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How to: USB/Aux on aftermarket stereo on Scion tC2

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Old 09-03-2011 | 05:18 PM
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Default How to: USB/Aux on aftermarket stereo on Scion tC2

before you start i am not responsible for any damages done to your car or yourself while completing this thread

First off the things you will need

-a 3 wire 3.5mm headphone aux wire i used an old 3.5 to 3.5 that i had left over
-a cervo or a cervo extension cable i got a cervo off ebay for $.99 you can get an extension on ebay or a hobby shop for a couple bucks
-a USB extension cable can be found at any electronics store

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Tools
-i used a soldering iron to make all of my connections
-shrink wrap or electrical tape
-razor blade
-pliers (needle nose preferably)

How to access back of switch
first pop off the passenger side of the center console

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then pull straight up on the bezel around the shifter (you may need to engage the emergency brake to remove it)

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then remove the stock plug from the switch

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Stereo input:

For the stereo cable I used a three wire 3.5mm stereo cable, cut the plug of one end and you'll have three thin wires exposed mine had a silver wire wrap that was actually the typical black ground:

Black - ground
Red - right channel
White - left channel

Mate them to a radio control servo wire extension as follow:
(Depending on which harness they give you at the hobby shop, they usually are black,red,white or brown,red,yellow)

Black to (Black or Brown)

Red to (White or yellow)

White to (Red)

cut the male connection off of your extenion or cervo and seperate the wires

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cut the aux cable and seperate the 3 wires that are in it

next solder the wires as shown above to their corresponding wire i made sure to place shrink wrap on each of the three individual wires and on the combination of all for extra protection later on

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After all solders are made and shrink wraps are connected you should have something like this

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next we have to plug in the cervo wire to the stock switch the switch is layed out into 5 small wire plugs you want to place the cervo wire into the last 3 or these plugs

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lastly plug the Aux into the Aux end of the aftermarket stereo and test

Connecting the USB:

You will need to modify the female end of the USB cable, basically remove the metal and rubber surrounding using a razor blade and a pair of pliers

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next plug the female end that you just modified into the top of the plug with the metal prongs facing down or towards the cervo wire you need to seat this completely

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last plug the usb into the usb on your aftermarket stereo and test


its hard to see but the light is on on the usb drive success

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now run all wires down the back of the radio and back into the switch and pop everything back into place

so much cleaner

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any questions just ask
Old 09-03-2011 | 07:25 PM
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if anyone is unsure about making the wires or doesnt have the experience or no how to do this let me know and ill make the cables for you and will look into making it into one harness
Old 09-05-2011 | 11:31 AM
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Great writeup. I ordered the stuff needed to finally finish this off.
Old 10-08-2011 | 06:28 PM
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Thanks for this write up.
I hooked up the USB to my P4300DVD HU and it's working perfectly.

I modified the USB Extention cable that came with that HU so it was pretty simple. I didn't hook up the AUX since I don't have any devices that use it.
Old 10-12-2011 | 10:06 PM
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glad to see everything is working right

scionchicop let me know how everything works out
Old 10-12-2011 | 10:46 PM
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Originally Posted by devanb3
glad to see everything is working right

scionchicop let me know how everything works out
USB works great! Wasn't able to do the aux connection due to me having my aux used by the stereo control adapter. Not too worried about it. Would i be able to use an aux splitter and use the car aux plus the stereo control adapter???
Old 10-12-2011 | 10:57 PM
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Originally Posted by scionchicop
USB works great! Wasn't able to do the aux connection due to me having my aux used by the stereo control adapter. Not too worried about it. Would i be able to use an aux splitter and use the car aux plus the stereo control adapter???
your talking about like the adapter that allows you to use youre steering wheel controls

if so i dont see why you couldnt use it for both unless it has something to do with the input derived from that aux port if you have an extra splitter laying around you could always just try it out
Old 11-07-2011 | 08:06 AM
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Finally getting around to redoing the aux. I wired my servo extension exactly like this showed however when I plugged it into the last three wire prongs on the stock connector and tested it through my computer speakers all I got was left side signal. I moved the servo extension to the middle three prongs and now I get both sides. It seems to be working correctly now but I want to make sure if I haven't done something wrong.
Old 01-17-2012 | 06:28 PM
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Not to rain on your parade but there is an easier way to get the aux cable instead of getting the servo and the connector for that you can simply get an mp3 interface harness (isimple/pac audio) the part number is PXHTY3 it is about $11 and looks like this:



Now instead of bypassing the factory harness you simply cut off the female end (of the aftermarket connector) and you have at least a good 6 inches of wire to deal with, match up to the factory wire colors, now you can simply solder your 3.5mm cable onto this harness and your steering wheel controls if your connecting them (all outside of the vehicle) and simply snap in (the aftermarket connector) to the factory plug. DONE! Very simple. Toyota uses pretty much the exact same harness in every car since the 80s so this same procedure can be done on almost any car.

If you don't want to order the harness you can still get access to the aux wires at the radio harness and just hardwire there without the plug. Again not trying to rain on your parade just trying to show an easier option it's what I would do if my customer did not want to hardwire into the factory harness.
Old 01-17-2012 | 08:24 PM
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the whole point in this is to prevent cutting anything from either the factory harness or the radios connector so hate to rain on your parade but read before you post
Old 01-18-2012 | 12:04 AM
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I did read the entire thread.... did you read mine? This harness (which is aftermarket) plugs straight onto the factory plug at the radio... so no cutting of factory wiring is required and it takes a lot of the possibility of screwing up out of the picture.

Now for those who care, you take the FEMALE end of the AFTERMARKET harness that is in the PICTURE and you cut it off NOT THE FACTORY CONNECTOR allowing you to attach SWC and MP3 connections at the radio.

I was just putting this out there as I have a similar harness in my xB and I thought it would make this DIY thread easier for rookies..

I was simply trying to be kind but I forgot this is the interwebz and a professional installer surely does not know as much as everyone else..

I'll just keep my knowledge to myself in the future..
Old 01-18-2012 | 03:07 AM
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Originally Posted by RedDragons
I did read the entire thread.... did you read mine? This harness (which is aftermarket) plugs straight onto the factory plug at the radio... so no cutting of factory wiring is required and it takes a lot of the possibility of screwing up out of the picture.

Now for those who care, you take the FEMALE end of the AFTERMARKET harness that is in the PICTURE and you cut it off NOT THE FACTORY CONNECTOR allowing you to attach SWC and MP3 connections at the radio.

I was just putting this out there as I have a similar harness in my xB and I thought it would make this DIY thread easier for rookies..

I was simply trying to be kind but I forgot this is the interwebz and a professional installer surely does not know as much as everyone else..

I'll just keep my knowledge to myself in the future..
Please don't stop posting in threads such as this one as more people than just the OP benefit. I, for one, am glad I came across the information you posted as if/when I install a radio in my tC I'll follow your advice.
Old 01-18-2012 | 04:02 AM
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im honostly not trying to be an ___ but what im trying to figure out is how you dont mess with either the factory harness or the radios plugs if you have to solder something to one or the other?? solder is not 100% removable
Old 01-19-2012 | 07:19 PM
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Originally Posted by VVTinme
Please don't stop posting in threads such as this one as more people than just the OP benefit. I, for one, am glad I came across the information you posted as if/when I install a radio in my tC I'll follow your advice.
Thanks that will keep me around, as long as I helped 1 person that is all that matters.

Originally Posted by devanb3
im honostly not trying to be an ___ but what im trying to figure out is how you dont mess with either the factory harness or the radios plugs if you have to solder something to one or the other?? solder is not 100% removable
Your not messing with the factory harness. The plugs I pictured above are what you plug in, you cut off the female connector of the after market harness (pictured above, center plug on the right) and you solder your connections on there instead of the car harness. Then you can quickly connect or disconnect it from the car.


Edit: after rereading my post I can see how it was confusing I will try to rephrase it to make more sense.
The major benefit of this is your not messing with your factory connector, your able to do your soldering or connections outside of the vehicle (less chance of mess or dripping solder), you can easily remove to fix or put back to stock, its cheap and lastly it has all the wires you need for steering controls and aux input.
Old 01-19-2012 | 09:11 PM
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ok i get what your saying now so you can use this to do the stearing wheel controls too thats cool do you know how to wire that up?? and just an fyi you can get all of the plugs for my way on monoprice.com for like 5 bucks total before shipping but and the servo on ebay for .99 shipped so i think all together with shipping it ran me $10
Old 01-20-2012 | 12:30 AM
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Originally Posted by devanb3
ok i get what your saying now so you can use this to do the stearing wheel controls too thats cool do you know how to wire that up?? and just an fyi you can get all of the plugs for my way on monoprice.com for like 5 bucks total before shipping but and the servo on ebay for .99 shipped so i think all together with shipping it ran me $10
I'm not saying it cheaper but I was simply saying it is easier and more efficient
Old 01-24-2012 | 01:16 AM
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I just remembered this harness today when I was looking up parts for a customer this will make everything a hell of a lot simpler.

70-8114



7.99 @ SonicElectronix
Old 03-23-2012 | 11:04 PM
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◄◄Click Here to Add your Vehicle to Garage
Originally Posted by RedDragons
I just remembered this harness today when I was looking up parts for a customer this will make everything a hell of a lot simpler.

70-8114



7.99 @ SonicElectronix
don't see anything for the USB though.
Old 03-24-2012 | 07:01 PM
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^its probably what the RCA is for using it as an Audio In i feel like this is for older radios that only had RCA and Aux Inputs
Old 04-03-2012 | 10:41 PM
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◄◄Click Here to Add your Vehicle to Garage
I'm a relatively new member on here, and just wanted to thank Devanb3 immensely for making this write-up.



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