My new head unit apparently requires me to tap into the parking brake wire. Where can I find it? Or is it hopefully on one of the harnesses?
Depending the HU, you could just hook that up to a ground. Then you wouldn't need to set the brake to watch a movie.
Just grounding it doesnt work with this head unit - Pioneer AVH-3200BT. It apparently needs some kind of relay to fake the signal. I honestly could care less about watching video on it, let alone watching video while driving. I just want to use the Auto EQ feature, which apparently requires the parking brake to be set, and thus the parking brake line needs to be tapped. Im perfectly fine with tapping that wire, if I could just find it. Anyone have any idea if its easy to access behind the dash?
Looking at the manual online (Pioneer user manual) looks like it may need pulling to 12v, not ground?
Based on what the guy explaining how to do the bypass said, it needs to receive power shortly after the car is on, not exactly when the radio is turned on. He relays it to the power antenna switch. I'm sure he wouldnt have bothered with all that wiring if you could just attach it to the 12V. Ill probably just end up wiring up the whole relay if it isnt simpler to just connect to the parking brake.
I have the 4100dvd and I used a switch (STSP, mounted under the flying bridge) which was connected to ground on one side and to the parking brake wire on the other. When I want to watch a movie, I flip the switch twice. I don't know if that will work for you or not though.
All I really want to know is where the parking brake wire I'm supposed to connect is. Where did you connect yours?
If you are referring to me, like I mentioned above, I hooked that wire up to a switch which I mounted under the flying bridge. The other side of the switch went to ground. I did not locate the wire from the parking brake at all as I wanted to be about to run the video while moving. That said, the wire should be easy to get to behind the molding where the parking brake is. For instructions on how to get the molding off see this document.
Ah ok I was misunderstanding you. What you did sounds the simplest way to go...where can I get such a switch?
Suppose I wanted to do it just once and set a few things up. It is just a matter of connecting power to the PB wire while the unit is already on, or connecting ground, or what? Basically, what kind of signal does the parking brake give off, so I can temporarily mimic it?
so spiderman --- you say here you DID hook it to the parking brake wire on one side of the switch and grounded the other....do you mean the parking brake wire from the Pioneer 4100? (I ordered a 4200 btw) ...or did you actually locate the PB wire on the car (apparently not from your later post?)
Yes, on one side of the switch I grounded to a nut inside the flying bridge and the other side of the switch I connected the wire from the HU (the one that is suppose to go to the parking brake). I never did locate the parking brake wire. Once the HU is in the DVD mode and the message that says "set the parking brake", I flip the switch twice (on/off) and the movie can play. Hope this helps.
the typical parking brake signal wire connects to chassis ground when the brake is on. (and lights an idiot light.. the prius has no idiot light., at least not on my Gen 3, trim 2). | doah, apparently I cannot see! right there... so, a switch would work perfectly.. as spiderman demonstrates. Sam
