Brad9282

I'm planning to replace my stock head unit in my '05 RX330 with a Pioneer AVH-X2800BS. I personally don't care much about the steering controls, so Crutchfield is just recommending the Metra TYTO-01 wiring harness. They also say that "when you replace the factory radio, the factory navigation (if present) will still work, but you'll lose the voice guidance system. This kit includes a resistor that should be soldered between two wires on the factory harness to retain the vehicle's factory climate controls. This resistor will also retain factory navigation, if equipped."

So the way I understand it - If I replace it as directed, I'll still retain use of everything that I currently have with the stock unit EXCEPT the navigation's voice guidance (but the maps will still work).

Are there any other "gotchas" that I should be aware of? I'm really not wanting to lose a ton of existing functionality, but I can live with minor things like voice guidance. I've read some of the threads on this subject saying I could possibly lose airbags, stock backup camera, climate control, complete use of navigation, etc...

Just looking for some peace of mind before I dive into this and move forward.

Thx!

05RX330AWD

I was thinking of replacing the stereo as yourself as I have a current Pioneer stereo head unit I took out of the last vehicle I owned & figured it would be a piece of cake to replace the stereo in the RX330 with navigation ....
never thought it would be so costly & confusing.
From reading many threads here, my understanding is that you need the Beat-Sonic RX-82AAD & for the least the Metra 99-8159S Dash Kit for a smooth & operational installation.
I believe you are taking chances with the Metra TYTO-01 wiring harness if you have navigation as a option on your vehicle.
You could replace the navigation system with the standard climate control (not expensive used) system if the stereo is your priority, then the Metra TYTO-01 wiring harness will function perfectly.
Due to the costs & since the navigation, stereo (even the cassette deck) & steering controls function perfectly in my RX330, I decided to keep everything stock until either the navigation or stereo fails.
At first I thought it will be tough having to downgrade, previously having USB with 7 hours of music to play, although I worked a way around it with an inexpensive solution by transferring the MP3 Files to Wave Files & then transferring the music to 60 min Cassettes. Maybe old school but it works, the sound is excellent, I can also level the output of each track when transferring to tape therefore do not need to put up or down the volume after every song as I did with the stereo with the USB feature. If you leave a 3 second interval between tracks you are able to scan forward or back with the RX330 cassette deck.

viffer

Brad, I upgraded my stereo system a couple of weeks ago. I used the TYTO-01, the Metra dash kit, the iDataLink Maestro SW for steering wheel controls and the Microbypass for my stereo head unit (bypasses the parking brake requirement). My factory nav works great, still have voice guidance, still have back up camera, still have climate controls, and I certainly don't want to test to see if my airbags work...but I'm sure it does. I also installed USB ports and replaced my cigarette lighter for a dual USB port that is routed directly to the rear of my stereo head unit. I also routed my microphone to the inside of the light dome.

And yes, the Metra dash kit includes a resistor for the navigation's climate controls. The dash kit include directions of where you need to connect the resistor for your particular year RX. For mine (an '04) it was the brown and yellow wires...I just removed approximately 1/4 inch of the plastic shielding of both wires above the factory connection and wrapped one end of the supplied resister around the brown wire and the other end around the yellow wire. Afterwards, I placed electrical tape around the wires and resister...making an "H" formation. This allowed the climate control to work from the nav when the factory head unit is not present.