AVH-3100DVD Head unit Install W/ DVD Bypass
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Hey guys,
I read a few other posts about installing a Head unit in the 350z and they were all helpful but seemed to be missing a few points. I decided to redo one since I just installed my own Pioneer today, and took pictures along the way. I drive an 03 Performance Edition without the bose system in it. So lets get started.
Products you need to have to install this unit is:
-The head unit (duh)
-The original brackets for your old unit
-A metra double din kit (looks like a single piece of trim... it is)
-Wiring Harness for a Nissan 350Z
Tools needed depends on the way you do it, since i am an electrical engineer I dont like to waste tape when I can make it clean and tape free, So ill list my way.
-Phillips head, Heat shrink Tubing (3/32), heat gun, Soldering Iron, Solder, Crimpers, spade connectors for the grounds.
For the bypass you will need a switch, which i will talk about later.
You will want to start with the wiring of the harness and the wires from the unit. I did this by tinning the tips of the wires first. To do that you expose the wire ends, twist them real tight, then heat them with a soldering iron and then cover them in just enough solder to cover the copper and make it silver. Next step is to take heat shrink tubing and cut a piece off for each wire and slide it on. Once all the wires are tinned and have tubing on them, I take the two corresponding wire colors and get them together, then heat it with a soldering iron and place a lil bit of solder on it to make sure they connect and let them cool together. Then slide the heat shrink over the connection and shrink it using the heat gun.
Wiring is pretty simple, just match colors, the grounds need to be left out with some kind of way to connect the ends to metal. The only wires that aren't obvious are the power antenna wire and the amplifier power wire. If your car does not have the BOSE system, it does not need the amplifier connection because there is not one. To get the radio to work properly, you need to connect the power antenna wire to the "remote" lead on the pioneer wiring harness. I don't know if this is called the same things from other manufacturers or not.
Once the wiring is all connected you attach these in the car to the cars wiring harness. Make sure you connect all grounds to a good chassis ground when installing it into the car.
Now its time to play with the dvd player. You will want to attach the factory brackets to the head unit in the four screw slots. Then you will take the metra double din kit and attach it to the head unit. It should pop into place. Now you have your head unit prepared.
Take the head unit and pop it into the back of the dash that you should have already pulled off. If not pull it off then do that. Now you take the assembled dash and attach the wires to the back of it including the antenna. Now attach it back to the car. There ya go, new head unit.
A few upgrades
I didnt like the color of the kit from metra. So i sanded it down to make it smooth with a fine sanding paper (600 grit), then I painted it with gloss black, put on two coats and let it dry. Now it actually matches my head unit.
The Bypass
There is a preventitive measure put in place to stop people from watching DVDs while driving, which is smart, but if you want to know how to get around it its simple. I DO NOT CONDONE DOING THIS BYPASS AND DRIVING AROUND WATCHING MOVIES LIKE AN IDIOT. DO NOT DO THIS MOD IF YOU ARE AN IDIOT.
The key is to first know how it works, when the car is on, the parking brake must be disengaged, then reengaged to watch dvd's. This means you cannot just attach the parking brake wire to ground, because that would imply the brake is always engaged.
There is no voodoo with this, its simple, i read some guy who thought there were special signals going through different wires, this is not true, in fact its dumb. The wire passes a voltage, or not. Its a 1 or a 0. As a Electrical and Computer Engineer I understand this very easily because I used to work with controllers.
What you need to do is connect a switch in the system and have the switch connected to ground. When you start the car, it will show its grounded, now you switch it, which brakes the ground which would be taking the break off, then switch it again, which shows the ground again and means the break is back on, bam, you can watch and drive and crash or whatever.
Thats how I installed it, I just wanted this to be helpful to others, any questions id love to help.
I read a few other posts about installing a Head unit in the 350z and they were all helpful but seemed to be missing a few points. I decided to redo one since I just installed my own Pioneer today, and took pictures along the way. I drive an 03 Performance Edition without the bose system in it. So lets get started.
Products you need to have to install this unit is:
-The head unit (duh)
-The original brackets for your old unit
-A metra double din kit (looks like a single piece of trim... it is)
-Wiring Harness for a Nissan 350Z
Tools needed depends on the way you do it, since i am an electrical engineer I dont like to waste tape when I can make it clean and tape free, So ill list my way.
-Phillips head, Heat shrink Tubing (3/32), heat gun, Soldering Iron, Solder, Crimpers, spade connectors for the grounds.
For the bypass you will need a switch, which i will talk about later.
You will want to start with the wiring of the harness and the wires from the unit. I did this by tinning the tips of the wires first. To do that you expose the wire ends, twist them real tight, then heat them with a soldering iron and then cover them in just enough solder to cover the copper and make it silver. Next step is to take heat shrink tubing and cut a piece off for each wire and slide it on. Once all the wires are tinned and have tubing on them, I take the two corresponding wire colors and get them together, then heat it with a soldering iron and place a lil bit of solder on it to make sure they connect and let them cool together. Then slide the heat shrink over the connection and shrink it using the heat gun.
Wiring is pretty simple, just match colors, the grounds need to be left out with some kind of way to connect the ends to metal. The only wires that aren't obvious are the power antenna wire and the amplifier power wire. If your car does not have the BOSE system, it does not need the amplifier connection because there is not one. To get the radio to work properly, you need to connect the power antenna wire to the "remote" lead on the pioneer wiring harness. I don't know if this is called the same things from other manufacturers or not.
Once the wiring is all connected you attach these in the car to the cars wiring harness. Make sure you connect all grounds to a good chassis ground when installing it into the car.
Now its time to play with the dvd player. You will want to attach the factory brackets to the head unit in the four screw slots. Then you will take the metra double din kit and attach it to the head unit. It should pop into place. Now you have your head unit prepared.
Take the head unit and pop it into the back of the dash that you should have already pulled off. If not pull it off then do that. Now you take the assembled dash and attach the wires to the back of it including the antenna. Now attach it back to the car. There ya go, new head unit.
A few upgrades
I didnt like the color of the kit from metra. So i sanded it down to make it smooth with a fine sanding paper (600 grit), then I painted it with gloss black, put on two coats and let it dry. Now it actually matches my head unit.
The Bypass
There is a preventitive measure put in place to stop people from watching DVDs while driving, which is smart, but if you want to know how to get around it its simple. I DO NOT CONDONE DOING THIS BYPASS AND DRIVING AROUND WATCHING MOVIES LIKE AN IDIOT. DO NOT DO THIS MOD IF YOU ARE AN IDIOT.
The key is to first know how it works, when the car is on, the parking brake must be disengaged, then reengaged to watch dvd's. This means you cannot just attach the parking brake wire to ground, because that would imply the brake is always engaged.
There is no voodoo with this, its simple, i read some guy who thought there were special signals going through different wires, this is not true, in fact its dumb. The wire passes a voltage, or not. Its a 1 or a 0. As a Electrical and Computer Engineer I understand this very easily because I used to work with controllers.
What you need to do is connect a switch in the system and have the switch connected to ground. When you start the car, it will show its grounded, now you switch it, which brakes the ground which would be taking the break off, then switch it again, which shows the ground again and means the break is back on, bam, you can watch and drive and crash or whatever.
Thats how I installed it, I just wanted this to be helpful to others, any questions id love to help.
Last edited by BigJax21; 05-08-2009 at 06:37 AM.
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Oh yeah, it is 24 hour format. for the 3100 i cant speak for other ones. I personally dont mind it, its small, and I have no problem subtracting twelve from other numbers at a blistering rate. If thats not your thing though i would suggest getting a diff one.
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What you need to do is connect a switch in the system and have the switch connected to ground. When you start the car, it will show its grounded, now you switch it, which brakes the ground which would be taking the break off, then switch it again, which shows the ground again and means the break is back on, bam, you can watch and drive and crash or whatever.
ok im putting mines in later today...and very nice read btw, its going to help me out ALOT! I just need clarification on the bypass...so in other words, you are saying to connect the ground to the switch and connect the "green" parking brake wire to the switch also...am i correct or did i misunderstand you??
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ok im putting mines in later today...and very nice read btw, its going to help me out ALOT! I just need clarification on the bypass...so in other words, you are saying to connect the ground to the switch and connect the "green" parking brake wire to the switch also...am i correct or did i misunderstand you??
So you take the ground wire from the unit(green). Cut it a ways down since it is so long. Then connect the end of the wire to the switch. Then take the other half of the wire that you cut off. Connect it to the other side of the switch, and run that part of the green wire to a ground, there are a couple good pieces of metal you can connect to in the console.
Than you will have to switch it on and off and it should work.
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Yes. This is right. Make sure the switch you are using just breakes the line.
So you take the ground wire from the unit(green). Cut it a ways down since it is so long. Then connect the end of the wire to the switch. Then take the other half of the wire that you cut off. Connect it to the other side of the switch, and run that part of the green wire to a ground, there are a couple good pieces of metal you can connect to in the console.
Than you will have to switch it on and off and it should work.
So you take the ground wire from the unit(green). Cut it a ways down since it is so long. Then connect the end of the wire to the switch. Then take the other half of the wire that you cut off. Connect it to the other side of the switch, and run that part of the green wire to a ground, there are a couple good pieces of metal you can connect to in the console.
Than you will have to switch it on and off and it should work.
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Ruff - are you just using this head unit without changing the Bose speaker set up? How is that working out for you? I'd love to just change the head unit in my 05 GT without messing with the speaker set up.
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