Inspiration for my 2004 2.0i wagon

[stubaru]

Hi there

So today i pulled the trigger on an imported 2004 wagon. Massive upgrade from my old Maxima and i'm very excited about it.

Having looked at every BL in Auckland i got my wires crossed on some of the more trivial details: I have an in-dash stacker instead of a head unit with a changer control, this rules out getting something like an Anycar interface for bluetooth and ipod control... not a biggie, but a pain in the ass none-the-less. I'm not interested in FM transmitters and would rather just have a lot of CDs in the car in lieu of an iPod.

Another interesting feature is a panasonic strada cn-DV150 7inch screen where the OEM navigation would go. I can seem to get some TV audio through it, otherwise its all japanese and obsolete. The interesting part (well, as far as i can tell) is that i dont know where it's sourcing its media from. Nothing in the glovebox, under the seats, or anywhere else i can see. Will take the stereo out in the weekend for a peek behind the dash. i think it may have some kind of speaker/microphone set up attached.

oh, and i have this TOTALLY random aftermarket switch by the steering wheel which as far as i can tell does nothing, but is wired up... more info on that once i get behind the dash.

So, put yourself in my shoes: i have a stereo that doesn't have an AUX/HDD/USB (my main source), a random TV screen (i guess i could get a band expander, but i cant feed the audio through the stereo) which i could hook up to something and set'n'forget in japanese, and some kind of funny card reader in the centre console which i think is from some kind of traffic payment system.

I'm a blank canvas: what would you do? Use the screen for GPS? Tear everything out and start from scratch? Get your soldering iron out and dust off your C++ commandline code skills? Would love to hear your thoughts/ideas.

My only real criteria is that it looks reasonably stock, and i don't have 2 stereos in the car Keeping the finances within reason might be nice too... i don't have MTV and Xzibit to pick up the tab.

Here are some pictures which may or may not help explain my ramblings above....

[Guest boostin]

Yeah the card reader is a toll road thing.

I see plenty of those switch things, dunno what they're for though.

[wrx_lou]

Ejector seat?

[DRFVDR]

"microphone" thingy on windscreen is a sender unit for the toll card reader (we brought a jap import hiace van that had been iced up with this and alot of other stuff that i removed probably removed 20kgs or wiring)

look in the spare wheel well for a source as I know this is where the Altezza wagons hide theirs

[stubaru]

Thanks guys, have put in a 10Mhz band expander and removed the cardreader today... in the process i realised there are a TRUCKLOAD of cables/RCA's under the drivers seat.

I only checked under there from the backseat, and mistook whatever device is lurking for an airvent... will investigate further over the weekend.

oh, sidenote: does anyone know if theres a "silent CD aux hack" equivalent for the miniDisc player? i'll NEVER use it and thought it could be a good way to get a signal in from a media player/ipod/dvd etc without losing the OEM stacker & radio.

So the switch could in fact be something to do with whatever is under the driver's seat... i definately prefer the Ejector Seat theory!

[stubaru]

ok, so next n00b question:

if i were to purchase something along the lines of this am i able to hack it together to be hard-wired to power instead of cigarette lighter-powered?

Would it be a case of breaking open the cigarette lighter adapter and splicing the +ve and ground into the wiring like i would a stereo?

I'd mount it where the current (completely useless) japanese screen is.

[wrx_lou]

you can do it easily. If you want to do it without hacking up your original charging cable just run that into the dash and down to behind the stereo. The just go to super cheap or dicksmith and get a lighter socket that you have to hardwire. Splice the power wire into the ign. wire on the back of the stereo and ground the ground wire accordingly.

I used something similar to this that I had in the garage. I just cut the clips off.

http://www.dse.co.nz/dse.shop/4c677a70012212f0273fc0a87f3b06d9/Product/View/M5373

[Guest boostin]

The existing screen will already have a power and earth. Just find and use those.

[wrx_lou]

 boostin said:

The existing screen will already have a power and earth. Just find and use those.

Thats the one I meant. The ignition wire to the stereo. I personaly wouldnt tap into the constant (if it has one) and prefer to have everything grounded seperately.

[stubaru]

Thanks for the replies, fellas (&/or fellettes?) This will be what i'll do then.

Given they all seem to have fm broadcasting and headphone out, it'll give me both temporary (FM) and permanent (hacked in with silent cd) aux input.

Awesome. Now to win an auction!

[stubaru]

Update: for those curious (if any) the switch dims the display on the stereo, separate to the console dimmer... this allows the red lights to be controlled independantly from the white AC/CD displays.

Not all that exciting, but should anyone in the future ask, now we know.

[KonKon]

How did your band expander go? I have the same head unit but it has two aerial leads. How did you deal with this?

[Guest]

My 04 GT has the exact same screen, dimming switch and a very similar looking motorway toll road transmitter thing in it. Also under the passengers seat is a DVD player. Did you manage to do anything useful with the 7" screen?

I'm also looking to get some sort of aux option so that I can plug my mp3 player in, let me know how you get on.

[stubaru]

KonKon: i just dropped it into Hyper in penrose and had them do it whilst i waited... was sick to death of MaiFM works well, as one would hope. They charged me for 2 adapters due to the OEM connections, but was less than $100 all up, i was in a hurry and i hadn't booked ahead. Perfect

danj; i'm playing around with some other control units for the screen to see if any operate in english. Just picking them up one by one off trademe for $10 each... about to try a panasonic DV2000

Will probably mount an android tablet in there, and hook it up to the FM modulator aux i have also had put in (as a temporary work-around untill i find an audiophile-level aux solution).

Have you had any luck with AUX's danj?

[Guest]

Just bought an 04 legacy today jap inport has all the exact same things as yours, literally identicle to your pictures. how did you get on with this? mine currently wont load cds as well?

[stubaru]

Hi all

So a fascia kit came up on trademe, and i picked it up at a price i'm happy about. Will put a cheap 2din cd player in for now (hopefully with bluetooth, USB and 3.5jack in) and get a DVD player touchscreen in a few months when the cash flow is.... er... flowier.

In the mean time, i'll also be hooking up a reversing camera to the existing screen in the dashboard. in the long term i might look into getting a NZ new dash pocket and clock for this area, depends how the 2 screens look once both installed.

Anyone with a defective OEM stereo want to put a few measly dollars down on my (soon to be redundant, but fully functional, with band expander and ipod FM modulator) stock stereo unit? Otherwise will throw it on trademe to recoup some costs.

Cheers

stu

[calibre]

 stubaru said:

In the mean time, i'll also be hooking up a reversing camera to the existing screen in the dashboard.

I had the same screen unit, I'd be careful before buying a camera as I did thinking there was an AV line into the back of the screen, because there isn't and you would have to have someone splice into the loom to work out how to adapt the input to suit.

2c

[Peg]

 stubaru said:

So a fascia kit came up on trademe, and i picked it up at a price i'm happy about...

I did some searching on TM, and am not surprised you're happy with the price. Well spotted... I'm only sorry I missed that one myself.

[stubaru]

 calibre']

In the mean time, i'll also be hooking up a reversing camera to the existing screen in the dashboard.

I had the same screen unit, I'd be careful before buying a camera as I did thinking there was an AV line into the back of the screen, because there isn't and you would have to have someone splice into the loom to work out how to adapt the input to suit.

2c

Cheers: The screen is powered by a 1din unit under the driver's seat (which is still there): will investigate to confirm, but last time i pulled it out from under the seat, the camera input was just an RCA on the back.

[quote name='stubaru said:

So a fascia kit came up on trademe, and i picked it up at a price i'm happy about...

/quote]

I did some searching on TM, and am not surprised you're happy with the price. Well spotted... I'm only sorry I missed that one myself.

Yeah, didnt want to take a gamble bidding lower, so just hit Buy Now

[calibre]

 Stubaru said:

Cheers: The screen is powered by a 1din unit under the driver's seat (which is still there): will investigate to confirm, but last time i pulled it out from under the seat, the camera input was just an RCA on the back.

Oh Ok, easy then. mine didn't have that box and the screen has never worked since I got it, that might be why :

[webup]

I paid $500 to get this from Japan, just so I can remove the factory stereo and then go and buy a new double din unit to go in.

They make you buy the air con unit and dont just sell the fascia plate....

I wouldnt bother trying to get the screen to work in the navigation panel/sunglass holder up the top of the dash.

They are NTSC screens and you will have no end of hassle trying to arse about with it and get it going.

[stubaru]

Well, car got nicked: but looking to get another 2.0i or 2.0R with the insurance payout.

at least the dash-fascia kit wasn't in the car at the time... shot!

[boon]

Whaaaaaaaaaaaa

People steal N/A wagons? I thought they only went after old turbo Subeys...

Ouch.

[Peg]

 stubaru said:

Well, car got nicked: but looking to get another 2.0i or 2.0R with the insurance payout.

at least the dash-fascia kit wasn't in the car at the time... shot!

Sorry to hear that mate ... and happy to buy the kit off you if you don't end up needing it

[KonKon]

I didn't think you could steal them, so much for the immobilizer. Bummer.