trhs75

This relates to another thread I started. I can't find a direct-wire iPod adapter which will integrate with the Nakamichi sound system. I have another panel with a standard radio in it; if I decide the iPod is more important to me than the Nakamichi, does anyone know if it's an easy swap?

JAB

I have a 99 with the Nakamichi and I pretty much concluded, after researching this a year or so ago, that the wiring harness(es) are sufficiently different that the parts are not simply 'plug and play.' But I could be wrong . . .

trhs75

I was afraid of that -- I appreciate the information. I'll post if I find anything different. Have you found an iPod adapter that you like?

trhs75

Well, for anyone who is interested, I found you can swap out the Nakamichi "radio" unit in the dash and replace it with a standard Lexus radio. Everything connects and works without any problem. I'm doing this temporarily in hopes of wiring in a GROM iPod adapter so my daughter can easily use her iPod in the car. I'm hoping that whatever electronics make the GROM unit incompatible with the Nakamichi radio are just in the radio unit, not in the amplifiers farther down the line. I'll order another GROM unit (already have one in our non-Nakamichi '99 which my other daughter loves) and see fi it works.

JAB

Please keep us informed!

trhs75

Will do -- if it works, apparently it's the only way to direct-wire the iPod, and it's still less than $200 for both the GROM and a replacement radio from eBay.

trhs75

Well, I found that swapping a regular radio "head" for a Nakamichi one is easy, and it works perfectly. I wonder if the head unit is the same, and all the differences are down in the amplifiers, speakers, etc. The markings are not different between the two unit types.

The down side of this is that the GROM adapter doesn't work either way. I have tried a '99 radio and an '02 radio. Looks like I'll get the iSimple Transit IS77 and hardwire it into place.

Well, it was worth a try....