Panasonic Dvd Head Unit

[Steviewevie]

I was trying to help out another LOC member earlier with fitting a new double-DIN Panasonic DVD head unit (sorry don't have the model number) into his Altezza (no separate amp, so like an IS200 S).

The head unit wouldn't display video when a DVD was inserted, and I suspect that this was some sort of wiring issue. The instructions say that the wire labelled "Side brake" needs connecting up to the handbrake in the car. I presume that this is so that it will only play DVD video when the handbrake is applied (i.e. for safety reasons), and indeed the screen came up with a "Warning" message instead of showing the video.

The instructions also said that the handbrake circuit is grounded when the handbrake is on. So I wired this cable from the new head unit into the black ground wire in the Panasonic loom, assuming, this would go off via the various connectors to ground on the car and that this would fool the head unit into always being able to show the video.

However, this didn't seem to work, and exactly the same message (and lack of video) came up as before. Did I make an incorrect assumption here ? Or just mess it up in some other way ?

[aztecbandit1]

I know when i fitted mine a few weeks back mate, i also tried to wire it back into the loom like what you did? but mine wouldnt work untill i wired it direct to the body/earth? Like you say its a safety feature for screens so you cant watch them while driving?

I wired mine in the end to one of the bolts behind the dash and seemed to work fine after that,

There are a few 10mm nuts/bolts just above the stereo, by the big tube support that i used mate and saves trying to route extra cables being close to the headunit :)

[Steviewevie]

Thanks, that was about the only thing I could think of, which was that wiring it to the loom's earth wire somehow wasn't a direct-enough connection to earth to fool the head unit. Will have to give it a try wiring it somewhere that is directly earthed ! :D

[redz_UK]

Thanks, that was about the only thing I could think of, which was that wiring it to the loom's earth wire somehow wasn't a direct-enough connection to earth to fool the head unit. Will have to give it a try wiring it somewhere that is directly earthed ! :D

the bolts for the gearbox under the trim make a great earthing point.. have used it for mine..

[Steviewevie]

the bolts for the gearbox under the trim make a great earthing point.. have used it for mine..

Is that under the gear lever trim ? Thanks.

[redz_UK]

the bolts for the gearbox under the trim make a great earthing point.. have used it for mine..

Is that under the gear lever trim ? Thanks.

yes..

wasnt the best describing post was it!! you only need to loosen it slightly and then use a forked connector.

[Steviewevie]

Yay, it worked ! :D

Thanks guys for your help, wired it to a bolt underneath the gear trim and DVDs then played perfectly ! :D

[sparkystav]

Fantastic, glad you sorted it fella.

[chol200]

Yay, it worked ! :D

Thanks guys for your help, wired it to a bolt underneath the gear trim and DVDs then played perfectly ! :D

Hey Champs,

i'm hoping you can help me

can you let me know what colour is the handbreak wire is?

is it the blue one with the white stripe ?

thats the only wire i have left from the wiring harness.

get the warning message too when i try to play DVD's too.

Cheers

Chol

[Steviewevie]

can you let me know what colour is the handbreak wire is?

is it the blue one with the white stripe ?

thats the only wire i have left from the wiring harness.

get the warning message too when i try to play DVD's too.

Do the instructions say that it needs connecting to the handbrake wire ? If so, all you need to do is connect it to earth, you don't have to bother connecting it to the handbrake itself. If you take off the gear trim you can connect it to one of the bolts under there, that's what I did.

Although re-reading your question, are you asking which wire in the Panasonic loom needs earthing ? On the unit that I was connecting up, it was labelled "side brake". The Panasonic instructions should make it clear.

[chol200]

can you let me know what colour is the handbreak wire is?

is it the blue one with the white stripe ?

thats the only wire i have left from the wiring harness.

get the warning message too when i try to play DVD's too.

Do the instructions say that it needs connecting to the handbrake wire ? If so, all you need to do is connect it to earth, you don't have to bother connecting it to the handbrake itself. If you take off the gear trim you can connect it to one of the bolts under there, that's what I did.

Although re-reading your question, are you asking which wire in the Panasonic loom needs earthing ? On the unit that I was connecting up, it was labelled "side brake". The Panasonic instructions should make it clear.

sorry for not being clear, yeah i was talking about the panasonic wire colour, bought the wiring harness below from eBay and the wires werent labelled, i just matched them up with the lexus wires.

sorry i'm a newbie at this stuff

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/PANASONIC-16-PIN-CA...p3286.m63.l1177

[Steviewevie]

Ah ok, are you trying to use this harness to connect into the OEM wiring ? Does your IS200 have a separate amp (behind the glovebox on the left on RHD cars), is it an S model ?

If you don't have a separate amp then what you really need is a Toyota ISO adapter off eBay (the MR2 one will do), and that should connect straight in without having to match individual wires up.

If you do have a separate amp, then you'll need an amp bypass lead off eBay.

Have you got instructions for the Panasonic head unit ? Did it not come with its own harness ? Was this a brand new unit ?

[chol200]

Ah ok, are you trying to use this harness to connect into the OEM wiring ? Does your IS200 have a separate amp (behind the glovebox on the left on RHD cars), is it an S model ?

If you don't have a separate amp then what you really need is a Toyota ISO adapter off eBay (the MR2 one will do), and that should connect straight in without having to match individual wires up.

If you do have a separate amp, then you'll need an amp bypass lead off eBay.

Have you got instructions for the Panasonic head unit ? Did it not come with its own harness ? Was this a brand new unit ?

yep got the by-pass hooked up. got everything hooked up. the head unit works, pumps the music, and dvd's, just no picture. it says "Warning and something else". but when i go into the settings and change the aspect ratio of the screen, i can see the dvd picture.

i got the instruction booklet, wasnt brand new, bought it off a mate when he switched cars, he needed the wiring harness.

was just thinking that the "side break" wire might be a standard colour for panasonic head units...

[Steviewevie]

yep got the by-pass hooked up. got everything hooked up. the head unit works, pumps the music, and dvd's, just no picture. it says "Warning and something else". but when i go into the settings and change the aspect ratio of the screen, i can see the dvd picture.

i got the instruction booklet, wasnt brand new, bought it off a mate when he switched cars, he needed the wiring harness.

was just thinking that the "side break" wire might be a standard colour for panasonic head units...

ok, sounds like exactly the same problem we had. I think all you need to do is earth the appropriate wire. The wires would have been labelled on the Panasonic harness, which it sounds like you don't have.

I can't remember what colour the appropriate wire was, sorry. I'm sure that someone else will be able to though. It may well be possible to download the instructions for your head unit online, I haven't got time to search right now because I have to go out, but it might be worth having a look on Panasonic's website for them.

[chol200]

yep got the by-pass hooked up. got everything hooked up. the head unit works, pumps the music, and dvd's, just no picture. it says "Warning and something else". but when i go into the settings and change the aspect ratio of the screen, i can see the dvd picture.

i got the instruction booklet, wasnt brand new, bought it off a mate when he switched cars, he needed the wiring harness.

was just thinking that the "side break" wire might be a standard colour for panasonic head units...

ok, sounds like exactly the same problem we had. I think all you need to do is earth the appropriate wire. The wires would have been labelled on the Panasonic harness, which it sounds like you don't have.

I can't remember what colour the appropriate wire was, sorry. I'm sure that someone else will be able to though. It may well be possible to download the instructions for your head unit online, I haven't got time to search right now because I have to go out, but it might be worth having a look on Panasonic's website for them.

thanks mate for your time.

[Steviewevie]

What is the model number of your head unit ? You should be able to get the installation instructions from Panasonic.

I randomly picked a DVD head unit from Panasonic, CQ-VW100N, and on that model the "side brake" wire is bright green. The trouble is though, that's a wire on the Panasonic harness. If you have no harness and you're just trying to attach to the connector at the back of the head unit, then I have no idea what pin number that is, and/or if that might correspond to a bright green wire on that lead you bought off eBay. Neither the installation or operating instructions from Panasonic appear to show the pin-outs of the connector on the head unit, sounds like that's what you really need.