GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

My installation saga continues as the sun fades on my driveway...Which wire is the parking brake signal wire? I need to tap into it so that my new head unit will allow me to play movies while in park.I know it can be bypassed with a switch and all that jazz, but at the moment I am just trying to get this install done before *all* the light runs out (probably 40 more minutes lol)Just curious if anyone knows offhand!

What kind of CD player? Chances are as long as it sees ground it will enable the video screen. Other then that if you pop up the center console there will be a wire going to the E-brake, I can't remember what color it is but it is by itself that would be the wire in question.

Thanks!I was able to see the wire through the flaps by the e-brake, but I really couldn't trace it out to a point where I was comfortable.Ended up doing the 12v relay bypass instead. Apparently this particular head unit (pioneer AVH-3200bt) needs the park brake sensor to have no ground, then become grounded after the head unit turns on.By running the "remote power" out of the back of the head unit into the power circuit of the relay and then the parking brake sensor to the other, it got the job done.But thanks for the tip!

Bringing this back from the dead but i'm also about to install a dvd player into my 03' Vibe and would like to know if anyone else has done this. I believe it needs to have the parking brake engaged in order to watch dvds but i heard theres a way of bypassing this through a switch to ground i believe but not 100% sure. The wire on the radio for the parking brake is Light Green i believe. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

If it's a newer Pioneer, simply grounding out the parking brake wire won't work. That wire is looking for the parking brake to be engaged, released, then engaged again, before video will play and all other locked-out functions become available.

You can pull apart the center console and you'll see the parking brake switch, the same one that activates the warning light on the dash. The parking brake wire is extra long to reach.

Or you could look for "microbypass" on ebay or amazon, there are several different ones available depending on which head unit you're installing and what parking brake signal it's looking for. You just connect it to the back of the head unit as per the instructions, and don't worry about the parking brake. Of course, using such a device assumes you are a responsible driver and won't mess around while driving.

MacGyver wrote:If it's a newer Pioneer, simply grounding out the parking brake wire won't work. That wire is looking for the parking brake to be engaged, released, then engaged again, before video will play and all other locked-out functions become available.

You can pull apart the center console and you'll see the parking brake switch, the same one that activates the warning light on the dash. The parking brake wire is extra long to reach.

Or you could look for "microbypass" on ebay or amazon, there are several different ones available depending on which head unit you're installing and what parking brake signal it's looking for. You just connect it to the back of the head unit as per the instructions, and don't worry about the parking brake. Of course, using such a device assumes you are a responsible driver and won't mess around while driving.

Thanks for your input. I was actually able to find the company MicroBypass on ebay and messaged them if they made an interface for my head unit and he told me mine didn't need it. I appreciated their honesty n just for that i'll consider them in the future since they offered honest advice without wanting to just take my money. Btw, here's the head unit i recently purchased. It's not top of the line big money item, but for the price and features i opted to give it a try. The other double-din DVD player i had in mind was a JVC for only $5 more but i opted for this one because it had navigation. What do u guys think? https://www.sonicelectronix.com/picture ... ure_id=-1k?

The Android head units suck because Android is free software and the quality control on the hardware, software is poor. The amplifier and sound quality are poor. Trust me, I screwed around with crap brand car audio and now I only use Pioneer. JVC, Sony, Alpine, Kenwood are all quality products, too.

When you are driving and your head unit suddenly quits working, you will regret it. That's a feeling I don't want to experience again.

MacGyver wrote:The Android head units suck because Android is free software and the quality control on the hardware, software is poor. The amplifier and sound quality are poor. Trust me, I screwed around with crap brand car audio and now I only use Pioneer. JVC, Sony, Alpine, Kenwood are all quality products, too.

When you are driving and your head unit suddenly quits working, you will regret it. That's a feeling I don't want to experience again.

I've always been a fan of name brand as well especially Pioneer but i basically bought this to upgrade from my oem radio without breaking the bank. Aside from that i have lost some faith in Pioneer products since i once purchased a Blu-Ray player a few years back and saw the unit was made in China when Pioneer usually had their electronics made in Japan. Soundstream isn't an unknown brand either, in the early 2000's i remember their audio systems were pretty pricey and popular and i had a few friends using their amps without any issues. Guess i'll try my luck since i haven't had any radios quit on me just yet, not even a Dual flip-out screen dvd player i've had in my suv which is over 9 yrs old and sounds and works pretty decent still but thanks for your input.