a buzzing sound. NOTE: it is not plugged in directly, it is plugged in through an AC/DC converter. And I do not get the buzz when it is not plugged in.
1/ Is it because of the converter?
2/ Will it make the sound if I get a standard car adapter...if there is one for me?
3/ If I put a suppressor between my device and the headunit will it get rid of the buzz?
Any help please.

Thanks...and great tutorial.

[pukujuhla]

Does anyone know if this app will work with the Iphone?
Just the Music part. or the phone too if that is possible...
I'm new to the forums just picked up my first GS400.

thanks

[yourock]

Does anyone know if this mod will work or if anyone has tried this in a 2001 LS430?