custom install with head unit!!
 

finally it's done, but not without problems... first here's what i have

diamond audio components front and back
2 10 " diamond audio subs
2 PPI amps
AlpineCVA 1005 head unit and changer

pic2

pic3

pic w/ unit in

pic5

amps with subs

another

as you can see my center dash piece was fabricated painted to look like the shiny black plastic around the factory radio and on the doors.... it makes the install look factory.... my friend did it for me and i think he did a great job, even better than others that i've seen where the piece was covered with vinyl.... i'm sure he'd be willing to do it again if anyone's interested


ok, i do have a problem, here it is:

for some reason now, the A/C controls and the red dash display are not working....
- we unplugged the battery to try and reset, didn't work
- we unwired the head unit and rewired back to the stock radio, but A/C controls still didn't work...

the only two wires pulled from the factory radio were the ignition wires and the always hot wire.... any ideas about what to do?

nice setup but are you using the stock system? if not why not just mount it there?

Also in the custom fab pieace which looks awesome are there holes for the center channel

not using the stock radio..... i dont have the bose system with the center channel... if i did, i'm sure it wouldn't have been a problem to cut around it or something.... the head unit is the radio and runs everything..... before the head unit was installed, everything ran through the stock radio... it sounds much better now.... the HU has a subwoofer control too...

I like the top center dash piece, some better pics would probably make me like it better. I think if and when I do mine I am just going to put a monitor there and run from a carputer or dvd player and keep my stock head and use overload's aux in. What did that center piece alone run you if I can ask.

Very nice. Clean. Impressive. :D

Most likely you've got the wrong plugs in the wrong holes in the back of the head unit. You wouldn't think that'd be possible, but it is. As I recall, there are 2 down by the HVAC controls, and 3 more on the back of the head unit.

Try what Omicron said first... recheck your connections to be sure that they aren't mixed up.

I am curious if power to the stock HU is need for the red LED and/or HVAC.

Oh.. BTW the RMagic piece has a cut for the center speaker... it's shown in the magazine pics (not those posted).

Props to your friend for an original design and what looks like a flawless execution! I esp. like how it matches the gauge cluster 'bubble'. Very nice.

Looking at that design a second time now... I have to agree with shawrf1... that's a pretty cool design. I dunno about the "piano black" color, but otherwise a very nice install!

Looks very impressive! I would like to find out on the price of one of those. Does the monitor intrude through the dash? I mean it looks really tight and I would like it a lot better if the whole thing tucks away without going into the dash board.

he coulda made the piece anyway i wanted, but i wanted it to look factory... the piano black looks just like the other pieces in the car.... the bubble at the top matches the rest of the dash.... he could of done it straight across the top and wrapped it in grey vinyl, but i think this looks alot better....

Where is your friend's shop? Hopefully So Cali :)

Yeah I really like that insall too...great job

I was wondering how realistic it would be to have a similiar dash piece fabricated but instead of house a 1DIN how about raising it up a little and have it house a 7" VGA monitor (roughly the size of a 2DIN)? Something similiar to the stock NAV but permanently open and with a smoother look...much like yours

I prefer not having a head unit stick out and just have the monitor permanently installed as opposed to the motorized. I know security would be an issue but for now I'm not worried (my suburban neighborhood is pretty safe).

Again...great job and good luck getting the red display working again.

I have PM'd kidcas about this and it requires moding of the original piece just for everybodies information. I do not want to pay to have my stock piece modified and I dont want to have to buy another piece in the future so I will wait until somebody makes a complete replacement piece. It does look really slick though.

he took my original piece and made it from that.... if i ever want to sell the car and return it to normal, i can buy the piece from the mazda dealer and put it on... i guess i could of bought the extra piece and had him mod that one and keep my original, but that would of meant more money spent now instead of later, and i didnt have it.... either way it works out the same, but i keep cars for a while, my last car was a 93 acura intergra, bought new in 93.... i plan on keeping this 8 for a while too, if it holds up as well as my integra

This is the problem i ran into during test fitting and fabrication of the center panel replacement...power to the stock stereo MUST be kept due to the circuit board that controls the HVAC is located in the stock stereo (just the stereo part), currently I have had to postpone fabrication due to time limitations but the easiest solution I can think of is if you do not have NAV then the stock radio will house in the top of the center dash..but you will have to jump off the feed to power your aftermarket HU NOT fully remove power from the stock stereo...that's the key..

How did you solved the power problem to the AC. I disconected my head unit to do the wireing and it doesn't turn on now. Does the head unit need to be re-programed? How?

i'm having someone look at it tomorrow to see, if they can't figure it out i have an appointment with the dealer on friday.... will let you know what happens.... its been suggested to me by some of the guys on here, that the stock radio was not re-installed correctly, the plugs were not put back in the proper place.....


BTW, the car absolutely rocks now..... the HU runnning everything sounds 1000x better than the stock radio.... next up for is installing a starter button and a game cube or dvd!! not sure which one yet, maybe i should start thread asking......

Xero,

Ah, it's as I suspected then. You DO need to keep power as well for the LED to work. What a PIA!


glxyjones,

Not a bad idea at all! I vote this one second to using the stock nav dash panel. Have you tried to get a used stock nav dash panel from someplace like http://www.mazmart.com ?

I know RotorMotor bought a stock nav piece from carzoomer but said it didn't look integrated enough. I would be willing to try but don't want to spend 500+ bucks (probably) on a piece of plastic I might not use.

Also, if I did use the nav housing, would I have to do the conversion on a VGA (probably lilliput) to an in-dash unit? I was hoping to try and avoid this but I know you can pay for Armen at digitalww.com to do it.

Ok I know I've asked this before but I have yet to get a response...

Do you guys think there is anyway to bracket fit a 7" VGA screen to where the ashtray/cigarrette lighter is? I was thinking of a clamp-type bracket to secure to the side or the dividing piece of plastic. Or possibly mounting it to the inside sides of the housing. The bracket would extend out about 4"(guesstimate) from the ashtray/lighter and be attached someway to a screen.

If the bracket was mounted to the screen on the bottom, you could rest the top of the screen on the stock radio right below the volume knob (maybe put some rubber on the top/back of the screens housing to protect the radio from scratches) for support when you're touching the screen (I want to use a touchscreen vga). Also, if it was mounted to the bottom, you could conceivably have it rotate on the bottom axis in order to gain access to the climate controls (which aren't used that often by me).

I know this might be completely ludacris but this is my first mounting experiment in a car. If it were to work I think it would be in an ideal position to control (right in front of the shifter which is where my hand is anyway). A screen where the stock nav goes I feel like I would have to reach for and wouldn't be very convenient.

Another bonus would be the possibility of quickly dismounting the screen and locking it in the glove box. And yet another plus would since it's so low, cops couldn't see it out of your back window (not that you're doing anything illegal, just a thought).

Sorry if my description is long and sucks but I tried to explain whats in my head the best which can be very hard to do...haha

so if i understand this correctly if u unplug the stock radio then plug it back in u loose the AC??

mines is being looked at right now, but the speculation is if you unplug your stock radio to power the Head Unit, then the AC controls and red display won't work cause there's no power.... so you would need to run power back to the stock radio and feed power off it to your HU.... i should know something this afternoon, if not, then tomorrow i have an appointment at the dealer to see if they can figure it out...

I disconected the HU (base model, not Bosse) from the wiring harness plug. BAD MOVE!!! I took the HU wiring harness connector output wires going to the speakers and spliced into them to make the connection to my amp. I ran those wire to the trunk were I will put my amp. I then ran wires from the trunk to the speker input wires I had spliced (just the front speakers because the rear speakers don't need to go back to the splice behind the DIN). Basicly all I did was to extend the HU speaker output wires and ran the loop to the trunk were the amp will be (amp input/output). To make sure that the wiring extention was working fine, I closed the circuit by conecting the HU speaker output to the speaker wire inputs at the end of the wiring extention loop at the trunk. I only spliced into the seaker wires, nothig else!!! I have not conected the amp yet. The wiring extention does not go through anything (e.g. switches, EQ, etc.). I checked for continuity and tested fine. Now here are the simptoms: the HVAC Fan selector works in all positios (fan high to low), the hazard (4 way flasher) light works, the HU pannel ilumination works, the HU will take in a CD and eject it,
@*$%^&
the LED will not display anything (but you can see it "iluminated"), the AC/AC duct selector/defoger/defroster don't work, the temperature selector (thermostat knob) apparently is not working because the HVAC is only puting out hot air eventhogh you can hear the compresor activate when you turn the fan on. I checked all fuses (on both fuse pannels, engine and driver's side) and they are fine. What the heck am I missing, what can be wrong? Someone told me that it could by an anti-theft device involved but the systems I know will ask yuo for a reactivation code and in my case the LED doesn't work. Any suggestions anyone? Is there a Mazda "GOD" out there that can help me?
P.S. I have the color code for the speaker wires (w/ polarity) comming out of the HU if some one needs this info. Not all is lost if someone can learn from my mistakes.

my car is in the exact same situation... i took it to the dealer this morning and guess WTF they're telling me???

they say the circuit board in the radio is broke, from pulling it out the dash during the install... and thats why the LED illuminates but doesn't read anything and why the AC controls don't work.....

they say its gonna be $850 .... fuck.... i actually hope they're wrong and that's not the case, so i dont have to pay that much.... i'll know monday when they do it..... if they're right my buddy that installed is gonna split it with me, he's also gonna try convince them to put it under warranty, cause he says he was extra careful with it and doesn't know how it could have happened... so if the dealer is right, a word of warning to everyone removing the stock radio from the dash:

BE CAREFUL!!!! BE VERY VERY CAREFUL!!!

A radio shouldnt break from pulling it out. Again, another case of Mazda not taking care of the people that buy their $30K car. If you took a GM car into the dealership, they would replace the radio no questions asked! STEP UP TO THE PLATE MAZDA! Take care of your customers!

wow..i didn't run into this at all...but i also didn't splice into the HU wire harness either...all i did was unplug the pin connector from the back to see what control would be lost..that's when i found out the radio controls the HVAC and LED panel..I didn't drive the car to find out if anything else was "lost" because that was enough info for me to know that the stereo PCB needs to stay...in other installs i've done (i.e. Chevy Malibu, removing the radio disables the alarm and auto door locks as well as Cruise control...but there is a module to simulate their presence,,unlike for our RX-8)...

i'm lost for an explanation of what you're experiencing, CW2...the only thing i can think of is you could have possibly cross connected something during install or shorted something out long enough to roast your PCB...

RotorMotor bought the "stock" nav tray, not the stock navigation system hood with the electric motors to close it.

As I was suggesting... get the stock (factory) motorized nav hood and glass in lilliput or Xenarc. done.

That is exactly what they told me, that the ckt board behind the facplate of the radio is "cracked". I don't know how that could be possible since I was extra carefull pulling the unit out and made certain that I didn't use any metal tools that could accidently arc something. The ckt card will cost me $450.00 plus labor!
@#$%^&* I think there is something else behind this "Mazda dealer/sevice" diagnostic. I will keep the old ckt board and see if I can fix it and code the pins. This will come handy for a potential din bypass to install an after market din while keeping the other functions (AC, Clock setting, LED, etc.). I read on a separate trail that a company named Metra was going to produce a second generation din for vehicles like the Acura and Mazda that have multi function ckt board on the HU. I looked at their website but nothing. I emailed them to ask about the din, let's see if they respond.

$450 is what they're charging me for the part, plus labor and tax = $850

after they finish today, me and my installer are gonna talk to them and see if we can get it under warranty.... my installer insists he took it out carefully and just removing the radio should not break it... what helps is that the dealer said themselves, that they've broke 2 boards while working on cars... this should be a product defect and not out fault....

I talked to the people at "Metra" (800-221-0932 ext 702) and they are working on the din for the Mazda 6 and the Acuras. I told them that the ckt board for the RX8 are about the same as the 6 as far as the muli fuctions they control. They say that they will look into it and if the fuctions are the same they will accelerate production for the din of the RX8. If we get a lot of members to call maybe the will realize that there is a great demand out ther for an after market din for the RX8 that would keep the other fuctions operational. lets get members to call them! An after market din from them will go for $200-$300. It's a lot cheaper that the repair cost that we are facing with the added benefit of a non-factory HU!

LMFAO.... i just talked to the dealer, they installed the new circiut board and everything still doesn't work!!! so i'm saved the $850, but i'm back to square one...

they're trying to figure out what's wrong... they said power is going to the system, so its not that.... they think it maybe the antenna and whether or not its grounded...????? i dunno about that???

CW2, it's not the board!!! save your money...

the saga continues.........................

Got it! Let me know what the @#$%^&* is that keeps me sweating in the Florida heat and without music. I will let you know waht they come up with down here. I have finished my custom box (single 12" xplode facing into the cad through the rear mid sit access with 2 enclosed amps: xplod 800 watt mono amp, and xplode 600 watt 4 channel w/high-low cross over amp) and can't hear a single sound yet! Isn't that something!

yeah I figured that out after I posted...I contacted that mazmart.com place and they said they don't have any stock navigation dashes in yet. They told me they would continue looking and if anything came up they would contact me.

Thanks for the tip and I'll keep you all posted.

I had a feeling that they wouldn't have any yet. It'll probably be another year or so before enough become available. Check ebay also... I've seen Mazda6 ones for sale there.

UGH, listen to this... they are now telling me that my AC controls, stock radio and dispay are "smoked"... it'll be $1100 to fix!!! they claim it happens when you reverse the polarity in the system by hooking it up wrong???HUH???


HOWEVER, the service manager told me he could not tell for sure what caused it, but because of the aftermarket install he could not put it under warranty.... i called mazda and they said if he was not 100% sure then it should be under warranty.... they called him, but he was already gone for the day... so they spoke to the tech, who says it is because of the aftermarket install.... UGH... now they are having the district service manager get in touch with the dealer service manager to sort this out..... F*CK!!!!!!

that sucks man

sorry to hear it

that sux man...

I swear Mazda doesn't seem to want to help us out with anything. They don't seem to have the answers for anything!! When you figure out what and the hell they are talking about, post it.

wow...i think i'm going to quit taking my dash apart..until someone figures out what in the hell is going on...i've had mine apart at least 10 times taking measurements and making fittings...the last thing i need is some half assed put together part to fry and mazda blame me for it...and i have had over 12 years car audio experience.. I think i can take a HU out correctly..

OK, here's the latest.....

the district service manager for the east talked to the dealer and although the dealer cannot pinpoint the cause of the problem, he says because the wiring harness was tapped into for my HU, he cannot warranty it....

so i put in a radio and it voids the warranty on my AC???????????? I've asked to speak to the district manager myself and am waiting for him to call me... after him i guess i'll have to call mazda north america in irving, ca.......

oh man...that is just...well not the news i was hoping you'd get..'</sarcasm>' if that's not customer service I don't know what..'</sarcasm>'

how did u get that alpine in dash to fit??when i lewk at my car it seemsif there isnt that mich space to fit it there...

For reference when I installed my XM Commander (only has an antenna passthrough on the stock system nothing else) all was well. Soon as temps started to come up in late january or so, my LCD above the stereo started to fritz out. My dealer and Mazda claimed I had modified my car and the warranty was void on my dash electronics.

I ended up buying a new piece myself, but I have filed a complaint with the BBB since it was never proved to my satisfaction my plugging in an antenna cable caused the LCD to fail 2 months later. Also make sure to send registered letters to both Mazda and the BBB of your complaint.