Herakles
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2011
- Messages
- 12
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- Location
- Auckland
- Members Ride
- VX Calais 3.8 V6 S/C
This is easy when you know how, after much research, here it is.
The amp and the subs work, you get Siri and handsfree calling out of the box without one of those little black gizmos that everyone seems to try and sell you.
Firstly get yourself an Aerpro harness and the Aerpro install brackets, a regular DDIN cage won't fit in the hole and the extra length of the cable is helpful. I will assume you can do all the plug it in stuff. There is a Youtube video by Aerpro for doing the fitting side of things that is pretty good. Use the holes that line the brackets up to where the black front of the stereo meets the metal part otherwise it will stick out way too much. The Commodore surround that comes with Aerpro kit wont fit in the Calais, but the Kenwood one fits ok with a slightly larger gap at the bottom of the stereo when it is finished, but is barely noticeable.
Although you are going to be excited to get your new sounds going, do yourself a favour, set aside a couple of hours and avoid taking shortcuts in dismantling the dash or you will pay for it in frustration. I suggest also that you make a nice neat job of it taping the wires together so you can feed them through the hole in the stereo box and manoeuvre them around in behind and not accidentally pull out the Mic or SW plugs when you are positioning things. All those wires certainly wont all fit in the stereo box behind the stereo, remove the glovebox and the panel that attaches to the console in the left hand footwell so you can get access to the wiring albeit somewhat tight.
Anyway the wires that you are looking for that no one can find are in the smaller 6 pin plug that currently fits into the back of your Maestro. One wire is Brown, the other is Black with a yellow stripe. These may be different on a VXI, my manual says Black/Red rather than Brown but it wasn't the case in my car.
Anyway I tested the circuit between these 2 wires with a multimeter, pressing each SW button sequentially, each button has a different resistance and the stereo recognises this to determine what you want it to do, you get to customise these in the stereo settings when you are all connected. You can even decide if you want them to do other functions instead. I do recommend you test the circuit with a multimeter in case yours is different. You may need the key on accessories for them to work. You will get a different resistance reading for each button you press, this is a good indication you have the right pair of wires.
When I identified these 2 wires I cut them and took them out of the existing loom and bound them separately.
When you programme the buttons in the stereo menu, hold each button til the indicator shows on the stereo, maybe 5 secs.
Take a look at the pictures, and by all means feel free to ask questions.
Be aware the pic of the back of the stereo has the remote lead plugged into the wrong hole, be sure to plug it into the hole marked remote in.
The amp and the subs work, you get Siri and handsfree calling out of the box without one of those little black gizmos that everyone seems to try and sell you.
Firstly get yourself an Aerpro harness and the Aerpro install brackets, a regular DDIN cage won't fit in the hole and the extra length of the cable is helpful. I will assume you can do all the plug it in stuff. There is a Youtube video by Aerpro for doing the fitting side of things that is pretty good. Use the holes that line the brackets up to where the black front of the stereo meets the metal part otherwise it will stick out way too much. The Commodore surround that comes with Aerpro kit wont fit in the Calais, but the Kenwood one fits ok with a slightly larger gap at the bottom of the stereo when it is finished, but is barely noticeable.
Although you are going to be excited to get your new sounds going, do yourself a favour, set aside a couple of hours and avoid taking shortcuts in dismantling the dash or you will pay for it in frustration. I suggest also that you make a nice neat job of it taping the wires together so you can feed them through the hole in the stereo box and manoeuvre them around in behind and not accidentally pull out the Mic or SW plugs when you are positioning things. All those wires certainly wont all fit in the stereo box behind the stereo, remove the glovebox and the panel that attaches to the console in the left hand footwell so you can get access to the wiring albeit somewhat tight.
Anyway the wires that you are looking for that no one can find are in the smaller 6 pin plug that currently fits into the back of your Maestro. One wire is Brown, the other is Black with a yellow stripe. These may be different on a VXI, my manual says Black/Red rather than Brown but it wasn't the case in my car.
Anyway I tested the circuit between these 2 wires with a multimeter, pressing each SW button sequentially, each button has a different resistance and the stereo recognises this to determine what you want it to do, you get to customise these in the stereo settings when you are all connected. You can even decide if you want them to do other functions instead. I do recommend you test the circuit with a multimeter in case yours is different. You may need the key on accessories for them to work. You will get a different resistance reading for each button you press, this is a good indication you have the right pair of wires.
When I identified these 2 wires I cut them and took them out of the existing loom and bound them separately.
When you programme the buttons in the stereo menu, hold each button til the indicator shows on the stereo, maybe 5 secs.
Take a look at the pictures, and by all means feel free to ask questions.
Be aware the pic of the back of the stereo has the remote lead plugged into the wrong hole, be sure to plug it into the hole marked remote in.
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