Installing HUD into non HUD vehicle.

[abuch47]

@TazzI Can you weigh in on adding the factory HUD to a car?

 

[Cam-ralph]

@TazzI Can you weigh in on adding the factory HUD to a car?

Thanks @abuch47, I have contacted @TazzI via his website, he has given me some helpful advise which I am thankful, unfortunately he can't give me the wiring details as he only gives that info to people that buy kits through him, which I totally understand.

I have been looking through all the wiring diagrams and I have a pretty good grasp on what I need to wire in and where, the only thing I guess you could say I am not 100% sure on is where to wire into for the Low Speed GMLAN Serial Data, can I just tap into any of the other GMLAN wires? or do i need to wire into the splitter plug (JX200)? I have attached a pic of the wiring diagram and if anyone has some good wiring knowledge and could add some input it would be appreciated.

 

[TazzI]

only thing I guess you could say I am not 100% sure on is where to wire into for the Low Speed GMLAN Serial Data

Grab it from any GMLAN wire. DLC (Diagnostic Connector) is easiest to work with

 

[Cam-ralph]

Grab it from any GMLAN wire. DLC (Diagnostic Connector) is easiest to work with

Thanks for that @TazzI I thought that would be the case but nice to have it confirmed by someone that knows what they are doing .

One last question for now, I was going to cut and solder the new wires into the loom, is this overkill and should I just use wire connectors like below.

 

[Skylarking]

@Cam-ralph GMLAN is services protocol layer based off a CAN bus transport layer. Three wire provide a high and low speed serial bus. I’m not sure what frequency these buses run at though I think it’s in the region of 100’s kilobits per second so not fast by modern standards.

But because it is serial data, pulsed voltage not a simple constant 12 volts, splicing into these wires can cause issues with the devices on the bus due to distortion of the waveform possibly making decode of the data difficult. You might find using such connectors works until you plug something into the DLC at which time reliability of the signal drops off and the connected devises on that bus have communication issues.

Keep in mind this is theoretical as I haven’t played with GMLAN myself so I’m interested in @TazzI ‘s thought on the subject.

 

[mpower]

Thanks for that @TazzI I thought that would be the case but nice to have it confirmed by someone that knows what they are doing .

One last question for now, I was going to cut and solder the new wires into the loom, is this overkill and should I just use wire connectors like below.

View attachment 206211

the answer is always solder, those clip things are rubbish.

solder and heat shrink tubing FTW.

 

[TazzI]

So.. for the sake of keeping professional, soldering is always the preferred method. Just throw a cardboard box on the driver floor, unscrew the diagnostics connector and you should be able to pull it down a little to easily access it to do the job nicely.

In an ideal world, a soldering iron should even be required.. anywhere.. in a car. A factory connector can always be used to make nice passthrough looms so its all plug and play (Bascially how I do almost all my wiring).

As for GMLAN, its single wire CANbus, so identical to how the dual wire canbus protocl works, but.. just one wire (ie... 7E0 01 20.. which is equivalent to asking ECM "are you there bro?").

Anyways, back to it. A spice connector can work for the GMLAN connection, issue there is those connectors easily cut everything in half and can have intermittent connection (So... probably avoid that). Better options it to use one of the Y-connectors which allow you to cut the wire, strip both ends, thread into the Y-connector and then use the screw or crimp provided to join all three wires. This is usually a more reliable once of edit and can provide a strong connection.

There has been some catastrophic wiring I have seen for hackjob wiring looms which are held together with the good ol' wire twist method.. and still had things like gauges and even entire radios working.. so CANbus is fairly fault tolerant but in no way would I recommend anyone doing it that way. If you don't intend to pull it out, Id always suggest soldering, or at least a Y joiner.

 

[stooge]

I was going to cut and solder the new wires into the loom, is this overkill and should I just use wire connectors like below.

+1 for soldering.
if you can always solder unless you need it to be removable and if you need to remove it use crimp connectors that have matching male and female ends.
avoid those little blue connectors in your picture because they are total rubbish and have issues over time with vibration and corrosion.

 

[Cam-ralph]

In an ideal world, a soldering iron should never be required.. anywhere.. in a car. A factory connector can always be used to make nice passthrough looms so its all plug and play (Bascially how I do almost all my wiring).

I’m not overly fond of the idea of cutting and soldering the cars wiring loom but unfortunately I don’t have the connectors pins or knowledge required to make a pass through loom.
@TazzI out of curiosity do your kits come as plug & play?

 

[Fu Manchu]

I love the HUD I use it all the time.

Plot twist: Is a fighter pilot.