RX8Club.com - Pioneer Avic Z1 and Z2 bypass info

I know a lot of the people on here are participating in the corksport group buy and some are going to get the Pioneer AVIC Z1 or Z2 system

Out of the box you can barely do anything when the car is in motion - you can't even set a new destination without stopping and putting on the Ebrake

here are the bypass instructions that will let you have full control of all of the features all of the time

It's known as the "2 wire bypass"

Wire #1:
Ground the light green parking brake sense wire from the Z1. If the light green parking brake sense wire is already connected to your vehicles parking brake switch wire, then disconnect it from the vehicles wiring and then ground it. Do not permanently ground the vehicles parking brake switch wire, just the light green sense wire from the Z1.

Wire #2:
Look on the back of the Z1, there are 3 main connectors.
As you are looking at it from the rear, the connector on the bottom right (closest to the FM antenna plug) is labeled on the back of the Z1 as "connector 2".
The 4 right most locations in that connector DO NOT have wires in them.
You need to add a wire to this position and ground it as well.
http://www.sminntech.com/images/avicz1newbypass.jpg
Ground this pin in "connector 2"

Personally I took the "cell phone mute" wire out of "connector 1" by taking a
jewlers screw driver and lift up on the white plastic connector part just behind the "metal tang"
in the connector. Some times with these connectors, you push on the metal tang to get the wire out,
with these connectors, lift up on the plastic tang retainer, don't push down on the tang.
It's much easier. I then inserted the cell phone mute wire into this position and grounded it.

NOTE: The "cell phone mute" wire has nothing to do with the Pioneer ND-BT1 (add-on bluetooth module). This wire is used if you install a 3rd party (non-Pioneer) speaker phone system so that it can interface to the Avic Z1. If you install a non-Pioneer cell phone interface then you will most likely use this wire to mute the Z1. If so, choose another wire. If you use the ND-BT1 you will NOT use this wire and it will be extra for your installation (which makes it an appropriate choice). Another choice is the "guide on" wire which is for turning off an external sound processor when the navigation voice speaks. This is another wire most people won't use in a standard install. It doesn't matter what wire you relocate into this location in Connector 2, just pick one that you don't use in your specific installation.

I did what you say to above and when I start driving around I get a pop up message about my parking brake not beeing connected properly and I get locked out again.

I get this a lot. You are not alone. What happened is that you didn't do "wire #2" correctly. In the instructions above, wire #1 is the parking brake wire. Grounding that will bypass the unit while you are not moving. Grounding wire #2 will keep the unit unlocked when you start moving. If wire #2 is not grounded properly then when you start moving it will lock you back out again and put up that pop up message. I know you think that you grounded that wire correctly, and most likely you did. Where most people have problems is in the connector itself. Either the terminal is not oriented correctly or it's not inserted all the way or something. But check and double check that connector. That's where every single problem I have seen has been. Trust me this procedure works and it works well. If it's not working then double check what you did. If you are still getting the pop up message, the only way to get rid of it is to press the recessed button to the right of the eject button (the button the opens the face of the Avic-Z1). This will lose your AM/FM radio presets but not much else.

The older Z2's (not the Z1) need a software patch you need to install, but newer systems supposedly do not - if the manufacture date on the box is before june 2007 you will need the software update files (the update files can be added after the wires have been grounded, in fact it's easier that way)

1. Download this 30MB file: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4T5MBJL7
2. Burn to CD or DVD as an image, not using built-in windows burning.
3. Insert in Z2, press Map, and run the update! (e-brake must be applied or wire grounded
4. Press the recessed reset button once, and your Z2 is now 2-wire bypassable.

This is for Z2 UNITS ONLY!!!! This will not upgrade your Z1, and actually might leave it unusable, as it relies on some firmware that isn't installed. Turns out the update disc was pretty easy to cut down to just the files needed to update for the bypass.