TUTORIAL: DIY Metra Harness and AVIC-D3 Install

[Ashhong]

Thought I would share my tutorial here for anybody that missed it on is300.net. It's for a Metra wiring harness, which allows you to hook up an aftermarket stereo to 1st gen IS. Side question, are most people on this site from is300.net?

Here's a pic of everything I got.



Pioneer Avic-D3 - Pioneer AVIC-D3 In-Dash DVD GPS Receiver - CompUPlus Direct - $699
CD-i200 iPod Connector - eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices - $30 shipped
JDM Dash Kit - L-Tuned Parts - Toyota Japan Double-din Radio Face Plate - ~$56 shipped
Metra Harness - Buy the Metra Toyota Interface (TYTO01) and other Car In-Dash Vehicle Wiring Harnesses at circuitcity.com - $80
Custom Cut D3 Screen Protector - eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices - ~$15 shipped

Materials and Tools Needed in Order of Need:
-Zip Ties
-Very Small Screwdriver
-Wire Tappers/Heat Shrink/Quick Disconnects/Solder (Your Choice)
-Electrical Tape
-Flat Head Screwdriver
-Philips Screwdriver (maybe)
-Wide Painter's Tape
-10mm Socket Wrench

Steps 1 and 2 should be done before even touching your car.

Step 1: Avic-D3 Bypass to allow videos while in motion
NOTE: This step is specifically for the Avic-D3, but many other units require the same step as stated below.

-Locate the yellow/black wire in the connector. This is the mute wire.



-Now get a smalllllll screwdriver (all I had was a nail) and pry out this plastic tab. As you do this, pull on the mute wire, it should come out easily.



-Now stick the wire into the hole directly above the one it was in. Stick it in so the groove on the metal of the wire is facing inwards.



-You will need to ground this mute wire, as well as the lime green parking brake wire, later.

Step 2: Connecting the harnesses of the headunit and the Metra harness.

-I zip-tied the A/V input and rear camera wires as well as the bundle of wires on the power connector that you don't use to keep them out of the way since I won't be using them. I recommend you do too.

A. The power connector bundle. I used 3 different methods of connecting just for kicks.
-Connect the RED wire from the 12 pin harness of the Metra to the RED wire labeled ACC on the unit.
-Connect the YELLOW wire from the Metra to the YELLOW wire labeled +BATTERY on the unit.
-Connect the BLACK wire from the Metra to the BLACK wire labeled GROUND on the unit.



B. The Audio/Visual bundle.
-Connect the GREEN RCA from the Metra to the WHITE REAR Output RCA from the unit.
-Connect the PURPLE RCA from the Metra to the RED REAR Output RCA from the unit.
-Connect the BLACK RCA from the Metra to the RED FRONT Output RCA from the unit.
-Connect the WHITE RCA from the Metra to the WHITE FRONT Output RCA from the unit.
-Connect the BLUE/WHITE wire from the Metra to the BLUE/WHITE wire labeled SYSTEM REMOTE CONTROL from the unit.



Step 3: Dash Removal

-Take a flathead screwdriver, and stick it under the felt lining on the tray.



-Unscrew the 2 + screws holding the top tray/vent down.



-Remove the tray/vent piece by pulling out and up.



-Remove the switch tray by pushing up and creating friction, and pulling out.



-Tape up the sides of your dash while the radio is in there really well. Even more than I have. You won't regret it.



-Unscrew the 2 10mm bolts above the radio, and below the radio.





-Now carefully pull out the stereo partially by lifting it up and out. It should come out with ease.



-Unplug the 2 connectors attached to the AC controls.



-It's hard to see, but unplug the white connector that is connected to the stereo as well as the 2 antenna cables on (your) left of the radio. Put the radio assembly aside.



Step 4: Replacing Stock Radio With Aftermarket
-I didn't take pictures of every step here, but it's pretty self explanatory.

-Remove 4 screws from each side of the radio. Then carefully remove the radio from it's place.



-Carefully slide the harness from behind your aftermarket radio. Then screw in as many screws as you can without risking a crooked or messed up radio. I could only do 3.



-Now take your JDM dash kit, turn it around, and undo the 3 screws as marked. Then push the big middle piece out towards the back.



-Now test fit it if you want. The JDM dash kit snaps into place by just pushing it in. There's a little gap for me, but I will deal with that later if need be. You'll need to take the JDM dash kit off for later.



Now to have fun with the car wires. While the Metra allows for a mostly car-splicing free setup, there are a few wires you still have to splice.

Step 5: Tapping into the Vehicle Speed Sensor and Reverse Sensor wires (If Necessary)

A. The VSS wire is located behind the gauges, so we need to remove that first.
-Pull this lever and push the steering wheel down to give you more room to work.



-Unscrew the 2 Philips screws above the gauges, as well as the one under the ignition.





-Now pull off cover surrounding the gauges by simply pulling on the top. I think it took me some force. Also unplug the gray plug on the left that goes to your illumination knob.





-Now unscrew the 2 screws on the bottom of the gauges and the one above it not circled.



-Now pull out the gauges, and unplug the 2 connectors in the back.



-Locate the left, bigger connector. Then locate this orange and yellow wire.



-Connect the VEHICLE SPEED SENSOR wire from your headunit to this wire. My unit came with a separately bundled wire, so it was not connected to the radio yet. Route the other end through to the radio area.



-Reverse steps and reinstall the gauges if you believe you did it correctly.

B. The Reverse Sensor wire needs to be tapped into a wire in the passenger fuse box. This wire will trigger your backup camera feed, and also provide better GPS navigating.

-Next to your dead pedal, turn this plastic looking bolt to unscrew and remove.



-Next simply lift the door panel trim piece up and remove.



-Now just pull the fuse area cover off from the edge.



-Look to the right of the fuse box. The lower wire bundle has a black and red wire. Locate that wire and tap the REVERSE SENSOR wire into it. Again, this was not connected to the radio or anything else yet, which made it much easier.



-Now to route this wire to the radio area, unscrew the screw next to the hood release latch, as well as the one on the opposite side, closer to the radio area.





-Pull down on the cover under the steering wheel, and you can route the wire through.



-Reverse steps to reinstall things.

Step 6: Wiring Installation
There are a couple of things that need to be done in the radio area: grounding, illumination wire, and power antenna wire.
You can do this in whatever order you wish. It's tough to give it in a series of steps because there are so many wires. You may want to do it differently. I will just provide you with the steps of what need to be done.

A. Grounding the D3 wire, MUTE wire from before, D3 PARKING BRAKE wire, and METRA wire.
-Take the MUTE wire and the PARKING BRAKE wire, spin them together, and crimp onto a metal spade connector.

-Now use a 14 mm socket wrench and unbolt the bottom (or top) bolt as seen below. It doesn't have to be all the way, depending on the connector.

-Now insert the MUTE and PARKING BRAKE wire connection onto the screw, between the car frame and the nut. Re-tighten the bolt.



B. The ILLUMINATION and POWER ANTENNA wires are located on the stock factory radio harness.
-Locate the GREEN wire on the left of the radio harness when looking at it from the top. Tap the ILLUMINATION wire onto this wire.



-Behind that GREEN wire, there is a BLACK wire. Tap the POWER ANTENNA wire into this wire.



Step 7: GPS Antenna Install
NOTE: You can put this wherever you want, but I wanted mine hidden, and get great reception so far.

-Look above your dash, where the felt tray would be, and notice the big metal bar in the back.

-This isn't necessary, but I taped the magnetic pad to this bar for added (or reduced, not sure ) magnetization, and taped it to the bar.

-Simply place the GPS antenna on this area, preferably as level as possible. It will go under the plastic black bar, but that is plastic and A-OK.



-Then just route it down to the radio area, and stuff the bundle of wires to the side and you're set.



-You're going to have to work hard to stuff everything in the back. I was informed that alot of the wires can be stuffed under and behind the bottom tray, towards the ash tray. There's a pretty deep hole.



-The Metra black box can fit in a nice spot to the right of it. Perfect fit.



-It's not the cleanest, but this is by far the best I could do. Much better than how I originally had it all put away. It's a little hard to connect the power/wire/antenna plugs, but the unit fits much better and with less wires covering the fan.



Step 8: Turn it on and admire your hard work!!
-Here's some pictures of the finished product. As you can see, the gaps are not noticable.









DONE!!!!!!!!!

[timothybui]

Wow, that looks good man! Nice job. +rep

['03IntensaBlueBeast]

Nice writeup +rep for jooooooooooooo!

[MAYKO]

cool ash used my idea. and it worked for somebody else. awsome.

[heyoceanfloor]

my trac off and seat heater buttons are in a different spot like this picture: (not my car)


so the little hole in the bottom right of the L-Tuned faceplate would be pointless right?


how would I go about working this? relocating buttons? i'd like to keep it "stock"
thanks guys

[MAYKO]

what u have to do is cut the bottem of the jdm off and the same to the usdm.

then just pop it back in.

this is how i did mine and it looked stocked ( if i had the silver plate off) this is ont he old tv i had and the tv did not fit the whole on the jdm so i had to trim a crap load off.

[heyoceanfloor]

hey thanks mayko
i see what you're saying

[heyoceanfloor]

okay so I've heard that the toyota metra harness ( http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Metra...oductDetail.do ) may or may not work with my AVIC D3 according to this thread: ( http://my.is/forums/f103/avic-d3-met...-sound-333247/ )
now i know nothing about electronics install and i'm planning on doing this myself.. i'm not gonna be wasting my money am i?
thanks

[maddoc]

Where does one pick up a JDM dash kit?

[heyoceanfloor]

Originally Posted by maddoc

Where does one pick up a JDM dash kit?

you have to order one online probably, i think that link in ashlong's instructions works

[aznkitten]

Great tutorial Ashhong! Very comprehensive.

Here's my d3 in my 01... just an fyi, the kit is custom-made. and I love how it turned out! i think this is the closest you can get, to achieve the oem look.



and i placed my ipod inside the arm rest compartment for easy access, rather than the glove compartment.

Maddoc, since I won't be needing my jdm kit, I am selling it. Let me know if youre interested.

[mbrune]

Ashhong (or who ever can answer),
This may seem stupid, but where did you ground the black d3/metra wire? I see in one picture what you did with the mute/parking bake wire but not the other ground. I'm having some sound problems with my d3 (cracking, fading in and out) and I thought it may be the ground but I can't find any problems with my connections. Everything about the unit is functioning except my sound quality is just crap. I've posted on other boards trying to find a solution, but nothing has worked. Any help would be appreciated.

[Zimdogg]

Yeah, so I got mine all hooked up in my 03, turned it on... all the functions work, but there's absolutely no sound!!!!

Is there something I have to do to turn on the use of the remote wire or am I just retarded. I checked and double checked everything and its all hooked up correctly. WTF?

[heyoceanfloor]

Originally Posted by Zimdogg

Yeah, so I got mine all hooked up in my 03, turned it on... all the functions work, but there's absolutely no sound!!!!

Is there something I have to do to turn on the use of the remote wire or am I just retarded. I checked and double checked everything and its all hooked up correctly. WTF?

I had this problem in the beginning with mine too, but i double checked all my connections and found that I wired up the metra a little wrong for the 01... but you shouldn't have the problem I did in an 03. double check and tape up the RCAs to make sure nothing comes apart when you put the thing back in, and make sure the remote wire is hooked up for the amp. are you using the stock amp?


mbrune: are you using the stock amp? i grounded my wires on the bolts on the left side back in there, and tried to keep the wires as short as possible. i tried grounding them directly to the battery too to see if it'd be better, but I picked up alternator noise in the left speakers when i did that.

[RusIS]

Originally Posted by heyoceanfloor

I had this problem in the beginning with mine too, but i double checked all my connections and found that I wired up the metra a little wrong for the 01... but you shouldn't have the problem I did in an 03. double check and tape up the RCAs to make sure nothing comes apart when you put the thing back in, and make sure the remote wire is hooked up for the amp. are you using the stock amp?

I have an 01 IS and tried to install the aftermarcet radio - didn't work out for me . What was the difference in wiring for 01 IS in your case? Thanks.

[aschueler]

Originally Posted by aznkitten

Great tutorial Ashhong! Very comprehensive.

Here's my d3 in my 01... just an fyi, the kit is custom-made. and I love how it turned out! i think this is the closest you can get, to achieve the oem look.



and i placed my ipod inside the arm rest compartment for easy access, rather than the glove compartment.

Maddoc, since I won't be needing my jdm kit, I am selling it. Let me know if youre interested.

how did you do the custom mount so that the seat heater and trac buttons stay the same

[Jade300]

Ashhong, what year is yours? I ask because I know the '01 wiring differs slightly from later models. Also, why would it not be necessary to tap into the VSS and Reverse sensor wires?

"Step 5: Tapping into the Vehicle Speed Sensor and Reverse Sensor wires (If Necessary)"

[bippu200]

Clean install.

[Fly C]

how were you able to make the lexus logo on the screen

[waqsis300]

nice job

[waqsis300]

I had a couple questions

[waqsis300]

for you

[waqsis300]

can i send you a PM so you can help me out if you don't mind...

[waqsis300]

I did this on a 03 is300 with a kenwood DNX8120
sry i'm sending so many messages i need to complete like 5 inorder to send you a PM ASHHLONG

[waqsis300]

So, I have an 03 is300, I gave tthye install guy the directions and your diy guide... everything came out fine.. but i lost alot of bass! i mean alot! is that normal, by the way i put in the Kenwood DNX8120, and I used the tyto01 harness.., there is barley any bass goin to the rear speakers! front sounds great just the rear... can you give me some advice?

[chinaman516]

There's a lil adjustment knob or screw or whatever on the metra harness itself, play with that and maybe that will solve your problem.

BUN

[DJ Wozza]

Very nice walkthru/write up

[05sliveris300]

what if my double din isnt nice as a d3/, and dont have av jack for out puts for a amp, only a sub out and and some video in puts and out puts?

could i just use the sub out put? or is there a harness that i could be to work with it?

[Evilside]

Hey, Im a Noob and I haven't seen many threads on 01. I heard they are totally different and the Metra Harness won't work for 01. Is there a thread for 01 on how to hook up a Nav dvd and Is there a Harness for 01 since the TYTY01 only works for 02 and up? If you can help that would be great. thanks

[DCarp]

great writeup!

[xREDiS300x]

Ashhong...
is your gps still running well?

[tuantnguyen03]

Hi, I was reading the instructions for the metra wiring and was wondering why don't I have sound. I didn't wire the remote amp wire. I'm using stock amp. What have I done wrong. Where would I wire the remote amp wire from the metra to if i need to? Thankx.

[tuantnguyen03]

Oh, also, I did get sound for about 1 day before I lost sound without the remote amp wire, but everything was really distorted because I did not ground any wire. I lost the sound after I grounded the wire and now when I try to take that ground out I still have no sound. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thankx.

[tfavor97]

heyoceanfloor, or Ashhong,

What Wiring differences are there in an 01 vs. 03 Metra Wiring Harness?

Tuantnguyen03,

Did you figure out the problem?

All,

Does anyone run this set up with out flaws?

Thanks all, New to the network!

[IS300BKLYN]

did yu change the led to orange too?

[Ashhong]

ah...my old IS. got bored and thought id check back here for old times sake.

tuantnguyen: i have no idea how to solve your problem. all i know is that if you set up all the wires like i say to, it will work. you need to connect the amp remote wire because i believe it turns on the factory amp. anyway, you probably figured this out by now, its been a while.

IS300BKLYN: no i didnt change the LEDs. the unit allows you to pick from different colors in the menu. matches perfectly right?