As mentioned in a previous post I bought the Grom Vline2 Android auto device for my 2009 ES 350. I expected it to be fully plug and play. It was not. BUT, I did get it working with the help of their technical advisor, Sean. He spent an hour on the phone with me diagnosing the problem and working on a fix.

The dash disassembly went very well. Two side panels, the shift center console and four bolts is all it took. The radio unit is heavy but I was able to rest it on some blankets on the center console and get access to the rear panel. There are only two plugs to disconnect and reconnect to the Y harness provided by Grom. One is the power harness the other is the display port cable. It all went well until I powered it on. All I got was some vertical lines on the display. I monkied around with the cords to make sure they were properly seated and re-read the instructions for the tenth time. Disappointed I put the radio back and waited to Monday to call Grom.

I couldn't find a support number but my email enquiry was answered quickly and they provided a phone number. Sean answered and we started at it. Seans first question found the problem. Was the Vline getting power? No it wasn't. After I sent him a photo of my car's power supply cord and the supplied cord it became obvious the problem was that the Grom wasn't getting 12v constant supply. It seems this unit needs 12v all the time and a separate switched power supply. Sean explained that all modern radio devices need this and that it doesn't drain the battery. Now came the challenging part.

He had me test the blue wire of a neighboring connector for 12 volts. Yes, it had power. Then he wanted me to jump that power over to the yellow wire of the supplied power cord. I did this with the help of some spare T-taps I had in my tool kit. After connecting those two wires. SUCCESS. The screen powered on and I was greeted with the Grom Android home screen. From there it was all about reinstalling the radio stack and routing the wires.

I was able to route the wires behind the glove box and then route them through the cabin filter access door. I cut the door about 1/4 inch to make room for the harnesses. I spent the rest of the day updating the Grom and installing apps and learning the system. So far so good. I had trouble with wireless Apple car play but BT streaming sounded fantastic. Spotify works well and Waze and Google maps also work well. I can now press the Mic icon on the screen and state a destination and the selected map app will open up and provide guidance.

I'm still getting use to how things operate. For example, you shouldn't connect the Grom to your home Wi-Fi and try to use wireless Apple car play at the same time. The Grom must be tethered to the phone for that to work. It must use the phone for data AND BT connection for wireless CP. At least that's my understanding at this moment. The only time to connect to home Wi-Fi is to update the system or download apps. Normally you should tether it to your phone.

When it works it is wonderful. My car is a Pebble Beech edition of the ES350. It has some options installed that are not normal for a OEM NAV upgrade. That might be why the harness wasn't perfect. Anyway, tech support was great and It's working now.