eknine9

iTrader: (8)

I actually had a ground noise from mine as well. I ended up having to switch everything away from the stock ground. I made two new grounds on the firewall, one for my stereo and one for my LXCC. Just unbolted a few things, sanded the firewall until the paint was gone and then measured with my DMM to make sure the grounds were suitable. Once I separated my stereo ground from my LXCC ground the noise went away.

Also my stereo is aftermarket and only has one ground, so you may still have issues with the stock stereo, I don't really know where the secondary ground goes to though so I couldn't help you with that.

KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

Thanks eknine9. This seems to be the issue. Grounding anywhere on the tunnel appears to cause the issue from underneath the Pioneer/Climate stack to a bolt behind my 5-speed shifter.

Can you describe approximately where on the firewall you were able to make this ground location? Would it have been right under the blue and white body harness connectors that go into the stereo/climate sub-harness?

This yellow external ground wire was attached to my stereo when I got the car. I have never questioned it but last night after inspecting it closely I do not think it is a factory ground. The cable looks sturdy enough to have been a factory part but the tunnel mounting end looks to be a generic circular connector and it does not match the diameter of the screw it is attached to. The tunnel hole that the screw goes into looks to have been made by someone by scratching off the paint and drilling. I never noticed that before.

I tried running the stereo without it (with the LXCC wired in) and I got the usual ground issue but didn't notice any difference. I may remove it. I just don't believe this wire was a factory part. So the consistency between an aftermarket headunit and a factory one probably is negligible on this one point.

The factory tunnel ground location has original wiring going into it and uses a very factory looking 10mm bolt. I think this suggests that SC300/400 factory stereos only do have one ground which is started from that A11 pin I had to source.

(The electrode/pin I used was Toyota #82998–12410 which came in purple. Side note: I bought a new Metra aftermarket wiring harness before this and learned that they no longer use standard Toyota pins so my fix would only work if you have an older Metra aftermarket stereo harness sold at least through 2012-2013 which is when I bought my first one. In such case that you only have a newer style Metra, buy two of them and steal a pin from one of them. The Metra "Repair" style harness used for the other side should be the same and only requires that PIN A10 be swapped into the location for one other blank but required pin. According to Raine's diagram, note that on the factory harness plug PIN A10 is BLANK. The Metra Repair Harness, however, DOES have a pin in location A10. A simple swap is all that's needed on that side).

I was so fed up last night after dismantling and reassembling everything several times that I boxed up the unit and stored it in a bin for now. I can't bear get in there again for a long time after having done it so much lately.

I even got the gauge wire body harness started. The wires have been soldered into the connector and I got a very long length of it organized and coiled up prior to any final shrink wrap or taping.

kayrohit12

iTrader: (1)

i have this same problem. is it the ground? I had originally grounded it with the factory stereo ground and then tried the tunnel ground but not resolution. I will try to make a new ground somewhere. I'm glad that I'm not the only one in this boat. and to know it's only a ground issue.

Kahn as soon as I unplug the lxcc the noise is gone but as soon as I plug it in it comes back.
is that the issue you are having as well?

KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

^^ Yes, that was my issue, though I did not disconnect and reconnect power to the unit while the car's battery was connected. It is just a ground issue. I know there is a way to solve it since many folks here have been using their LXCC's.

Eknine9 suggests the firewall (you have to scrape off the paint wherever you tap a hole for the screw or bolt you'll use) and I have emailed Patrick at Popformance asking him for any suggestions. I'd love to hear what others have done to find a better ground for their units.

It sounds like my choice to do extra wiring to stay with the OEM stereo does not make a difference in this case other than that I did need to solve that pin issue in the custom harness which is only related to the Pioneer's internal ground connection-- not the LXCC's.

The actual firewall is probably the answer. I just want to hear from others exactly where on the firewall (or another location) they went to remedy the issue.

The controller itself has been great when I did have it hooked up. I just had to uninstall it until I figure out ground the noise issue.

eknine9

iTrader: (8)

Here's a shot of where I grounded, The yellow wire is the ground for the Climate controller into the bolt on the black frame for the firewall, while there is a similar bolt on the other side that has a black wire going to it which is where I grounded the stereo. Grounding them like this got rid of the alternator whine that I used to get while driving.

kayrohit12

iTrader: (1)

so this spot is not hard to get to at all but you say "alternator whine".
any chance your getting a high pitched noise through your speakers?

eknine9

iTrader: (8)

No, I'm not getting any noise now after moving the ground.

KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

eknine9, isn't that where the two factory plastic anchoring screws go to secure the main DIN cage in place? I hadn't thought of using that area. So you didn't actually go to the white and felt area firewall behind the HVAC/Stereo? I don't see the two factory blue and white cables that should be back there either. I'm really curious about how you did this.

I got a reply from Patrick:

"...Regarding the ground issue, it's hard to say what is the specific problem since these are old cars and the condition of both the ground points, and the vehicles electrical systems vary greatly in health. There are a few people with issues, but most of the time it is usually solved by changing to a non-OEM head unit such as a modern day double din unit for example. I know it's not ideal, but in reality the oem stereo was not designed in in the 90s to be in such close proximity to high frequency electronics.

Alternatively I do find people have grounding issues with the entire din carriage. I forgot where the writeup for that is specifically on clublexus, but I've heard of people having luck with that. My preference is really to get directly to bare chassis metal. The transmission tunnel as you're suggesting is the ideal. That should actually solve your carriage grounding issues if you have any. You may need to also inspect the power lines though, both B+ and Acc +12V. The Acc could actually be suspect. Do you have an oscilloscope?"

From this and the example of pretty much all LXCC adopters running aftermarket stereos I'm taking away that the factory Pioneer and Nakamichi were just not designed to handle too much local electrical interference. I am the exception to the rule in that respect.

Or maybe he's right that I need to check my accessory connection. I have added a few custom quick disconnect Molex harnesses all running into the factory cigarette lighter accessory connection but they are all well insulated, though according to him my choice of the bolts behind my manual shifter on the transmission tunnel was one of the better spots, apparently.

Maybe it is the OEM stereo. It's huge, old and heavy but I really don't like 99.9% of what's out there compared to how easy and simple it is to use. Combined with the little push-button iSimple Tranzit BLU-HF bluetooth unit and the easy placement of physical controls I never have to look at it at all while driving if I want to change something. And that it isn't a theft magnet. Maybe it's time to look for old Nakamichi CD400, CD500, CD700-II and MB-VI head units. Or a 2-Din screen HU... but I love solid state over clunky multimedia car stereo UI's (excl. the LXCC which I do like). Oh well...

Maybe this is an opportunity to another type of 1-DIN thing to put in there. I'd say Defi DIN Gauge but the LXCC already does that with more flexibility.

eknine9

iTrader: (8)

No, the plastic anchoring screws are one level up on the gray surround. No I didn't go all the way to the firewall, I just sanded the paint off this section, connected my ground to it and tested it with my DMM against a positive source to see how much resistance there was.

kayrohit12

iTrader: (1)

Hey Kahn I had a chance to work on this issue today and grounded the unit to another spot next to the ventilation system right behind the audio units. it's tucked in the back but I have small hands so I was able to reach it.

i still have the high pitched noise coming through my speakers but it is less than it was.

the conclusion I've come up with is just what Patrick said. the stick unit is not happy with this unit.
the one thing I have been considering is, the powers I have used are from the factory deck. I was wondering if I tap into wires at some other location will there still be this noise?
I have to reprint some wiring diagrams as see what else I can do.

i know it's not the answer to the problem but just my experience with this.

KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

Hey, thanks for letting us know of your experience! So you tried this with the factory stereo head unit too?

Could you show us a picture of the location you chose for grounding or have you buttoned everything up already?

I think the answer to the problem, or rather the reality of it, is just to change the head unit. You're right, Patrick is right and everyone who's just gone aftermarket is right. Most people prefer to. I figure I'll have to, only its hard to give up the dinosaur original stereo as much as I like it aesthetically and functionally.

I've thought about a Kenwood or Alpine touchscreen double-din recently but I can't see having the available attention span to operate the menus on one while driving this thing. I'm going to see if I can convince a good friend to sell me an old single-din 2001 Nakamichi MB-VI he's thought of getting rid of in favor of a new VDO vintage deck for his 80's Benz.

That would leave a single din space. I've thought of a Defi Din-Gauge going on the lower section with the stereo deck on top but the LXCC already has way more gauge customization that that thing does. And it cost a lot less, too :P

Eh... it's inevitable I guess

KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

Now I just had an idea. I was reading up on "carputer" installations causing ground noise and a couple of things stood out from several threads of Google.

-unshielded cables can pick up surrounding EMF
-"mU Metal" (apparently very hard to shape) can be used in some cases to isolate a device with too much stray electrical emission.

But especially that unwanted electrical noise can be introduced from both ground AND +12V connections.

The way I've wired my LXCC harness draws its +12V power directly from the same source that the factory Pioneer draws its power from. Maybe, possibly that is the cause.

Has everyone else taken their Battery/Constant +12V source for their LXCC's from the SC stereo body harness connection that shares their stereo/touchscreen?

I'm wondering what would happen if I kept the ground locations already discussed (under stereo, tranny tunnel behind shifter or bracket above HVAC) but found another constant +12V power source.

I'm not sure where that would be from at the moment but does this make sense to anyone? Or do most aftermarket stereos still not have this issue even with a Battery/Constant +12V connection shared with another device.

Additionally, Patrick did design the unit to be wired this way in the first place. Maybe I'm just beating a dead horse named Pioneer into submission...

kayrohit12

iTrader: (1)

lol I get what your saying and I had the same thoughts. Kahn I just haven't gotten around to trying this out. I'll take a picture tomorrow.

KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

I would love to see your approach, Kayrohit!

HankAaron

Read through the whole thread and really love this product. I was a bit bummed when I went to try and buy one and they said they were sold out. Well, I emailed them asking if they planned on making another batch, and turns out I'm not the only one asking. There is a group buy going on right now for 50 more of these. I already have mine reserved. Cant wait because the screen on my current one is going out.