Epic Fail head unit install

[CharlesDickens]

Greetings Vibe community.
I am the original owner of a 2009 Vibe base model 1.8L auto trans. Back in 2018 the radio got wonky so I replaced it with a Kenwood Excelon DPX793BH. I recently got the urge to upgrade that to get Android Auto and a backup camera. So, I bought (from Crutchfield) a beautiful Kenwood Excelon DMX1057XR with a 10" floating screen, along with a Kenwood HiDef CMOS-740hdlp. Some might question why I would install a head unit and camera that cost about as much as the car probably is worth, but I wanted a really clear picture, and splurged a little.

I am no installer, but this would be my 3rd radio installation, and 2nd camera installation, in a car, and Crutchfield's instructions have always been good for me, so I had high hopes.

I had to do a bit of disassembly in back, but I got the camera installed and the wire nicely tucked in and run to the dash.

Then I ran into complications. First, apparently there is no power at the radio harness, so I had to run a cable to the fuse panel. I knew this already, as I ran into the issue back in 2018. I was better prepared this time. In 2018, I used a spade insert to tap into a fuse. I was not fond of that, as I found it difficult to do, plus you have to make sure you tap the correct side of the fuse, else it is not fused, and I don't like having a partially exposed spade with power running to it. So this time, I used an add-a-circuit device, which worked much better. The instructions tell you how to easily determine which side is fused, so I had no problem with that.

However, while a lot of cars have radio harnesses that have a wire for the parking brake, reverse gear, and speed sensor, my 2009 Vibe does not, so you have to run those 3 wires from the radio to a wire junction box. That in itself was an ordeal. The photos that Crutchfield sent me made it look like the junctions were on the top (i.e., not accessible) side of the fuse panel, and one Crutchfield tech person told me that I needed to unmount the fuse panel to get to it. I was not able to do that, so when I called back, I was advised to remove the lower part of the dash below the steering column. Instead, I removed the lower part of the dash to the left of the steering column, and there were the wires I needed (they definitely were not on top of the fuse panel). However, there is no excess length to the wires that you need to tap into, so it was tricky to get wire taps in there, and to make sure I was tapping the correct wires.

That took me a long time but I eventually got it, and had confidence that I did it right. I turned on the radio and, voila, it worked and looked great. I clicked the camera on, and it worked and had a great image. I took a break, and then came back for a more thorough test run. Unfortunately, it was not working right. The camera came on when I clicked on it, but would not come on when shifting into reverse (and so did not have the parking lines). When I tried to use GoogleMaps, the radio always thought I was in gear (even though I was in park with the parking brake on). So, neither the reverse nor the parking brake sensors were working. I don't know whether the speed sensor was working.

Crutchfield wanted me to cut the parking and reverse wires at the back of the radio, run a power wire to them, and see whether that tricked the radio into thinking that it was in reverse or in park. At this point, my patience got subdued, realizing that whatever was the outcome of such a test, it would not directly result in a properly working radio, so I pulled the plug on the project and am sending everything back to Crutchfield. I feel bad returning things like that, but I feel that I tried hard to make it work, but just could not do it. Wherever Crutchfield got its information and pictures of the proper wires to tap into for parking brake and reverse, I think they were wrong.

So I am back to my old Kenwood Excelon DPX793BH with no camera, no touchscreen, and no android auto, but at least it works and the front speakers sound good because I replaced those back in 2018 with a pair of Infinity Kappa 62ix.

I am curious whether anyone else attempted to install a backup camera and head unit with Apple Carplay and android auto, and whether they had better luck/success.

[tpollauf]

Welcome to GenVibe Chuck A three volume set of the service manual would have been helpful for you to have when making that attempted installation. FYI ... my son will be installing a new head unit in his 2009 Vibe GT within the next month. Not sure if he'll include a backup camera or not BUT when he finally gets it done, I'll point out specific wires needed and maybe it can help you out later.

[CharlesDickens]

Sounds good. Looking forward to hearing about it.

[joatmon]

Sorry it didn't work out, you had great expectations, but don't let the hard times leave you the haunted man in a bleak house

[CharlesDickens]

Sorry it didn't work out, you had great expectations, but don't let the hard times leave you the haunted man in a bleak house

Well played! If, by some (Oliver) twist, you could have worked Chuzzlewit into that post, I would have been utterly astonished!

[Daisy]

My son and I removed the poorly functioning stock stereo in our 2004 Vibe, and replaced it with a Pioneer DMH-W3000NEX and the backup camera that Crutchfield recommended. We also ordered a prebuilt wiring harness from them (we are more than capable of soldering, but this was my son's first (and maybe last) install, and I wanted to to take some of the pitfalls out of the equation.)

The installation went perfectly, although getting the backup camera under the headliner, and especially through the rubber "elephant trunk" into the hatch door, then through the body to mount on the license plate frame was pretty difficult. We removed the license plate light housing, and drilled a hole in the plastic cover to pass the wire through (so we weren't drilling into the body of the car) and sealed the wire with silicone sealer. We replaced the license plate bulbs with LED's since they stay cooler than the incandescent bulbs, and we wanted to try not to melt the nearby camera wire) We connected the backup signal to a wire that powers a reverse lamp, so when the reverse lamp turns on- the camera does as well.

Everything works incredibly well, and also connects to our phones for hands-free voice, text, Google Maps, Spotify, and YouTube or other media sites for in-car movies etc (while the car is not moving). It cost about $425 all-in, and my son is over the moon with the setup. My son is quite proud of himself for having installed it (well- with my help).

Sorry to hear you had a tough time with the installation.

[tpollauf]

Glad to hear all went well. Post pics of the installation AND a close up of what the "backup camera" image looks like. I'll be doing mine real soon here on my 2004 Vibe GT.

[Daisy]

Hi- of course. We used Crutchfield since they offer lifetime customer service on any equipment that is purchased from them. They assisted me in purchasing the Pioneer DMH-W3000NEX and the recommended backup camera. The installation also required a plastic mounting bracket / adapter, as well as a wiring harness adapter. The wiring harness can be purchased pre-assembled so it's plug and play when you receive it (it cost an extra $25 but I thought it was worth it for the assurance afforded since we don't regularly crimp or solder small gauge wires).

The kit installed exactly as expected (although on the first-gen vibes- the license plate is on the hatch door, so the backup camera has to be wired to the door as well. I ran the backup camera wire under the headliner to the top of the tailgate, and through the rubber wire tube that protects wires going to the hatch. The tube can stretch to accommodate the backup camera wire (signal and power) but it's a tight fit, and takes some effort and patience. Once the wire is through- you are tasked with finding an acceptable way to get the wire on the outside of the car so you can attach it to the top of the licence plate frame. As I mentioned previously- we drilled a small hole in the plastic license plate light lens (since replacing it is inexpensive and easy if I needed to undo this at some point) ran the wire through this hole, then sealed the area around the wire with clear silicone sealant. Worked perfectly.

Not sure how many pics I can attach, but I will try to attach a picture of the head unit installed, the camera installed, and an image of what the backup camera displays on the head unit. Sorry the picture of the reverse cam came out a bit dark (and please excuse the dust- it's pollen season here and it's particularly bad today). I took it from a low angle so you did not see a reflection of my camera in the image. The picture is quite clear. You have the option to toggle on/off the distance lines. There's no steering wheel angle sensor, so it tries to predict your path based upon how the car is moving (which I find annoying, but my son likes it, and since it's his car- I don't change his settings...)

Vibe In Dash Pioneer Android Auto Nav.jpg (922.08 KiB) Viewed 1438 times

Vibe Backup Cam.jpg (828.18 KiB) Viewed 1438 times

Vibe Backup Cam Image.jpg (873.81 KiB) Viewed 1438 times

[Daisy]

I will add that I *really* wanted a head unit that had a knob to adjust the volume, so it could be attenuated without looking. The models with that feature were much more expensive, so we caved on that requirement. The volume can be changed using the keyword "Hey Google, Volume To 6" for example, but I think my 17 year-old knows where to tap to raise/lower the volume at this point.

[SlammedNiss]

I will add that I *really* wanted a head unit that had a knob to adjust the volume, so it could be attenuated without looking. The models with that feature were much more expensive, so we caved on that requirement.

One of the reasons I refuse to "upgrade" from my current Kenwood DDX470 I have. Seems as if volume knobs are becoming non-existent these days.

[Fletch614]

looks great! Crutchfield will also be my go to (happy to pay a little more for the service and support)..I promised my girls that I would replace the radio in the Vibe (dead display, like all of them). even though my 15 year old thinks the CD player is retro cool, I'll get a more modern unit that they can stream music from their phones.

[Daisy]

We did a lot of research, and Crutchfield knows that people with older (non-classic) cars will be very price conscious with respect to a car audio / Android Auto / Apple Carplay receiver. They recommended the Boss Audio BE9ACP unit- which is the least expensive option they offer but researching it- it received a lot of poor reviews (there are a lot of reviews online, including one guy who disassembled one and pointed out how the specifications in the product literature are misleading, and you do not get what is advertised). I was sort of disappointed that they even carry that brand (or low-grade) equipment, much less recommend it. We spent a bit more, but ended up with a good quality Pioneer unit, that receives software support / updates, and has worked flawlessly. We're very happy with the results- although I will say that having GPS nav has made my son uninterested in actually understanding or knowing any routes or the names of any roads in our area. Just find the name of a location on your phone, and it opens a map on the screen in the car. Start the navigation, and follow the prompts. We continue to try to educate him, but he just "yesses" us, then blindly navs where he's going anyway. Kids.

[Fletch614]

good point about the Nav...we are also trying to get my girls to actually look up and pay attention when they are in a car to know where they are, where they are going and the name of the streets. What specific model Pioneer radio did you get?

(edit - read your post up above, thanks for listing the radio model! Pioneer DMH-W3000NEX )

[tpollauf]

Well my son finally got his new head unit installed in his 2009 Vibe GT. He had a few minor issues with harnesses not having correct pin-outs BUT eventually he got it all together and works great! He even was able to add the right side steering wheel controls for Bluetooth (I think) and it works great!

[stone340]

That’s a tough break! I’ve had similar wiring issues before. For reverse/parking brake, a CAN-bus interface module might be the way to go—it simplifies the signals. Sometimes stepping back is best when things don’t align, but hopefully, you'll find a smoother solution later on!

[stone340]

That’s a solid effort, you definitely went above and beyond for a clean install. I’ve seen others run into similar issues on older Vibes with no dedicated reverse or parking brake wires at the harness. Some had luck using a relay tapped off the reverse light circuit in the trunk to trigger the camera.