CustomIce

No, sorry you have ruined that car, you'd best give it to me!

In all seriousness it just oozes weaponised!

On 11/12/2016 at 9:58 PM, Neil E said:

You might also consider looking at Beatsonic adaptors. With an MVA 13L (and a little modification) it was possible to convert an SC430 head unit to double din + add a DLS A5, JL subs, etc retaining much of the factory steering wheel control and all of the sat nav. It's mostly aimed at the US market but I know Beatsonic will sometimes make up 'one off' custom adaptors.

I think that for a lot more money I'd likely still be in the same boat I'm in now.

The setup on the 2000 Navigator seems for whatever reason more "complicated" as far as aftermarket fiddling goes than the previous generation or latter years of the Mk2. 
I have a feeling that I'm not going to get much of a stab at this int he next week or so, but I can at least try and do the background work now thanks to Rick (TigerFish)

Excellent, thank you Tigerfish. Looks to me that the CD changer audio always goes direct to the amp electrically but the connects 2 adaptor is meant to plug into the headunit I thought, so the trick is going to be finding the right connector.....

I have a sneaking suspicion this is going to end up a part amp loom hack part HU loom hack. Thanks.

Will do, I need some confirmation on the wiring colours and connector configurations on my 2000 GS Navigator with CD nav and a 2001 equivalent - tigerfish if you are out there could you help me out at all please?

Unit has arrived, connector is different to my CD nav.

But from a quick look it appears there is the usual black/yellow/red power set on the harness, a shielded pair (audio) a selection of grounds, and a green/greenBK  pair for what I assume is "changer control"

All I need are some pinouts for mine and the next model headunit and I'll be able to confirm if a loom mod is possible.

I've been enjoying the premium audio in my 2000 GS300 since I bought it over 18 months ago. I'd toyed with the idea of fitting an all singing all dancing Sat nav unit in place of the CD Nav system. But to be honest I quite like the functions available on the stock screen - trip info and the CC interface is nice.

After burning many many CDs for the CD changer, I've decided to give something a punt. £55 of Connects2 interface for the CD changer port. I didn't like the relay mod, and that will slowly kill the laser in the CD player anyway as it has to fool the player int o reading a CD but just bypasses the audio.

So the hope is that I can get the CTALXUSB002 to work with my HU.

The reason for this, my iPod and massive music collection!

And before you ask, I went for the Aux version rather than the iPod version so I can do what I love - custom work. If the interface works I will be replacing the ash tray and cigarette lighter with a single din Bluetooth and iPod capable headunit, running the preamp out into the Aux adapter. The Aux adapter will be run into the stock system and volume can be set and left on the main headunit.

If this works I'll post the results and what I did here. If it doesn't I will be really disappointed! Fingers crossed!

My daily is a 2000 plate GS300, 17 mile each way commute, bendy A roads, bypasses and roundabouts I get a consistent 22 -23 mpg

Drive like a ***** and in in the high teen MPG.

Drive a long journey mainly motorways and i get high 20's to early 30s.

Tyre pressure, type/profile of tyres can have drastic affects on this kind of behaviour. 

On 1/10/2016 at 6:44 PM, nightrave said:

Hi Guys,

After giving up trying to fix my sound (sound went dead after battery poles mixup) I am trying to figure it out how to solve it. I have read a lot about installing a new aftermarket head unit. The easiest way is to bypass the amp like they show in this tuturial. The problem is I can't get it :( What to wire where. I have found a ready harness here so I have 2 questions.

1. Do I just unplug two connectors from the amp, put in the two connectors from the harness and connect the other end to the new aftermarket unit?

2. Would this still work if my stock amp is dead?

sorry for stupid questions, I am really confused and irritated for not having music in my car for almost 6 months :(

I'd be doing the same thing as BRZ has suggested and replacing fuses.

You will have reversed the polarity for the entire vehicle when mixing up the Battery poles, but that doesn't always mean you fried anything. I'd be looking at fuses in the fuse boxes, and on the units in question.

You might not have a problem at all in reality. 

out of round tyres?

Bent wheel studs?

Out of interest (please correct me if i am wrong) but you mention after a while dropping to N and coasting. Now i thought it was a really bad thing to do to coast an auto? Thought it damaged the box somehow?

Good Luck.

Let us know how you get on.

I'm pretty sure the IS didn't come with a gramophone, 30's pfffft, you might want to take a look at Autoleads website then have generally got one of the widest ranges if ISO cables, get the part number and go find it cheaper on eBay ;)

Let's face it. A boot big enough for the average henchman's hits (say 2 bodies) 5 seats, 3 of which at the rear for goons.

Average goon 100-140Kg = 4-6 bagsx3 = 12-18 bags, plus the lighter "cargo" int he boot fo maybe 2x 60-80kg, so anywhere around the 18-20 bags and you should still be ok!

Known as the Mafia to hardcore conversion method

Hi Folks, ive seen bit and pieces on here about LED mods, I just thought it would be great if we could get all the relevant info in one post it would be helpful.

The ISF standard has some cool bright LED/HID combinations, but I fell the yellow old fashioned lights in fogs, interior, parks, door mirrors etc make the car look a bit dated so I plan to replace them all to the new bright white spec. Ideally im looking to match similar colour brightness with existing LEDs/HIDs. To me its like only half the car was modernised im unsure why it has any nasty yellows tbh.

From searching on here I believe here the start of the list:

• Fogs it H11
• the mirror lights are W5W
• Interior roof lights?
• parks? W5W?

Please feel free to add any others im missing plus experiences of brands you have bought etc.

Im currently looking at 30w Cree H11 LED's on ebay but unsure if they are going to be of any quality so look forward to your input.

I work in the LED industry (not automotive)

Cree are well respected ;) That said, they make LEDs and not the finished article!

A CTALXIPOD002.3 by any chance?

Glad to hear it works :)

I have that enables on my GS (was like it when i bought it)

I have so far had one incident of "unknown" window down, confused the heck out of me!

I think reading the kids a bedtime story one was sat on my keys (they are in my pocket usually) and activated it.

Thank fully it was a nice evening!

Realistically though, windows up on lock is more useful. (it does that too)

Out of interest what was the unit you were having problems with?

Shame looks like Vias don't do a pre 2001 solution for the GS :(

In that case my guess would be duff sensor, or more likely a trigger wire off.

.5W diode as you already know would be fine, it's how much power it can handle.

Well done on getting that sorted!

This might not be hugely useful but if you try and do a logical fault elimination you may get nearer to the cluprit than singing irritatingly catchy songs at it! (thanks, guess what's stuck in my head now)

Key out makes the wheel retract - contact change noted in ignition barrel (if it's a switch)

Manual controls of wheel position work - power and motors are ok and behaving

Key in does nothing - basically it's not picking up the key has been inserted.

My best guess is that there is a switch/set of contact inside that when the key is inserted they are not making contact any longer, or a wire is off.

Anyone got an exploded diagram of the ignition barrel setup and a schematic?

all I did was look on the back of my key for the type:

1512V 1997 433.92MHz DENSO

And search through listings for keys to simmilarly ages and spec cars that matched it. Takes some finding, and you need to buy a 3 button master not a remote valet ;)

Hope you have some luck!

PS the keys are not programmable, the car is.

The instructions really aren't that hard to follow, door locks, pedals, keys in keys out, shake it all about etc.

The car learns which key transponder is allowed to start the car and the same for the remote, which key is allowed to unlock the car.

The above suggestion is a good call.

Egged tyres also cause some utterly bizarre handling issues, tyres should eb checked for round and for inner ply separation.

is the tracking/alignment ok?

Does the LS also have the red immobiliser light to the right of the steering wheel?

I know the GS does, when you insert the key you have, if the light goes out instantly = master transponder (you can program away with this) if the light stays of for just a about 1 second, it is the valet transponder, no amount of door locking pedal dancing will work to program in a spare.

I have bought a spare fob on fleabay and managed to program it in, plenty of guides around to tell you how to do it.