2nd Cad Nav in the Av - In & Working! PART 3

[sperry]

That almost looks like a tuning dial symbol!

Kinda dumb.. At least make the dial on the icon move while you tune it


That was an FM adapter for the AM only radios.
There were even kits for those. FM in, AM out the jack.. 

[holstbnet]

OK now I really don't like the INR's preset/RDS feature. It just grabs whatever random word is in RDS at some given time (whenever it feels like it) and keeps it there for a day or two. So what started out as Frequencies like 101.9, 94.7 etc changed to call signs initially. WTMX, WONC, WRCX, whatever. Now they just become a random band name or song title. I get in my truck this morning and my presets read:

WJMK
101.9
MOTHER
LUST
UNCLE
OZZY

LOL! And I had my digital camera in the truck but like an idiot I left the memory card in my computer... so no pic. Hopefully it doesn't change so I can snap a pic after work today.

[sperry]

RDS never worked that well anyway. And when it does, they don't keep the data updated or formatted properly. Imo, broadcast sux..

[duramaxHD]

RDS never worked that well anyway.

It seemed like a good idea...but i agree...it just never seems to work correctly. HOWEVER I have found that for some odd reason the RDS seems to work better with my TNR than I remember it working with my old UC6. Maybe my late model '0099 TNR has some RDS software updates? Or a stronger FM tuner? Also...one thing that NEVER worked on my UC6 was the stupid "traffic alert" or "p-type" functions. Maybe thats why Delco never bothered to put those features on the TNR

---Ben

[duramaxHD]

Well I spread the TNR/Lux amp mod to "The diesel place", a Chevy/GMC Duramax forum. Got quite a bit of interest! I made a long (one page) post of the rough outlines of the install and what we all went through. Lots of questions are being returned to me! Some couldnt even beleive I took "the whole dash off". Hee hee...rookies Im really excited for more and more people to do this mod because I love seeing dealers scratch their heads "wait hmm...nav wasnt avalible in the Av in 2003..how did---" "huh?? how did you get that Escalade nav to work in your Silverado? Thats not supposed to work!" "But the nav has never been an option in the S-10....has it?" hee hee great work everyone!

---Ben

[holstbnet]

RDS is a waste of time. I can't WAIT to get XM installed in my truck!!!

LOL duramax I know what you mean about surprising people with "options" in your vehicle. You should've seen the look on the service writer's face at the Chevy dealership when I had my S-10 in for service. He's looking at the navigation HU, the compass/autodim/OnStar mirror and then looking at me - "Wow this is a loaded truck, I didn't think you could get all of this..."

Now I just need to get my OnStar/XM roof antennae mounted, AMP installed, the steering wheel controls, center console, leather buckets... It'll be one confused little pickup truck!

I like when people give a damn enough to look into things like this. Some people hear what all is involved in adding a "factory option" to their vehicle and say "ehh forget it! I'll go to Best Buy and have them bolt something in" It's refreshing to hear people say "Who says it can't be done?? I'll get it done!"

(Off topic.. but on the same note: I just got done swapping out the entire front lamp harness so I can have factory foglights... All wiring and switch etc is now done <its basically plug and play> Now the FUN part. Going from dealer to dealer to find someone competant enough to reflash my BCM so my foglights are enabled. This oughta be fun)

[sperry]

It was always fun to come to the dealer and a new service writer would be there. The svc writer that knows what I did would bring them over for proof or something against what they were told or ? No more surprise with it being more of the norm. Until they realize it wasn't available and "couldn't be done".

[sperry]

It's kind of weird replying on this dinky pocket PC, but it works...

Anyway, I enjoy these more unique mod's too. It isn't the common aftermarket retrofits!

[avarchitect]

I don't know how many people look on this forum page anymore but I just wanted to make everyone aware - I have one sealed 3.0 Nav Disc up for sale - asking $170 which includes the shipping to you via Priority Mail - here is the link to all of my items up for sale...

2003 and 2005 Avalanche Parts For Sale

[sperry]

Thanx for the offer. Usage here is sporadic. Sometimes it heats up a bit when a new user finds it.

Good luck..

Upgrading mine just isn't worth the cost, even @ $170, so, I'll maybe do it if and when  I replace my INR with a TNR.

[ltklein]

Hi!  I've finally collected all the pieces/parts to do a lux amp/touchscreen conversion, which I'm hoping to begin over Memorial Day weekend.  I've carefully read all of the posts and have the
correct parts, harnesses, pins, connectors and such (famous last words).

Reading through an adjacent topic, I saw that some were having problems with the rear speakers not muting when the RSA was being used.  I don't have RSE.

What isn't clear is if this was a universal problem, or a unique issue to just a couple of installations.   Can anyone confirm that they have done the lux upgrade and that their rear-audio does mute when the RSA is in use?   

I love the potential of better sound, but when doing a "factory-style" install, I like to wind up with factory results.

If there's a fair chance of it working right, I'll go for it and see what happens...

Thanks!
Roger

P.S. For the interested, I have an Orange '05 1500 Avalanche, LS, Bose Premium system, roof rack, WBH and side mouldings

[duramaxHD]

Mine works fine!!   As long as the amp is recieving Class II data, i dont see why it would not mute the rear speakers...

---Ben

[sperry]

Hi! I've finally collected all the pieces/parts to do a lux amp/touchscreen conversion, which I'm hoping to begin over Memorial Day weekend. I've carefully read all of the posts and have the
correct parts, harnesses, pins, connectors and such (famous last words).

Reading through an adjacent topic, I saw that some were having problems with the rear speakers not muting when the RSA was being used. I don't have RSE.

What isn't clear is if this was a universal problem, or a unique issue to just a couple of installations. Can anyone confirm that they have done the lux upgrade and that their rear-audio does mute when the RSA is in use?

I love the potential of better sound, but when doing a "factory-style" install, I like to wind up with factory results.

If there's a fair chance of it working right, I'll go for it and see what happens...

Thanks!
Roger

P.S. For the interested, I have an Orange '05 1500 Avalanche, LS, Bose Premium system, roof rack, WBH and side mouldings

RSE is not relevant. Your equipment listed has RSA.

Apparently the RSA IS the same part # in an Av, as an EXT. But the Lux and Prem systems are apparently different RSA programming, as they are wired differently.

While trying to narrow the the operational faults, it appears to me that the unit's that are having the difficulty may be the ones that did not reprogram their amp. (Such as a working pre-programmed amp, why reprogram it..?).

My amp was Tech 2 programmed, but I still hadn't rechecked the RSA operation since my initial system checks sixteen months ago as it worked ok. Anotherwords, likely, the RSA programs with the amp. Or if it has been installed as new, into the system as of that install.

Careful not to mix RSE & RSA! I catch myself and others still doing that....
Two different devices.

RSA should mute the speakers ok however you cannot separately tune and/or select sources for the rear & front speakers as the premium system can, to the rear speakers. You can only do that into the headphones / jacks.

[ltklein]

Brilliant Collegues!

I have my INR and Lux AMP in and tested perfectly. Ran out of daylight and time (it's hot here in AZ!) to finish up tonight.

I do have a couple of quick questions, if someone could lend me an ear...

The document for the CDX changer harness shows 3 wires going into the small HU connector and 3 into the larger one.

The text suggests that I should be able to simply plug the 3 pins into the 12-pin connector and solder 3 into the 24-pin connector.

My vehicle (and '05 Av) has 3 pins already located in the 12-pin connector (brown-white, green-white and black-white as indicated in the document showing the pinout for HU C2.  Should I solder on to these pins as well or do they get removed?

On the HU C1 connector I have 2 out of the 3 with pins already in them as well, instead of the 3 indicated in the CDX doc.

I'm assuming this is just a variation between vehicles/years?  Anyone have an idea what remote device the C2 connector is already supporting?

Last question:  I capped off the pins on the connectors to the
AMP that support the RSA.  I don't currently have any RSA functions (doesn't come on) except for the lights illuminating the knobs.

The only thing I did to the wiring directly on the RSA was to tap the A1 lead for the data bus on the amp.  Was there more I needed to do there?

Thanks for any advice!  And thanks for all the previous banter that makes projects like this possible!

I'll add some notes when I'm done on things I discovered that may be of use..

Roger

[sperry]

Nothing more needed on the RSA. The RSA shares the HU fuse and should function if data and power are present.

You can tap the HU connector 2 wires, as that is what they do electrically. SP250 is a pain to access but if you are removing your dash top for mounting a nav antenna, you can access that shorting connector, which is the way the factory wiring would be if they offered the MDX as an RPO. Only three devices would connect to those three wires (left, right & ground) those would be RSE, MDX and XM (or DAB in Canada). If one had any or all three, they would all meet at SP250. From there, to HU connector 2, which are the wires you see.

SP250 is on the left side of the glove box framework area.

There is a diagram of SP250 available in this or one of the previous topics, if not in the tech section. If you decide you want to connect it as they would have at the factory, and can't find the diagram, let me know and I'll locate it, or re-post it, for you.

Too bad you don't have a well lit spot for doing this all at night instead.

[ltklein]

Sperry!  I'm so pleased to see that there's someone in the world up at 2:17 am to answer my questions! 

I downloaded the drawing of the location of SP250, and now I need to put in an APB cuz mine's gone missing.

After examining the drawing carefully, and looking thru my vehicle in the same manner (I still have the top cover off of my dash), I was able to determine that the location depicted is actually on a bracket immediately
to the left of the HU (facing the dashboard).  In the picture there is a vertical bracket with a square hole in it on the left of the picture.  That is the support centered directly behind the HU.

The raised "pad" area that SP250 is supposed to be in is a vertical bracket on the extreme right side of the instrument cluster. 

This is fairly easy to access, except...

The hole where SP250 is supposed to mount is empty on my '05, so I think they made a change in physical location.

I haven't read what your document source is, but I was wondering if you would have access to see if a later drawing existed show a new location of the splice.

I'll be taking a picture and posting the location as depicted in the drawing for the other folks who actually have theirs located in that spot.  With the top cover off, this is a dream location stick in the CDX wiring without having to tap (at least for the C2 related connections)...

I'll be cruising around with my mirror looking for where mine is.  If I don't find it, I'll be doing the happy-taps also (ick!)...

I'm gonna meter my power leads to the RSA in a few minutes.  More later...

Thanks again!

[ltklein]

Here's the P/N's for the TNR/Lux install that I'm doing for anyone who wants to follow...

TNR:       10377531
AMP:      15114454
CD Chgr:15122617
GPS Ant: 15135178
DVD:       10390370
Pins:       12089649   Haven't used any yet

I got a console harness from an 03 Escalade with my amp that included the microphone.  I extracted the two wires for the microphone from the harness, extracted the pins and installed the wires into my harness, keeping me from having to cut the connector off of the microphone and fashioning my own.

My amp number shows up on most posts as being a Denali amp, however the individual I bought mine from said it was an 04 Escalade amp.  Dunno who's right at this point, or if it's signficant.

[sperry]

That doesn't sound right.. It appears more to the left/rear of the glove box...

When you see the pointer stating "Instrument panel" that means "Dash". If it said "instrument cluster", then it would be to the left of the HU, of course...

Look again to confirm. I doubt they moved it from the same loc.



(1)   Instrument Panel
(2)   C202
(3)   SP250

Edit: Adj width to 600 & added legend text.

[sperry]

Here's the P/N's for the TNR/Lux install that I'm doing for anyone who wants to follow...

TNR: 10377531
AMP: 15114454
CD Chgr:15122617
GPS Ant: 15135178
DVD: 10390370
Pins: 12089649 Haven't used any yet

I got a console harness from an 03 Escalade with my amp that included the microphone. I extracted the two wires for the microphone from the harness, extracted the pins and installed the wires into my harness, keeping me from having to cut the connector off of the microphone and fashioning my own.

My amp number shows up on most posts as being a Denali amp, however the individual I bought mine from said it was an 04 Escalade amp. Dunno who's right at this point, or if it's signficant.

Those P/N's are useful to confirm and update lists with..

The Denali and Escalade Amps are swappable anyway; no doubt they are used for both normally. Most just reference where they found the # or what vehicle the amp came out of.

BTW, I wasn't that much of a night owl.. I'm in CA.. It was the 11:00 hour here.

[ltklein]

Completed my LUX/TNR install last night and it was a resounding success!  Put the system into bypass and tested NAV, Radio, CD Changer and RSA.  All works great with the exception of the RSA not muting the back speakers when it's in use...a problem that has been mentioned by some and not experienced by others.

Going to have the theftlock cleared and probably have the amp reprogrammed to see if this little annoyance goes away.

The workaround is to manually shift to the front speakers on the HU if someone wants to RSA in the back.

The RSA didn't work on my first test, but then I added the CD Changer, forgot to hook up the RSA and then I bypassed the system.  Hooked up the RSA with the system "hot" and it powered on and came up.  Something you might try if you ever have a problem with this.

The changer seemed to get confused for a bit when toggling XM, but sorted itself out in about a minute and then came up.  I'm guessing it was negotiating for an address on the buss or something like that.

Never found SP250, so I wound up soldering the changer wires to the back of the  pins in the HU.  My luck..needed to solder all 6...sigh...

For the record, my 2005 Avalanche DOES have the VSS wire on pin E as many have guessed.  I wired
a rocker switch inline with that and will pass on how that works out when I get unlocked.

Few things left to do:  Theftlock, finish the cutout for the CD changer, cutout for the VSS rocker switch.

Oh...and...pull the top of the dash one last time to reinstall the sun sensor.  Sheesh!

More to follow...

[sperry]

If you reprogram the amp, match it to what it came out of, if it doesn't reprogram as an Escalade EXT.

Yes, I had heard it as late 04's and on have the VSS at HU connector 2.

[duramaxHD]

For the record, my 2005 Avalanche DOES have the VSS wire on pin E as many have guessed.

I think every 2005 GMT-800 has the VSS wire in place. My Silverado 2500HD already had it in place...maybe they will have the TNR's in the pick-up trucks sometime in 2006? Just a guess tho...probly wont happen.

---Ben

[ltklein]

IT'S WORKING!!!!!!!   

Took the day off and got the Theftlock cleared.  All systems are go.  The rocker switch in the VSS wire works perfectly.  Now my passenger can reprogram the Nav while underway.

I had them recalibrate the amp as an EXT, however the RSA still doesn't mute the back speakers when used. Ah well...  Perhaps it will fix itself...

I do need to thank Sperry for quick answers...it's not often I've been work on a project, put a post in a forum and get an answer before I had to figure it out myself.

Also, used Younghog's PDF for 95% of the install, along with the thread that Sperry put together with the document collection. 

But overall, I have to thank anyone and everyone that's posted on this thread...I read through all of the posts, learned tons before I ever picked up a screwdriver and a beer...  Great group of people on here..

I still owe the group a "hints and tricks" of my install...  Look for it soon..

I'm now on to  the the backup camera project!!!

[sperry]

Yeah, I need to dig through the quirks more with the RSA. It's a bit out of sight-out of mind...

The kids don't even use it much, because of the movies, I guess. Those, I use FM earphones (soon Bluetooth) for, not the system.

Anyway, Congrats.. Now there's another that can testify about the Lux system audio!

[duramaxHD]

Ok im a little frustrated. At first I thought my lack of LUX bass (versus my dad's converted Lux '03 Tahoe) was just an illusion because in my truck, the tiny little sub has to work over the drone of the Diesel engine. Well tonight I parked my truck right next to my dad's Tahoe and transferred CD's between the two vehicles to test sound. Well...his clearly has tenfold more bass than mine does. As I said in another thread, I tried swapping amps (H2 amp versus an Escalade amp) and the switching to an H2 amp helped a little, but his still clearly has more bass. Then I figured maybe I wired something wrong. Checked connections and everything was fine. Then I tried un hooking one voice coil at a time while music was playing and oddly, it didnt make one bit of difference. Unplug the first one, bass is still exactly the same, at all volumes. Plug it back in, no change. Unplug the other one, no change! Is it possible for one voice coil in a DVC sub to go dead? Why would running the sub on only one voice coil (versus the normal 2) not have ANY effect on sound? My next test is to rip apart my dad's Tahoe and try running his sub on one voice coil...see if it makes any difference. Its starting to really annoy me. I am perfectly satisfied with my lux upper end and clarity, but theres no lux bass to go with it!! (i know Bose doesnt have much bass to begin with, but the Lux system in my dads Tahoe is clearly more capable in the bass department). I would think in my smaller cabin (crew cab Silverado vs. Tahoe), the bass would be even more than his, but my subwoofer seems to be half dead...and I didnt burn it up...im careful with my speakers

Any thoughts?? I have my Escalade console sitting in our shop waiting to be installed when I get a free weekend...im hoping the subwoofer in that will be more capable.

---Ben