Bringing it all together:
Last bit of wiring, getting the USB/AUX and HDMI extensions wired into the center console... pretty easy..
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Ran the wiring in the floor to the passenger seat where the amp goes. Ran power over to driver side and tapped into the switched 12v+. Grounded to grounding posts in the passenger seat pedestal. will fabricate mounting and such later... as I have two 50Ah LifePo4 batts going in there too.... I left extra slack for now in cables since I'm not sure if this will be the final location for the amp. I may try and fit more batteries in there.
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Now comes the fun part - installing the head unit and making all the connections…The biggest frustration I had initially was the fact that I couldn’t find out what the extra pin was in my factory harness. The Upfit manual describes the pinout for a “Radio Prep” package, and doesn’t show pin1 being populated. Says it’s N.C. After mining the forums, MB, and the internet, I finally found a schematic that represents the wiring I found in my van.
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It looks like Pin 1 goes to the CANBUS computer or something. I tested it and it gets 12v+ when ignition is off; Then voltage drops as soon as you put the key in the ignition. Nevertheless, I punted on trying to determine what Pin 1 was for and just continued; never used it for anything. Got wiring harness connections done and plugged everything in. Once I got everything up and running and tested, the last thing was to get the steering wheel controls to work.
Steering Wheel Controls
I learned that a lot of installers go with the PAC Audio interface. I chose to run with the Axxess ASWC-1. More simple, and I didn’t need to buy additional components for it to work.
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The install of the ASWC-1 only required basically 5 connections:
- 12+ - tied into harness 12v ACC wire
- Ground - tied into harness ground wire
- CAN H (BLU/PNK) - spliced into Hazard Panel Pin 3 - Blue/Pink wire
- CAN L (PNK) - spliced into the Hazard Panel Pin 4 - Brown/Red wire
- 3.5 mm aux cable - connected to the Head Unit’s 3.5mm input
The CanBus connections are on the back of the Hazard panel/module that sits below the A/C control panel..
Once I got things wired up properly, I fired up everything. Programming the Steering Wheel controls with the ASWC-1 was easy….after I called support to help me interpret the instructions. The by product of such a simple solution, is that there aren’t a bunch of buttons and such to program it and map the buttons to the functions you want. Thus programming is done mainly through your steering wheel buttons. It took a bit to understand how to do it…but it’s not bad once you understand how it works.
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Got things programmed the way I wanted and now I have full volume up/down; Hang up button - seek (for when I’m traveling and don’t know the stations); and Pick up button - Siri Hands-Free for iPhone.
Really liking the whole setup. The Pioneer Nex platform rocks! I tested the whole system out and still have some tweaking to do with the amp.
Follow ups
- I am getting some vibrations in the doors when hitting the lows at a higher volume. I will remove the door panels later and add some more sound deadening to the actual door panels and maybe add some more insulation behind the speakers.
- Also am noticing that there are some issues with the USB extension I put in. Not sure if it’s my phone, the head unit software, or the cable, but my Iphone keeps dropping the carplay connection. I’ll probably pull the unit and make sure the plug is secure.
- I’m looking at installing another rear view camera near the license plate and/or splitting out the high rear view camera signal to a rear view mirror lcd so I can have a “virtual” window into traffic behind the van.
Next up is the (2) maxxfan deluxe installs….