RadRedR3

I've searched till my fingers bled. All I can seem to find is the reference to the Green/Red wire in the radio harness for Series I cars? I've yet to find where I can tap the VSS wire into from my Pio HU in a Series II. My equipment will all be here in a couple days and I'm hoping to have all potential questions/issues ironed out PRIOR to the install. Lol

Thanks.

RadRedR3

Someone's gotta know....

Fee bump.

jrx13

If I remember right, there is NO vss wire to tap into. The RX-8 uses the ABS sensors to tell wheel speed and then transmit that data over CAN network.

Of course I could be wrong but that is how most late model vehicles are.

So in theory, if the Pioneer needs a digital signal, you could probably buy a signal adapter and tap into one of the ABS sensors or mount your own vehicle speed sensor?

RadRedR3

Yeah, that's actually been my understanding as well. What I'm *hoping* is that perhaps there's a VSS feed to something like the speedometer, etc that I could tap (honestly don't know if the instrument cluster is fed off the CAN Bus).

If not, I'll just drop the whole thing. I really wanted to connect it, but I am POSITIVE it's not important enough for me to source, mount, tap, etc a VSS sensor simply for this one thing. lol

Thanks for the reply.

jrx13

Unfortunately the instrument cluster is CAN as well.

I haven't dealt with the pioneer itself but I would assume there is a way to "calibrate" the signal? You can get a hall effect sensor with magnets and a driveshaft collar and wouldn't be too bad to wire up. Or again, the ABS VR sensor adapter might be cheaper route?

But I think I found a "plug in" solution for you, about $100. It says it can read CAN protocol.

OBD II Speedometer/ Tachometer Interface

RadRedR3

Awesome. Hey, thanks man, seriously. That's a ton of help and I really appreciate it.

jrx13

If you do get the Dakota thing, let us all know your results. It looks like a neat product!

amdhunter

Hate to bump this, but I am going to buy a radio tomorrow. Is there no way to get an aftermarket Navigation unit working without VSS? My friend had a Pioneer radio that didn't have it wired up and the damned thing was unusable. He ended up going back to stock.

I am planning to buy the JVC KW-NT800HDT.
JVC KW-NT800HDT Navigation receiver at Crutchfield.com

paimon.soror

iTrader: (15)

You do not need to wire up vss. Aftermarket radios now prevent user interaction unless the emergency brake is up. This is probably why the pioneer didn't work. You will need to search for a bypass method for the head unit you purchase. For my pioneer it was as easy as grounding a few wires.

Posted From RX8Club.com Android App

amdhunter

Ah! Perfect. I already have a TR7 which will work perfect with the JVC. Thanks Paimon, you just helped me lose a few hundred dollars.

godesshunter

I helped a friend wire in a poineer app radio a few months back and we ran into a problem with that. It needed to be wired into the parking brake switch for some functions to work but he doesn't use the parking brake because there is problem with his brake getting stuck.

We just wired it directly to loop. but the radio was too smart for that. It knew what we did so to speak. It needed to see that the brake circuit started off. (brake lever down) then switched to on (brake lever up) before the protected apps would do anything. We got around it by wiring it to his headlight switch.

Now when he wants to use the protected apps, all he has to do is switch the parking lights on.

amdhunter

Ah, I should have been clearer. His Pioneer radio bypassed fine, but for some odd reason it couldn't lock on to a good GPS signal, and keep it. When he started driving it wasn't accurate at all.

Guy in the shop that installed it for him said that because he didn't have it on the VSS, the car couldn't tell how fast he was going and adjust accordingly.

I'm guessing this was BS?

That's all I am worried about. I have a PAC-TR7 on my Appradio that I can recycle, or I can get a cheap Microbypass from Ebay to bypass the JVC unit. I was worried about having an inaccurate GPS more than anything.

paimon.soror

iTrader: (15)

Interesting. I dont have my vss wire connected and the gps works just fine. I don't quite remember what exactly the vss wire is used for but i remember reading that no one really connects it

Posted From RX8Club.com Android App

godesshunter

That doesn't seem right... There are a ton of stand alone gps units that work just fine without vss signal... Is the antenna in a good position? Is there even an external antenna?

amdhunter

He doesn't have it anymore and gave up on an aftermarket unit.

My JVC unit will be here Monday, and if weather is OK, I'll be installing it on New Years day. Can't wait. I read a few posts on Crutchfield that the JVC complains about the "speed pulse" every 15 minutes or so.

Hopefully I don't run into that issue.