Hi guys

New to the page and first time Celsior owner from New Zealand

I have picked up a tidy 1997 Celsior with super low kms the car is immaculate. I am trying to replace the all in one gps/tv/a/c unit with a stand alone a/c controller sand to run a headunit below in a double din.

I am a builder so my car/wiring skills are not the best so iv been reading threads etc to try figure out what bits I need but nothing directly answers my questions.

I have removed the unit that was working completely fine. Tried a stand alone a/c controller out of a mates 1995 nothing happened at all nothing lit up.

went online googled asked a few questions and came to conclusion I needed a unit out of a newer model not older I found a tidy unit out of Japan with the controller coming out of a 1998

New 1998 controller

98 controller

Current unit out of my 1997 ucf21

Back if new unit

Back few of original unit

If this is any use in helping


I received the unit yesterday put the unit up in place plugged it in and all the lights on the interface lit up and the clock up the top was reading clear as day but nothing else was just illuminated. The demister button however was flashing slowly with orange indicator.

where do I go from here boys? Do I have the wrong unit again or what.. Help! Any help would be great pictures of which wires etc need to be cut spliced removed would be awesome.

I no I’m not the first and won’t be last that is trying to complete this.
Edit

 

hi and welcome!
the non-nav HVAC controller should bolt up to the car and work just fine - at least there has been success with those of us stateside in the US. looking at your connectors, they are all the same too so this should be the case. are you certain the new unit was indeed working?

FWIW, the radio harness from a nav car will not work with a non-nav factory headunit so you would have to go aftermarket for that.

more:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...onversion.html

 

Hey Timmy, yeah it definitely lit up and that was it no control functions worked at all, just the clock looks Like I’m not that lucky disconnected the battery checked the fuses all the normal little things. I think iv got the correct replacement unit but sounds like I might need some pinning done from the local auto electrician.

 

I was wondering just because it didn’t work straight plugging it in should I be buying a 1997 non hvac picture below? I was told the 98-20 would work but clearly it doesn’t even tho the plugs are exactly the same

Potentially I need to buy this instead?

 

you may be right that you need a 97 HVAC control for your 97. 98-up HVAC controls had the clock where the 95-97 did NOT have a clock integrated in them.

here is a 95-97, note the clock is above and part of the vents (should be the same for RHD):


versus 98-00:

 

You can't use units for a 98-00 to your Celsior which was manufactured before August 97 according to the FRAME No. UCF21-006XXXX as well as the TRANS./AXLE A341E A01A. These tell so.

There was a big design change in August 97 implementing a new bus system called BEAN and there is no compatibility between the units of before and after although it looks quite similar. The internal circuits are different. An enthusiast whom I know tried to use units for a 98 to his 97 analyzing and modifying circuits spending many days and he partially succeeded but finally he gave up his project. It was beyond his ability to override the new bus system BEAN.