I recently bought myself my first car, a good old 2001 Prius. 160k miles on it and a rebuilt Hybrid Battery in it. I love it to death right now, but unfortunately it doesn't have a real audio solution. I've tried a tape deck converter, but my tape deck is... wonky. Sounds like a chainsaw. The audio system also sounded a little unbalanced (though it has mysteriously gotten better. Still needs a sub-woofer). So I've been searching around these forums for about a month looking for something Gen I/2001 compatible. All I've found is the DICE I-TOYOTA-R/5V and I saw a small thread about something by Vias, though I can't find it now. Soooo... TL;DR! Vias, DICE, or other iPod/Aux Audio integration kits? What do you recommend? What works?
Look for a Toyota kit made by USA Spec on google or crutchfield, they are really plug and play. And make sure you order the CAS-LEX adapter cable to keep your CD player too! They make the smoothest integration while the Dice kits need wire cuts and splices to work correctly plus you will lose your cd player, if you need help once you get the kit, just ask and I can send pics and instructions. Good luck!
I got the USA Spec kit, the PA-TOY-15, that you recommended and that snapped in real easy, but I'm baffled by how the CAS-LEX is supposed to attach to the CD player and what not. I really would appreciate pics to figure that part out. Thanks for all your help!
I recently bought the USA Spec PA-20 TOY iPod interface (I believe) you installed previously on your V1 Prius. I have the base tape deck stereo system and also bought the y connector 12 pin harness I thought I would need. I have taken my car to several stereo install stores and no one seems to know what to do. I believe I should be able to do the install myself, but I don't want to start randomly unplugging cables. You mentioned something in a previous post about not having to remove the dash for the installation, but rather, going through the glove box. I have this removed but without knowing what cables to mess with, the compact space back there is baffling me. If you have any images of your install or suggestions for me, they would be greatly appreciated.
Ah Ha! The 12-pin y-connector solves the problem if you are trying to install the USA Spec PA-20 TOY on the stock V1 Prius stereo. The y-harness simply connects to the right-most input on the rear of the tape deck-stereo system. This is the one closest to the glove box, and although tight, it is possible to swap out while just reaching through the glove box compartment. Then the USA Spec cord plugs into one end of the harness and the cable that was unplugged from the stereo attaches to the other end. The iPod adapter's functionality currently as installed is such that I can control the volume and switch trough the playlists and songs on the Prius navigation screen when my iPod touch 4 is connected and even control specific songs through the iPod's screen, however from time to time the "accessory connected" message is displayed on the iPod's screen (which I wouldn't mind if I could see what song and artist were playing on the Prius screen.) The iPod appears to be charging whenever it is connected. The only further control I would like is to see the song, artist and album name displayed on the Prius nav screen. Is there a different setting or set up on the interface that I am not figuring out?
Also note that I have already tried the "off on off off" configuration as well as the "on off off off" and "off off off off" configurations that the manual suggest as well as many others and still can't seem to get the song information to display. I believe this is the same as getting it to act like a MD changer? Are my cords switched somewhere or is the set up incorrect? Do I need to install or do something else do you think... anyone...?
Alright, I did a little testing on the TOY-15. I don't know if it will help though. So here is the truth table for the DIP switches The first digit is the one that controls the AUX, 1 is On, 0 is Off 0000 - Sound; No controls 0001 - 6 CD - #6 is manual control 0010 - 12 CD - #8 is manual control 0011 - 6 CD - #8 is manual (Yes, really) 0100 - Fails to function 0101 - 12 MD - #8 manual - Display Title and Artist 0110 - Sound; No controls 0111 - 12 CD - #8 is manual The first switch merely controls the Aux, so the results would repeat if I continued. I have mine set to the 1101 config, so I have Aux on. Hope this helps somewhat, though I never figured out the Y-Cable
HOLY crap! THANKS! I thought I tried all of the configurations. I have it configured to 0101 and had to navigate to the display (press disc and go to #7 playlist) and turn song display on, and IT WORKS... I don't know if I was just on #8 every time I tried or what. (With manual control i.e. #8 there will never be song display, correct?) If I need to or ever want an aux hook up I will try out 1101. The 12-pin y-connector "old style" (which is needed in the v1 stock system) does not come with the PA20-TOY. This y-connector splits the radio and a CD device for aftermarket parts, but instead of connecting a CD player I connected the PA20-TOY. The wiring harness that comes with the PA20-TOY assumes you already have the CD adapter (which would come with this 12 pin harness) already installed, and you would then split THOSE wires from. I had to get the 12 pin y connector "old style" (has larger connections) extra and use this instead of the wiring y-harness that the kit comes with.
As a clarification, I just noticed something, the "old style" 12-pin y-harness was needed in addition to the TOY kit in my situation. This is what I refer to when I am saying the 12 pin harness that is needed in addition to the kit. I just saw where some people refer to the harness that comes with the kit ("new style" which has smaller connections) as a 12 pin as well, here is the title to the one I got (it won't let me post links): TOY-F/MM Toyota 'Old-Style' 12-Pin "Y" Harness
I see that you are all using some accessories, instead of replacing the CD player with another one with AUX input. Has anyone explored this route? If so, can you please give some instructions. I'm thinking about replacing my CD player with a different one, as the current setup is not cutting it for me. I so far have changed my front speakers (Polk audio) and back ones (Pioneer), but I'm still not satisfied with the sound and the FM Aux transmitter solution is getting old (Frustating). Any suggestions??
