Tazman

Need a little help from the experts out there who have done this. (scudrunner and devoid, I know you have done this). I am haing the headunit replaced with an Alpine. They will do a custom dash replacment like the one scudrunner has.

The one problem they have hit on is that the old radio also has the controls for the air conditioning run through it. They are getting around this by moving the old head unit into the trunk in the custom enclosure for the amp. They have run into problems with the resistence running wires this far. What did they rest of you do to get around this???

Got the car back with the new setup: See the pics with the final results on page 2 of this thread.

mazradiodoc

Wait a few more months for a radio bypass to be developed?

Rotary Rasp

iTrader: (2)

Are there plans for such a thing?

mazradiodoc

I have heard of a bypass box for Maz6 and the same company is starting work on RX-8.

bjayfry

What company have you heard of that is looking into this? This is the first I have heard of anyone looking for a non-custom solution to this problem for either the 6 or the 8.

onepunchx

Metra is on the way of delivering a single din unit system for the 6. They are actually late, but it should be produced this summer, after a 3-4 month delay.

http://www.metraonline.com/i/METRAHANDOUT_2005.pdf

Max
Mazda6

XeRo

I have contacts from Metra from being in the radio fabrication biz for several years...they have stated right now there are no plans on doing ANY kind of kit for the 8...

StphNieuw

It would be great if they do.. Would love to get rid of this head unit.

truemagellen

this is a lot easier then you think

all you need to keep intact is the HU core...which is a small pcb that just happens to be surrounded by a huge steel cage

simply remove the core from the cage...discard the cd player unit of course...and take out eh AC dials...then relocate the HU core to the back of where the HU was housed...if you want protect the core with simple casing to prevent a short...it does not get very hot unless you are running the audio and even then it isn't bad so don't worry to much about ventalation

then mount your knew system away and keep us updated with the install maybe we'll all be inspired finally :D

Tazman

I am surprised there is enough room for putting the old core back in and a new Head Unit. Was it a tight fit?

truemagellen

ask Devoid...his team figured it out...no probelm...you can even create more room by cutting away some of the housing in there...even mount the HU core in the glove compartment if you really need to (no reason though)

XeRo

there is plenty space after you remove the actual HU..the PCB is not much larger than a cassette tape...depending on where you plan on mounting your "new" unit would dictate where you place the A/C pcb..if you don't have Nav there is plenty space up top unless you need it for a unit...or the center cavity is plenty deep...

forbidden

Thanks for the pm's guys. Here is what I have tried and the results. (and then I had one of my guys find this forum). It would be nice to know if the results you had are the same as what we have found.

I used a stranded cat5 wire to extend the HVAC wires (four runs in total) to the trunk area. The customer also wanted the display to still operate as far as the outside temp and time went so we also extended the display harness with the same cat 5 wire (3 runs) and the hazard light switch (1 run).

- When we started to plug in the unit, the hazard lights would start to flash and would not turn off. When the key was turned to the on position, the hazard lights would operate normally until key off, then they would turn on again.
- No illumination in the climate control cluster.
- No mode setting in the climate control cluster.
- Clock was working.
- Start up sequence on display reading Mazda RX8 was working
- No outside temp on the display.
- Radio was engaged in the circuit and disengaged incase there was something looping through it.
- The factory 6 disc was left attached to the unit.

From what I can tell, we do not need the factory 6 disc and can remove it from the equation. It seems that we do need the primary board in the amp unit and definitely need the board on the switch panel.

- Did you guys unsolder the primary connections from the main radio board to the secondary board in the amp module or leave it plugged in and relocated as one unit?
- How long have you made the extension lines for the HVAC wiring?
- Have you also kept the factory display active?
- If so does the outside temp setting and clock still show.

I am around pretty much all day today and tomorrow. I have a RCMP exam tonight and will not be available but my primary installer, Jade, will be. Thanks in advance for the help with this. If someone has digital pics of this job, send them to me please at forbidden@telus.net
A big case of beer to the people who help us out with this.

Rob Atkinson
Forbidden Audio Ltd.
Courtenay, BC, Canada
www.the12volt.com - user name is forbidden


I am currently going to set it back to factory to see if all functions work again.

truemagellen

I sent this to forbidden (Rob):

first off you definitely do not need the CD rom unit whatsoever (I've run my system with just the auxilary in through a PIE box before

I think you may be over complicating things...and so I hope we (we as in forum members ) can save you time.

I have taken the entire HU apart to the core but I have not abandon it for an aftermarket unit

really look at it this way...
1. remove the hu
2.dissasemble the steel cage surrounding it down to a PCB
3.dissamble the face plate
4.get the parts down to the 3 acc controls, HU core PCB, and cut out the hazard lights button
5. everything should still work just fine except everything will be exposed
6. now relocate the HU PCB core to the back or side of where the HU was housed...if you want you can mount it under the steering console or behind the glove compartment or under the HU housing (may require some cutting that will not be seen)...make sure the PCB is protected from shorting
7.leave the hazard warning lights button sticking out and the acc controls...figure a way to mount the hazard button in a different location...maybe extend the wires to have the button mounted in the center console or in a dummy blank
8.hookup the LCD display connecter to the HU PCB core
9. install your aftermarket HU...probably much better to use all that space with a larger touch screen display controlled HU instead of a retractable din style HU.
10. Good luck!

Best thing to do is as Devoid he has been through this mess (and mroe) http://devoid.mine.nu

forbidden

Time would be good thing to save to keep my customers (and installers) happy. I would like to hear some replies of the issues that I have found and some replies as to what has been done in their RX8's as far as the end result goes. This is a full dvd / nav / amplified system being installed and a new dash bezel being created. I am doing a build up on this and would like to see if anyone has some digital pics of what they did in the dash area. Thanks for the info that was sent already, keep it coming please.

The issues we have found most certainly seem to be resistance based. I imagine that some of you have found the same thing.

truemagellen

did you check out devoid's install look at these pics:

Looks a little crapped in there eh...but it fits :D no relocation of head unit to trunk...that is a waste of time and space

bjayfry

Any idea how much that would cost to duplicate just the installation? Seems like once someone has completed a project of such substance and if proper documentation was made, that it would become less expensive, but it still looks like quite a bit of work.

truemagellen

I meant cramped not crapped!!!!!!! :P

Tazman

La Jolla Audio finally got the HU and air condition contols all working (including the steering wheel controls for the radio). I have my 8 back with a new Alpine head unit, new Alpine amp, sub-woofer, and all new Alpine speakers (components in the front).

The new fabricated dash looks factory. I will post pictures as soon as I can. La Jolla also photographed the work as they went along and promised to send me a disk so I will post those when I get it. The ipod connections comes out of the center console and easily hides away with the IPOD in the console storage area. The sub-woofer and amp enclosure in the back looks factory too. The only control I have lost is the ability to reset the factory clock, but since there is a clock in the radio, no big loss.

They finally gave up on moving the old HU to the trunck and have it buried under the dash for control of the air conditioning.

Thanks to all for their input and help.

I am going to try to go to the next SD RX-8 meeting on the first Saturday in May, so if you live in SD and want to see the work, be there.

truemagellen

sweet Tazman can't wait for pics

Tazman

Ok, here are some pics of the final results.

No pics of the speakers because there is nothing to see. When I get pics of the installation from La Jolla Audio, I will post them.

Here is what went in

Tazman

2nd set of pics

Tazman

And the last of the pics until the installation pics come