Stealth install an aftermarket stereo in Prius

The only way the controls on the steering wheel will work is with an adaptor.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-zy5bg8vw0Nx/p_127SWICAN/PAC-SWI-CAN.html

 

Do you think there is a way to splice in an equalizer to improve the sound without making the stock head unit and sound controls useless?

 

Ah thanks! Is there a kit I need to buy, or do I have to dremel out the existing box?

 

Merry Christmas everyone! Santa brought some new toys for me, so I thought I would share!

Alpine CDE-123
Sirius XM SXV100 satellite radio tuner
Metra Axxess steering wheel control
Sharkfin courtesy of PriusChat
Coastal Etech Electric only mode

I had already done the stealth install with my old Alpine CDA-9856, but the satellite radio sucked badly, and I wanted to use the steering wheel controls. Previously, I mounted the satellite radio antenna right in the front, but I thought it was pretty ugly looking. I found some topics here on how to run it through the antenna gasket hiding it under the shark fin, and now it looks seamless. I really can't get over how cool it looks

I forget to get some silicone to seal up the antenna gasket, but after I installed the shark fin (and waiting a few days), I poured a pitcher of water on it and all around it to see if it would leak into the cabin, and it didn't. I'm still going to take it through a car wash and see if that leaks though.

A few notes about the Metra Axxess, I originally was going to use the Metra 70-8114 harness to plug in the steering wheel control without doing any splicing. However, I soon discovered that it would cause the Air Conditioning screen on the MFD to show a "Check system connection" error or something similar (steering wheel buttons for A/C still worked though). Nevertheless, the harness showed me which wires to splice into and connect to the Axxess harness better than the Axxess instructions did. Once everything was connected, the Axxess ran through its thing and auto discovered my radio and car. However, the volume buttons would only work properly if the harness I tapped into was disconnected from the stock radio. If I plugged in the harness to the stock radio (to make the A/C system work), the volume up steering wheel button would make the the radio volume go down instead. Volume down had no effect, but mode and the arrows worked normally. I ran through the Axxess manual program mode with the harness plugged into the stock radio, and that solved the problem. Still odd though. There is a very small delay between pushing the button and the radio responding, but not dramatic enough for me to care. In addition, since the stock radio is still powered, the steering wheel commands are sent to both my Alpine and the stock radio. This isn't usually a problem because I keep the stock radio off, but the Mode button turns on the stock radio if it is off. Holding down the mode button will turn the stock radio back off. I guess the best way to fix this is to do the resistor mod (and unplug the stock radio), but that's way beyond me.

Anyway, everything is working wonderfully. The satellite radio only drops out when I'm surrounded by 100 foot trees now, whereas it used to drop out if I even thought about a cloud. Now, here's some pictures!


Here's a shot of the satellite radio antenna going through the gasket before the shark fin goes on. Yes, that's another Prius in the back!



These two are of the roof where the satellite radio antenna comes in and goes into the side pillar all the way to the front.


Shark fin is on!


This is the assembled harness. Includes: 70-1761, 71-1761, Axxess harness, and the Alpine harness.


Testing the new radio, everything's working! You can see the old satellite radio tuner next to the wire box/vent, that thing was so huge, I had to unscrew the wire box to squeeze it in.


I put the satellite radio tuner and Axxess here, it's very convenient access since all I have to do is remove the vent cover.


Final assembled product! Sorry I don't have a day shot of the inside yet. I just noticed that the old stock radio doesn't light up with the headlights, after 11 weeks with my old Alpine installed. But that's preferable since it doesn't even do anything anymore!

One more picture is in the attachments below, it was too big to embed. Once again, big thanks to F8L and the rest of PriusChat, I couldn't pulled it off without your guys help!

 

Lol, that's my girlfriend who puts up with spending 5 hours in a freezing garage while I mess around with this stuff, and then listen to the pop channels after it's done which she hates

 

JBL Sound system in prius... can I bypass?

I also own a 2005 Prius with the JBL radio. Is it really necessary to order the expensive TYTO-01 harness (cheapest is $50)? I'm sure my head unit has a better amplifier than the old 2005 tech in the existing prius. My 2002 Camry had a JBL amp in it and I choose to bypass it thus the Metra 70-1761 was all I needed.

Don't all Toyotas work with the Metra 70-1761? You only need the specific cables if you really really really want to use the JBL amp...

argggg -- yes the Prius with the JBL can't use the 70-1761 at all. (Unlike my JBL Camry). I guess it makes sense because the prius has at least 7 speakers.

 

Hi there,

I'm very reticent to do this type of install myself, but it looks like a fantastic way to go. I have a few questions:

1) Does anybody have experience with this radio? I like the feature set a lot, and it does what I would need.

Alpine CDE-126BT
Alpine CDE-126BT CD receiver at Crutchfield.com

2) Can anybody recommend an installer in the SoCal area (I'm in Glendale) that would be able to effectively do this for me?

3) What else would I need to purchase to make sure the steering wheel controls would work, the wiring, etc.

Thanks so much in advance,
Justin

 

Re: Bho1761?

THIS IS JUST WAT I NEEDED!! im installing a sony deck along with an axxess steering wheel control adapter in my 2008 prius. i did not hav the BHO-1761. oops.... connected everything which meant nothing was plugged into the factory radio. turned the car on. big triangle. drove around the block and my battery wasnt working at all. AC and the screen was all messed up. so i took it back apart and reconnect the factory radio. big scary triangle went away after a few hours. ordered the BHO-1761. Lets see if it works... hopefully the axxess doesnt create a problem bkuz it plugs into one of the factory wiring harnesses that went back into the factory radio in your install.

comment or thoughts much appreciated. i almost died when the battery system and screen were in disarray. thanks in advance

 

first off, thanks for the quick response.

i just noticed that the BHO-1761 says for toyota radios 87-06. hope its compatible.

almost had a heart attack because the car was running on the engine alone, no battery or electric. the screen wasnt responding and was distorted. i bought everything from crutchfield. they included a wiring harness equivalent to the BHA-1761. so when my BHO-1761 comes i just have to connect the red, black, and yellow wires and plug into the factory radio. and it will work, hopefully. crutchfield didnt mention or hint to the fact that the prius wouldnt function correctly without the factory unit being in the loop.

i will post if the steering wheel controll adapter is usable or if the steering wheel control factory wiring harness has to be plugged into the factory radio like in ur install.

p.s. the axxess steering wheel control adapter did work... only the prius would pose such problems. but its worth it

 

Wanted to thank everyone on this thread - I had no idea about the stealth install until I bumped into this thread a couple of months ago.

Background: I have a 2008 Prius, and was using an iPod nano with iSimple adapter until last summer. Unfortunately, I left my ipod on the seat one night - and even though I parked in the garage under my apartment building - my window was smashed and my ipod stolen.

I got another older iPod nano, but that wasn't working well with the iSimple adapter - more like not working at all. So I thought about getting a CD deck, but was worried it might get stolen as well (i live in a college town and anything is possible).

When I came to this thread, I still had my doubts since the install looked quite complicated. In the past I had removed a radio on a '96 sentra, but obviously the Prius is a different story altogether. So I talked the the car audio department at my local BestBuy, and they said they would do it for just 49.99!

So I got a Sony cd-deck on sale around Black Friday and had the install done shortly after that. I didn't even need the install kit if I did the stealth install (so saved me another 20 bucks!).

BestBuy guys did a fantastic job, and didn't even accept a tip! I've been using it for about a month now, and everything is working perfectly. Toyota designers are friggin' geniuses for keeping the tray door translucent, and having the tray the perfect size for the aftermarket deck.

I hope, thanks to this thread, Prius owners won't go through the hassle of taking out the factory radio and spend $$ on an install kit. Needless to say, I hope no one ever gets their radio stolen either .

 

Does your A/C still work? If yes, they must've known about the resister.

 

Well its really cold now, so I'm pretty sure the heat works . The gas mileage display etc seem to be fine as well.

BestBuy gives you a lifetime warranty on installs, so I can go back if I notice something wrong later on.

 

Can anyone confirm we still need this harnass for our >2006 Prii despite it always saying 1987-2006 Toyota?
Have a DEH-P835R from 1999 with broken CD-player and external input that should work with my Parrot carkit (USB/iPod input and line-out to headunit). The Parrot now uses its internal class-D amp for MP3 playback and it is horrible. The Pioneer should solve this AND has a sub-output.

So I'll try to get this:
BHO-1761
BHA-1761