aftermarket HU questions (yup, i searched =P)

[gotstumped]

hey guys... been lurking for a while, but wanted to get some clarification before i go ahead and spend money.

i just picked up an 06 VZ acclaim wagon that doesn't have a stereo - apparently the owner had problems with it and just pulled it out instead of getting it fixed.

anyways, i'm wanting an aftermarket HU instead of a factory replacement because i want to be able to play MP3s from CD and USB. but before i buy something i want to check a few things.

1) computer features. what features do i lose by not keeping the factory HU? this thread suggests that i turn off radio display before swapping the HU or you lose door lock while driving and a few other things... obviously it's too late for that, but i was wondering exactly what features i've lost and whether there's any way to get them back?

2) wiring harness. on my old forester i was able to buy a harness from a JVC HU to the subaru loom - plug and play and everything worked fine. best i can find is ebay commodore>ISO... is there anything else? ryda/aerpro only seem to have up to VY. am i missing something? is the VY/VZ wiring the same?

would this work? VZ --> ISO and then ISO --> HU??

3) PAC SWIX. have read about the CAT gear, but it's fairly expensive, and PAC SWIX (or PAC SWI-JACK?) looks like a cheaper option. my question is probably a stupid one, but hopefully you'll forgive me - how do i tell whether the HU i buy will be compatible with a PAC SWI kit? this link shows one that works on the 04-06 pontiac GTO... i've heard that it's the same wiring as the VZ commodore, can anyone confirm that?

4) facia kit. any reason not to buy the facia kit in the ebay link here?

that's probably enough questions for now, thanks guys!

[MAG00]

1) Have a play around and see if certain things don't work (headlight auto-off etc.) I dont think they'll be too drastic to worry about, if you haven't realised anything then it really doesn't matter.

2) That VZ --> ISO is fine. Try these from the same seller: This one This one or this one.

You'll need to ask the seller which one would be the right one or have a look at the harness that came with the Headunit and buy one with the same pin shape.

3) You can buy a steering wheel control interface from that same seller, that would replace the VZ --> ISO that you linked in 2). This here is the complete kit with the steering wheel controller. I have one in my VY, works great. Just make sure you tell the seller what headunit you have at the checkout, so they can send you the right cable. That kit has BOTH VZ --> ISO and ISO --> HU included, plus the fascia and antenna adaptor (which you will need, because holden used a European antenna connector). The VZ --> ISO includes the steering wheel control unit.

4) Nothing wrong with that fascia if you are getting a single DIN headunit, if you are getting the double DIN unit then get this kit.

I would highly recommend you get the kit, with the whole lot. Way easier! Fairly sure Aerpro is the brand that makes all of it.

All sorted?

[gotstumped]

thanks mag, that's helpful...

i think the only thing that i've noticed missing is the auto door-lock. do u know if there's a way to get that back? assuming it was an option on the acclaim..

couple more questions:
- is the VY and VZ wiring the same?
- is the pontiac GTO 06 the same wiring/facia as the VZ?
- antenna. will it automatically go up/down with an aftermarket HU, or will i need to replace it with a solid antenna, or is there a way to trick it?

[MAG00]

Almost certain that VY and VZ wiring is the same for the headunit.
Here is a diagram: http://forums.justcommodores.com.au/...mgp1203sml.jpg
The diagram has Ant. Tri, which stands for Antenna trigger. Most aftermarket headunits should be able to utilise this wire, which puts the antenna up and down.

I cannot comment on the Pontiac, I have no idea. I would suggest you get the kit that I linked you to, they will without a doubt work with a VZ.

[gotstumped]

thanks mate... SWI is probably going to be a thing for the future rather than now, just want to make sure i'm not limiting my options with HU choice.

so that's probably the final question - will PAC SWI-X or -JACK, or CAT for that matter, interface with any HU, or is there something i need to look for in a HU when i buy?

[MAG00]

Once again, I highly recommend the Aerpro Steering wheel control unit in that eBay link. Works great with my system, and is as simple as plugging it in. All those other ones need to be programmed, or have jumpers swapped etc.

When you look for a HU, just make sure it says that it will work with steering wheels controls.

[gotstumped]

HU to Pioneer wiring question now...

i've got a commodore female plug to wires, and have worked out that the top half is speaker and the lower half is everything else.
here is a pic from the top of a factory HU

the bottom of the plug only has 5 wires, 3 on the bottom row and two on the top. colours are black for gnd, orange for ill, and yellow for acc+, then red for batt+ and blue for ant. trig.

the pioneer plug only has 4 wires:
black - ground
yellow - connect to the constant 12v supply terminal
red - connect to terminal controlled by ignition switch (12v DC)
blue/white - connect to system control terminal of the power amp or auto-antenna relay control terminal (max 300 mA 12v DC)

just wanting to check something that i'm sure is blatantly obvious, but i'd rather ask a stupid question than blow something up..
obviously, black goes to black, and i assume blue/white goes to blue (there aren't any other wires to use for antenna). the one that i want to check is whether the pioneer yellow goes to the commodore red and pioneer red to commodore yellow? i assume that acc+ on the commodore (yellow) has to go to the ignition switch (pioneer red), and that the commodore (red) batt+ will need to go to the pioneer constant 12v (yellow)...??

the colour switch has thrown me, and i'm so new to this kinda stuff that i wanted to get a second opinion.

[wrx884]

Pioneer yellow is the battery + so make sure its connected 2 the 1 that says batt + in ur diagram and the pioneer red is ur ACC + so make sure that gets connected 2 ur ACC+ in ur diagram also. (the pioneer loom itself should b labelled which wire is wat with small tags)

If ur still not sure grab urself a test light and test each terminal, ACC+ will turn on with ur ignition (ACC) and ur battery + will always light up being ur constant power source.

[MAG00]

Match them according to the colour, some harnesses have them around the wrong way for some stupid reason.

[gotstumped]

well i connected as logic and wrx884 suggested, and i have both power and sound. antenna only goes up about a foot, but i haven't plugged it into the HU yet, so i'm hoping it'll work shortly (didn't get the time to install the HU, just to test the wiring)

mag00 - if i'd matched them according to colour, the acc and batt+ would've been connected wrong...

[gotstumped]

so the antenna only comes up about 10"... any idea why that might be? it also comes up as soon as the HU comes on, not just when the source is tuner...

[VQXTC]

I would say the reason why your antenna only comes up about 10" is because on the standard headunit there may have been a switch which enabled the antenna to go up and down (semi automatic).
IMO the easiest way would be to buy a new fully automatic antenna and replace the current semi automatic antenna.

The main reason why your aerial goes up as soon as you turn the headunit on is because there is only one output from the pioneer headunit. This output is also used to control amplifiers turning on and off.
There are some headunits that you can get that have 2 seperate outputs. One for the electric antenna (which only produces power when the radio is on and turns off when the cd is played.) The other one stays on constantly until you turn the headunit off (This one is used for the remote turn on and off of the amplifier.)

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Simon

[gotstumped]

turns out that the antenna just needed some WD-40 to get it sliding again, obviously hadn't been used for a while (the factory HU had been taken out a while ago by the previous owner and never replaced)... nice easy fix.

thanks for the info on the output, that makes sense!