I live in the UK and recently purchased a Metra Kit to install my Aftermarket Stereo. Unfortunately I can't get the HVAC controls to work (only the AC control works). The fan and temperature controls are completely dead. They worked perfectly before with the OEM HU. Can anyone suggest what to do? In the UK we don't seem to have as many options as the US. I spoke to the company that I bought the kit from and they said that a few people have been having the same problem and they don't know how to resolve it.

Anyhelp will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

With your UK RX8, do you have automatic A/C? (if you can set a specific temperature using a dial and the system will adjust the temperature settings to keep the vehicle at/near that temperature then you have automatic A/C.) The Metra kit is not compatible with automatic A/C. If memory serves, the corksport kit does include an option to work with automatic A/C; you may need to go that route. Good luck.

 

Many thanks for the response. Yes I do have an Auto system. Where can I get Corksport from here? I emailed them yesterday but there has been no response and Ebay UK has no Corksport at all.

 

ebay wont have corksport i believe, only corksport will have corksport which means no way to get a cheaper price then the $500 they want for the kit =/

 

someone who has upgraded please help!! IM updating right now and I get the Searching for board.....and then timed out waiting for response from unit.... the read me on the dvd does not open up so i can read the readme....

 

ok i think its because i already had the cable connected to the board, i had to wait till i press the update button then when it says "connect cable to board" then at that moment connect the cable to the board!

 

Opinion needed:

I am trying to decide between flat black and the gloss finish. I am leaning towards the flat black but I just wanted to see what the fine members here have to say.

And just a confirmation:

I have a BOSE system, and want to change out the HU and keep steering wheel controls, so I need to get obviously the Metra kit, the new headunit (probably a Pioneer X910BT), and if I get that headunit I need to get the PAC SWI-PS steering wheel control adapter. Do I need to get anything else or is anything else recommended for that matter?

Also, when it says to solder, is it OK to just twist the wires and tape em down or is there is it much better to actually solder?

Thanks!

 

yeah thats what i was thinking, just twisting wires and wrap them in electrical tape

i dont know, but it seems like soldering seems a bit long.

 

Please don't just twist the wires together. Spend the $15 and buy a soldering iron and some solder. When you see how hard you have to cram everything behind there you will be glad that you soldered all the wires together.

 

hmm, is there any option other than soldering, or crimp connectors?

 

Sure, you could weld the wires together, you could twist them really tight, tape them, tie it in a knot, staple it together, and pray to the deity of your choice that it doesn't come apart behind the dash. Or you could just solder or crimp them.

On a slightly more helpful note, you could use wire taps to connect them if you were really opposed to traditional soldering or crimping, but the latter is just as simple.

 

i crimped mine....... i think its the fastest and best way....

 

i figure that it is the fastest way, i just want to buy a crimping tool that i probably wont use afterwards

 

Oh you'll use it if you ever do footwell LEDs, amp installs or a whole bunch of other mods that involve wiring. It's a good investment fo sho.

 

also forgot to mention, is it possible to install the metra kit without the indash?

because my metra kit comes tomorrow and my indash nav is comming friday or monday.

 

actually i didnt use any connectors or did any kind of soldering for the footwels because i bought a kit that has four led strips that are already wired together.
all i needed was to find a power source... fusebox

anyways, on the other hand, zumm what kind of connectors did u use exactly?
isint there different types and sizes?

 

honestly auto stores carrie crappy electrical products, so i went to lowe's/ Home depot and bought the white cap insulated crimp for the appropriate gauge size of wires that i connected, let me see if ican find a pic, the box was like 12 for $2.99, i can help u do the install...

 

I would say the twisty crimpers are fine, except that in my case there just wasn't any room for that volume of twisty caps back there. There is just a crazy amount of wires back there that those twisty caps start adding up and taking space. So I soldered all but the ground wire for the PAC-SWI. There was a wire from the harness that needed to be grounded in order for the PAC-SWI to work, and I crimped that one to a wire running to ground rather than solder it.

I've done the soldering job a few times in the car using one of those portable battery operated push-button irons. It worked very well.

 

so you guys did not answer my other question though,
can the metra kit be installed without the double din? the double din arrives Friday and the metra kit arrives tomorrow [Wednesday]

or will that just make the work a bit harder when installing the double din?

 

your better off waiting for everything to come in before doing the install.

 

yeah you're going to be doing the same work twice for many of the steps. So there's no point to install the metra and then rip it out to then reinstall it with your HU

 

you asked about black or piano black, um mine is blue?

 

ok, i just got my metra kit [my double din has not arrived yet]
it looks really easy but i have a couple questions..

1. where do you put the axxess box during the installation?

2. what if my double din only comes with these wires [ green & black/ green/ blue&white/ blue/ orange/ Grey/ black / yellow and red?
or better yet just look at the picture below


3. i also ordered a Digital receiver for the television. the receiver needs a power source, so can it also tap into the red and black wires? [12v ignition&acc / Ground] or does it need to be yellow and black?

4. i also ordered a backup camera , it also needs power source, where can i tap into thats close to the trunk for the camera power?

 

anyone?

 

you're going to see that the metra kit tells you exactly what wires to connect to which wires in your HU. If you have more wires in your metra kit than in your HU it's not a big deal; those wires will probably be things like amp remote turn-on, power antenna, etc. Just make sure no wires are exposed, cover them with electrical tape if so. Also note there are two dimmer wires and you end up using only one of them; earlier in this thread there is a section about which wire to use for the dimmer.