LeroyJMC

Dang you goodgreek. You beat me to it. UPS is showing that mine should arrive tomorrow, then who knows how long it will take me to get it installed. Hopefully this weekend.

I like those night pics. Thinking that I'm gonna have to change the color of my a/c controls from red to green where they'll match up a little better with the buttons on the 6600.

So now for the questions goodgreek. Did you get yours from one of the ebay guys or the local shop where you had it installed? What did you pay for the unit? How much for install? Are you able to play a dvd while you drive? If so, then did they ground the p-brake or what?

Guess I'll have to wait 'till I get mine in to find out if my steering wheel controls are going to work since you've got an '04. I'd love to have some subs too, but would like to figure out how to do it without using up any of the vast amount of space that we have. Haven't searched, but would anyone happen to know if it's possible to mount any in the panel thing that's in the hatch of the xA?

gookgeek

____geek... Darren made me change my name to be a mod... ack! I got it off of eBay, despite the large sum of money. The guy was great to work with and fast with the shipment! I paid $1650 for the unit, a little more to ship, probably about $100 to install, $15 for the radio kit... I had 10's put in, so I don't know the exact breakdown. But that would be my guesses.

I actually have driven with a DVD in. I was watching Pirates of the Caribbean on the way to the Hoover, AL show. It's pretty dangerous. You think that you'll only watch for a few seconds, but you kinda get lured into it. Next thing you know, you're tailing some SUV. It's manageable if you are able to do so. Also, yeah, ground isn't to e-brake. It goes straight to a body ground.

I have heard that there are adapters that will work with the steering wheel... you just have to look for 'em. So units work with steering wheel controls out the box. Good luck with that!

I don't think you'll be able to put subs in the hatch door itself. There's not enough cubic footage in that area. You *COULD* always just put some extra speakers back there. But like I said, the headunit makes the stock speakers sound SO MUCH better. Wait until you install the unit, you'll be very surprised!!!

Have fun!

thejugglingguy

I have two eclipse nav units in the family and the steering controls are a plug and go with an 06 XA.

Someone was debating between the 5500 and 6600......if interested in iPod functionality, better go with the 6600. Contrary to what Eclipse might tell you, the iPod adapter won't work well (if at all) with the 5500. The functionality STINKS with the 5500 (when it even works.

On the other hand, the iPod adapter works super-well with the 6600. I love it. The searching features are top notch. I used to have an Alpine CDA9855 with the glide strip and iPod adapter...man did that thing stink! The avn6600 blows the other iPod adapters I have seen out of the water.

gookgeek

As a side note, I see that you're from Pensacola! I'm from Mobile... in Auburn now though. You should meet up with us Alabama guys (Team ScioNRG) sometime. We have meet near/in Mobile sometimes!

LeroyJMC

Glad to hear that about the steering wheel controls. I had read this thread https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=100355 and there was some debate, but I was hoping for the better.

I looked over the wiring diagrams last night and everything looks like it should be plug and play with the exception of the p-brake wire (which I'm going to ground), reverse light wire, and vehicle speed sensor wire. On that note, is the stock h/u hooked to the VSS wire since it has the ACL thing where the volume increases as you get faster. Anyone know if the VSS and reverse light wire are the same for the xA as the xB that's described in this thread https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=104859?

My final question for now has to deal with the wire splicing clamps that came with the 6600. They look like the one in this pic that I found off google http://home.no.net/blown/stealth/ima...re_spliced.jpg. My question is about connecting them. When the wires are pressed down in the metal piece that is on the inside will the insulation automatically be cut or do I need to do that myself. Also, do I need to crimp the metal clip together a little better or will it be sufficient just by snapping the plastic cover down?

Hey Geek, you're making me itch wanting to get mine installed where I can rear end someone while watching a movie. Believe I'm gonna watch the Metallica S&M DVD on my way to work first. An hour and a half ride should go by a lot quicker.

gookgeek

Yeah. An hour and a half ride will definitely go by faster!!! The music DVD isn't a bad idea. You can run the DVD... and probably not be TOO distracted by the video.

Good luck with the install! You will LOVE this thing!

thejugglingguy

Goodgreek - thanks for the invite. I'll keep an ear out for your next meet. Might be fun.

As for the wiring questions...the wire-taps (I call those type vampires for obvious reasons) will cut the insulation automatically. However, using the vampire clips is not permanent and faulty connections are common with those. The best way to splice/connect wires is to solder and tape.

As for wire colors/locations...I seem to remember that the VSS is violet with a white stripe. On our 06 XA (has steering controls) it was in an unused factory harness behind the radio. On the 05 XB I caught the violet/white VSS wire at the ECM under the glove box. It was easy to find on the XB because it is the same wire used by my aftermarket cruise control.

The reverse lights are a red with black stripe and I caught it in the wire bundle that runs from the driver side kick panel towards the rear. This wire is 12V+ when the reverse lights are on.

You can ground the parking brake wire to bypass the safety lockouts...but that is illegal and all

All of this wiring stuff is try at your own risk stuff. Always test with a meter first.

LeroyJMC

Sounds like some good info there jugglingguy. A friend at work said the same thing about those wire splices. Think I'll give them a try and if I have any problems that will be the first place that I look. I was thinking that finding the right wire for the VSS was going to be my biggest issue, but if I can find that unused harness, then that will work wonders for me. The kick panel reverse light wire should be nice too. Now I've just gotta make sure that I can find my meter around here.....if it wasn't stolen when some fools broke into the garage a while back.

Many thanks for the help. Will probably post back tomorrow either asking for more help or worshiping you for making it easy on me.

LeroyJMC

Jugglingguy--I believe that I've identified that VSS wire that you were speaking of, but the one that I'm thinking isn't in that unused harness, but rather in the 20P connector (I think 20, will have to count again tomorrow to make sure) where the steering wheel control plug from the eclipse head unit will plug into. This would make sense to me, seeing that the stock h/u needing to be connected to the VSS wire in order to increase volume with speed, but I wanted to get your input if possible. I can take a couple pics tomorrow too if that may be of help.

Thanks,
Mike

thejugglingguy

Leroy...I do believe that you are correct...I think it was the same harness as the steering controls. You can test it by putting a meter on it and physically moving the car. If the wire responds with an AC voltage change, then it should be the VSS. It should be the only Purple/White wire back there. The tech sheet that I am holding says to find it behind the fuse box but that is just silly...I knew that it had to be behind the radio so that there would be a factory nav option (at least on the 06). I tested both places to be sure.

LeroyJMC

I've got all my wires ready to go except for the gps antenna. I was planning on running it out the factory hole in the back hatch area where the xm would run, but I don't have a grommet for it to run through. Any suggestions on how to run it to the roof in the back? I thought about using a punch and making a hole is the factory flat grommet, but I doubt that the antenna plug will go through without the grommet ripping too large and not resealing around the gps wire.

I'm hoping that this is going to be my last obsticle.

LeroyJMC

I finished up the install late this evening, but still need to figure out something to seal the grommet where the gps antenna wire is running through. I ran up to the salvage yard this afternoon and grabbed a grommet the same size as the stock one and used some wire cutters to make a split half way though and placed it around it, but it's very succeptable to water intrusion when it rains. Only thing that I can thing of is finding some silicone that will seal it up good.

thejugglingguy

Leroy...try using some putty sealant. If you go to a car stereo install shop (any one will do) and ask for some dumb-gum, they should know what you mean. It is a black tar-like material that you just smash around the hole you want to seal. Hope that helps.

LeroyJMC

I was going to trying hitting autozone or pepboys up tomorrow to see what I could find. I think I know what you're talking about with the black tar type stuff. It's used on door/trunk weatherstripping, I believe. I had grabbed up a tube of permatex in haste yesterday afternoon and when I read on it when I was routing the antenna it says "not recommended as dressing for rubber", so that pretty much killed that idea.

jugglingguy, thanks immensly for all the help and guidance that you've provided. Deffinitely made the install doable for me.

kkawana

try a boater supply store too... i have a small jar of "liquid electrical" tape... just brush on and your good to go... works pretty good and so far no water penetration on anything i've used it on

LeroyJMC

I picked up some permatex black silicone adhesive sealant from advance yesterday. It's supposed to be weatherproof, flexible, waterproof, good for rubber, and dries tack free. Applied it yesterday evening and I'm 99% positive that it's going to do the trick and last quite a long time.

Saw your review on crutchfield yesterday jugglingguy. I'm going to write a quick one as soon as I learn all the features, controls, and settings. By the way, where did you pick up the tv tuner? About the only place that I've found it listed is cardomain.com for $299.