Help with My Install
 

Ok, I have just about everything I need to start doing my audio upgrade. Here is what I'm going to be doing in this phase:

• Upgrading to the Kenwood DNX9960
• Adding a MagicBox and 13" JL Audio subwoofer courtesy of Wicked C.A.S.
• Driving that sub with a JL Audio J2 500.1 Amp
• Installing a backup camera like the one AK used

Might upgrade the component speakers and use an external amp for those later down the road.

I want to use this thread to get all my questions answered as I go through the process. Tonight, I'm hoping to get most of the soldering done for the harness and that leads me to my first question.

I don't plan to have rear speakers in this car - do I still need to solder the rear positive and negative speakers leads from the 70-7552 harness to the DNX9960 wires?

Thanks in advance to all of those who are going to help me get through this.

I would say, as it is essentially a dead channel that will feed no where. Rather it ends out of the HU or out of the harness, it doesn't go anywhere...but I am an audiophite neophite... :D

You can or just cut them off either one.

I cut mine off. One less thing to solder. :p

Ok, I've got all of the critical speaker/power wires done:

• Yellow to Yellow for 12V constant
• Red to Red for 12V accessory
• Black to Black for ground
• White to White for Front Left +
• White/Black to White/Black for Front Left -
• Gray to Gray for Front Right +
• Gray/Black to Gray/Black for Front Right -
• Orange/White to Orange/White for Dimmer Control

Excluding the rear speaker wires, that leaves the following on the DNX9960 harness:

• Brown for Mute
• Blue for Antenna Control
• Blue/White for Power Control
• LtBlue/Yellow for Steering Control - which goes to the Axxess

And just a blue antenna wire on the 70-7552 harness (well, mine seems to have an Orange/Black one sitting in pin 10 and I have no clue what that is for because its not mentioned in any of the documentation I can find). Any idea what those first 3 are that are left on the HU harness?

Ok, the reason I asked about the others is because I could use 3 of them to move into pins 6, 15, and 16 because these are the 3 that the steering controls use. I'm thinking of moving the wires from the rear speakers into those pins and then soldering the Axxess leads to those for a nice fit that doesn't cut into the factory wires behind the factory terminal.

Thanks for the tips on the unused wires!

Correct me if I'm wrong guys, but the brown wire I dont think you use, the blue/white should be your remote wire that signals the amp to turn on.. and the blue antenna wire not sure, but is there a power antenna wire in the factory harness? I'm pretty sure that you need that connected to get a good radio signal.

Made some more progress today and I think I have all of the soldering for the harness complete. I moved the 3 pins fairly easily by pulling out the 5 that weren't being used at all (4 rear speakers and 1 extra Orange/Black) - I moved the Orange/Black to pin 6 (Steering Wheel A), the Purple to pin 16 (Steering Wheel B), and the Purple Black to pin 15 (Steering Wheel ground).

For Axxess, I attached the Gray/Red wire to the pin 6 wire and the Gray/Blue to the pin 16 wire. Then, I took the wire from pin 15 and the Black wire from the Axxess and created a single Ground Wire that I will attach to the chassis somewhere. I had to patch the Red wire from the Axxess into the Red wire from the harness. Lastly, I connected just the Brown wire from the Axxess to the Lt. Blue/Yellow wire from the DNX harness.

With the 70-7552 harness, I also had gotten a Nissan antenna wire to use (will post up pics of that later) - I had to join the Blue wire from the DNX harness and the Blue wire from the radio harness and the Blue wire from this connector. Looks like the Motorola plug and the grey plug on this will be used when putting the new HU in place so that it still gets an antenna signal.

And finally, I connected a nice long wire to the Blue/White wire from the DNX harness which was labelled P.Cont for Power Control. This will be used to trigger the external amp that will drive the subwoofer.

Spent alot of time on this so really hope I've got it all correct - in the end the only wire on the DNX harness that wasn't used was the Brown (Mute) wire.

Guess the fun will begin on Sunday when I start tearing things out of the car and putting stuff in place.

Did you guys test it all somehow before you put everything back together? Any recommendations on that would be greatly appreciated because I'd really rather not have to tear the car apart more than once.

only thing i recommend is to make sure you plug in that airbag sensor light and your a/c controls if you've removed them before you reconnect the battery to test things, otherwise you'll throw a CEL.

So, here is an update with some more questions. I was able to get the rear part of the car emptied out. I installed the rearview camera and snaked the wire inside. I also chose a location for the amp and made sure it will fit properly. I have moved on to snaking the amp cable from the battery into the cabin. I think the best option is to run the wire into the large grommet on the passenger side - here is a picture of that area:

http://www.the370z.com/members/linpa...nter-cabin.jpg

My first concern is the area in red - I seem to remember seeing pictures from other members on here and that connector clearly had a rubber boot on it - I can see those wires through the black plastic piece that covers them so I'm wondering if I should go back to the dealer and get them to install the boot. What do you guys think?

Second, I have this 80 Amp fuse that needs to be installed:

http://www.the370z.com/members/linpa...0-amp-fuse.jpg

I'm looking to secure it in the green area outlined above using some small metal screws - should I be concerned about the area I have chosen?

Lastly, I broke one of the clips taking the rear panels out - here are some pics (sorry these are blurry):

http://www.the370z.com/members/linpa...clip-panel.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/linpa...panel-clip.jpg

Anyone know of a place I can pick up a few extra clips like this?

Cut the electrical tape back and use some armor all and slide the power wire threw the grommet like this. The fuse block must be attached between the battery + and the power wire you are running BEFORE it goes threw the grommet. Most people will attached it and wrap it in electrical tape and tuck it behind the battery. The clips you can get from your nissan dealer if you want or need more.

http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/r...o/IMG_0468.jpg

Well, after about 10 hours today I'm real close. Just have to tap into the left rear light to power the camera, connect the subwoofer to the amp, and of course connect the amp power wire to the battery. Almost home and can't wait to see/hear the results.

Cool man!

More time on Sunday and Monday seem to have paid off nicely - I tried to take a short cut and use small plastic connectors to wire up the camera but the connectors never broke through the insulation so I had to strip it back and solder it proper.

So, I've tested the camera, FM stereo, and CD playback. I'm currently hung up on the iPod features because the unit won't seem to recognize my iTouch - I connect it and hear the beeps and see the unit start to charge but it constantly says "Reading ..." on the DNX9960 screen. Any thoughts on where I've gone wrong here? I can switch to Hand mode and simply choose music on the iTouch and hear it in the car but I can't seem to actually control the iTouch with the HU - HU firmware is 1.4 and iTouch is 1.1.5.

Still left to test is connecting my phone, Bluetooth hands free, Navigation testing, USB music testing, DVD testing, goodness will it ever end. :)

Not to mention I have to tune the subwoofer and put all the panels back in place.

EDIT: iTouch is working now - this is a 1st Gen iTouch and I never upgraded to the latest iOS - I'm running 3.1.3 now and it is working great!

Sounds good.. but I swear this is the longest install I've ever seen :)

I think you are right - if the forum gave out awards for longest ever install, this one might well qualify and win hands down.

However, the install is now complete - I can't thank guys like SlikNik and Matt enough for putting up pics and videos of their work because without that I would have never even thought to attempt a project like this - thanks to all of those who helped me with my selections and all the advice during the install itself - look for an update in my journal soon with all the details, pics, and comments on the gear.

Thanks again!!!