Sounds like you have a short. Make sure that you have solid grounds, and any wires not in use are tied off and taped to prevent them from crossing.

 

Yeah, definitely a short somewhere. I will check all connections and unused wires. As for that ground I used for the headunit, is that a good spot?

 

Okay, so we pulled the radio back out yesterday, and found the problem with the dash lights. It seems that the dimmer wire from the Metra harness was blowing that fuse. We originally had the two dimmer wires connected, but per paimon.soror's suggestion, we ran the radio's illumination wire to the glovebox light instead. Now I have dimming when the headlights are on and no blown fuses. Kinda cool how the X930 has a gradual dimming/brightening effect.

We also solved the engine noise problem. Along with the whine, I was getting a weird pop in the speakers when I turned on the radio. Now, the way we cured most of the noise was really just a result of us having another issue that started while we had the radio out. We kept losing the radio power and dash display intermittently. Turns out there were two slightly bent pins on the Metra main harness. Once we fixed these, most of the engine noise went away and the radio and display worked fine again. Also, no more speaker pops. We then plugged in the PAC ground loop isolators, and this took care of the remaining engine noise.

So I still have to deal with some of those HVAC buttons not working. I just recieved a spare HVAC module today that I will test, and I have a spare Axxess box to try. Hopefully between these I can get everything working properly!

 

Btw, does anyone know which wires behind the HVAC unit specifically control the HVAC illumination? Not the indicator lights on the buttons, but the main lighting.

Thanks...

 

very nice, glad that worked out, I love it too, dont forget that you can adjust the dimming level by holding down the "Home" button (it might be different on the 930)

So I am 2 / 2 here ? hehe jk, glad you got it going

This one sure is screwy, but hopefully the new box will work out for you. As far as your next post, I can reference which wire is the illumination wire when i get home, but that will be for a series 2, and i am not sure if the harness color code was the same in the series 1.

 

Yeah man, you've been very helpful here, thanks! I hate that I have to rely on that Axxess box for everything on the dashboard, but I knew all of that going into this. Also, thanks for letting me know about the dimmer adjustment - I didn't know that previously. Kind of wish Pioneer supplied a hard copy of the instructions that I could just keep in the car. All I got was a CD.

Anything you (or anyone) can tell me about the wiring would be great, assuming it applies to the S1!

 

I'll leave the troubleshooting to the experts, but thumbs up! I've greatly enjoyed mine..

 

Aww man, you beat me to posting a pic in my own thread! lol Looks nice. Did you install it yourself?

 

Even though I've done many installs myself, as well as much more difficult projects...I will admit that I paid to have it done at BB. $100 to do it and a load off of my shoulders at the time, figured it was worth it. Haven't had any problems with it.

 

You only paid $100 to have this installed? That included the entire Metra kit/Axxess box hook-up? That is ridiculously cheap, and I was quoted as much as $700 as some shops to put everything in. Never got a BB quote though. However, I did install an XM tuner, steering wheel controls, iPod cable and of course the bluetooth mic and Nav antenna. So there was definitely some extra work involved. I figured BB would charge around $100 for a standard radio install, but not for something this involved.

 

Yep! I provided the kit and everything of course..and they installed it, gps antenna, etc, for $100.

 

I live down at fort meade, about 15 miles from baltimore, and was quoted 100$ to install it at Best buy down at Arundel mills....
Thats what ill end up doing lol because im not sure i could do this myself =(

 

That really is a good price. The 2009+ Metra kits are a lot easier to install than the previous version, because you don't have to worry about connecting the interface for the HVAC controls. So, it's a little more understandable that they'd just charge the 100 bucks for your kit. But, they may add extra fees if you're adding anything like satellite radio. Whatever you get, you'll love having the new headunit!

 

I didnt tell them my car year. they said it was a standard price they charge everyone.
Curious though! im about to order my pioneer from amazon (prime), What else did you end up needing, so i can just buy it all at once, and take it to best buy lol

 

Wow, that's interesting. Anyway, here's a list of everything I ordered from Amazon and Crutchfield:

-Pioneer AVIC-X930BT
-Pioneer GEX-P920XM XM Satellite Radio
-Metra Axxess ASWC Universal Steering Wheel Control Interface
-Pioneer CD-IU51V AV iPod/iPhone Cable for Pioneer AV and Navigation models
-JL Audio XD-CLRAIC2-SW 2-channel Speaker Wire to RCA Adapter
-PAC SNI1 Noise Isolators

Of course, most of this stuff was just optional. I'm not 100% sure you'll need those RCAs in your 2009, or the noise filters, for that matter. I also bought a backup cam, but it didn't fit where I wanted. So I may try and find another one that works. Amazon Prime is great. Sometimes you order the free 2-day shipping, and it comes in one day. lol

 

thanks!!!
i just ordered mine

 

That's how all the big box stores work. Circuit City worked the same way. It's the same price for a given job regardless of vehicle or store location. The installers are the ones who lose out. Though they get paid hourly (not well), they get their bonus based on the number of jobs they turn out. If one particular vehicle takes all day, well, they just have to eat it. They get the same number of points for a Navi install in an RX8 as they would a Ford Ranger (VERY easy).

Call me crazy. But when you pick up the car, look everything over to make sure every feature is working correctly (bluetooth, etc) and that they didn't damage anything on your car.... then kick them a few bucks in tip. They deserve it.

 

So I tried the spare HVAC module, and the same buttons are not working (rear defroster and re-circ buttons).

I called Metra and they're telling me to connect everything without the extension cables, ugh. Not looking forward to fitting it without those.

In the meantime, here's a nice close-up of the headunit:

 

Mind uploading that splash image?

 

I uploaded the original, which I think was for an iPhone. I couldn't find any other size, but I just enlarged it a little for the X930 screen.

 

I may have one of these for sale if anyone's interested...

 

I ended up installing my own yesterday. Bestbuy took way to long i sat for almost 2 hours watching him work, and he was pretty sloppy so i went home lol.
Gotta yank it back out today and redo the bypass, as it stopped working for somereason today while i was driving. but was fine yesterday.
how did you do your bypass? (to view videos while driving)

 

^^ nothing like a girl who is willing (and also able) to work on her car.

 

From this picture, it looks like Metra improved the glossy paint on their kit. At least this looks like it's pretty close to the stock piano black surface, unlike earlier pics where the looks were just a disgrace.

Or did you repaint the bezel?

 

Indeed. So did you just tell the guy to stop what he was doing, because he was taking too long? lol Well I guess you can't complain too much, for the money. Hopefully he got through most of the wiring for you.

Not sure exactly how Best Buy did yours, but basically you just move the yellow MUTE wire up one pin on the Pioneer harness, and then ground it with the parking brake wire. That's it! There are several videos on YouTube about it, but this one shows the entire process (however they yanked on that mute wire way too hard!):