Hey there,

I have a 2003 Nissan 350Z (without nav) with Bose system. I've removed the OEM Double DIN deck, and I'm in the process of installing a Kenwood DDX418. I also purchased a Metra wiring adapter, and I'm connecting the wires together with butt connectors. Here's where I ran into issues.

I matched up all the colors/descriptions with the installation manual. However, some wires are coming from the Kenwood adapter and some are coming from the Metra adapter, which don't seem to have a home. (I AM AWFUL WITH ELECTRONICS, so pardon any stupidity).

Coming from the Kenwood adapter there is a Light Blue/Yellow wire called "Steering Wheel Remote Input". Nothing on the Metra adapter relates to this. (Nor do I have steering wheel audio controls, so I think I can skip this one).

Coming from the Kenwood adapter there is a Light Brown wire called "Mute". This also doesn't appear to have a home on the Metra adapter, but I'm afraid to use my own judgement. Any suggestions?

Coming from the Kenwood adapter there is a Black "Ground Wire", which I assume I just ground. However, coming from the Metra adapter there is an "Amplifier Ground" which is Black/White. Do these connect together, or do they both get grounded individually?

And finally, there is an Orange/Black wire coming from the Metra adapter called "Illumination Ground", which doesn't appear to have a home on the Kenwood adapter. I've already paired up the "Illumination/Dash Light" wires (which were Orange and Orange/White), but this Illumination Ground doesn't fit in any obvious location. Do I ground this, or do I just tie it up and let it hang?

Thanks very much!!

 

I just put in a ddx719 and I am pretty sure I ignored all those wires.

I fired up the HU and tested it in the car before I finished the install.

(had to connect the chassis of the HU to ground)

 

If you had steering wheel controls, you can buy an adapter that uses this wire to make use of those controls. Cap off the wire and ignore it.

If your car had a built-in bluetooth system, or you bought an aftermarket bluetooth module, you would use this wire to mute the radio when the phone rings. Cap it off and ignore it.

The ground from the Kenwood should be grounded to the chassis.
The "Amplifier Ground" needs to be grounded if you are going to be using the factory Bose amp. If it were me, I would bypass the Bose amp, it is crap in my honest opinion. But thats a whole other story.

I would try the radio without this connected. See if the dimmer for the dash also dims the radio. If it does, then just cap it off and ignore it.
EDIT: You could also do as rwj0j0 said above, and just ignore the illumination wires, if you do not have a need to dim the radio.

 

I just installed the same kenwood. Do all of the above.

 

How do you like the 418?
I was seriously considering this unit for its price and features. I really like having a volume **** instead of tiny buttons, and that rules out alot of double-din units. But I'm not sure I would like having cables sticking out the front for my iPhone all the time.
Any likes/dislikes?

 

Thanks very much!! I'll definitely take all your advice and see what I can do. I don't know if I like the 418 yet because I haven't turned it on yet. But yes, the **** is 1/3 of why I got this unit. I also got it because it has the aux/USB inputs (since I use a Zune, not an iPod)!

 

To start, you are awesome, EnkeiRC5! I love my Zune. My finances is an avid apple fan but my Zune and I stand strong against the relentless stream of compatibility issues lol.
Anyway, I recently bought a Kenwood BT-952HD and love it. I'd highly recommend it. Volume kn0b, variable display colors (has a few orange options that match the stock interior perfectly as well as every other color), and sounds amazing once you tweak the equalizer settings a bit.
I just installed this thing yesterday and I have a constant static coming from the speakers that correlates to the system volume unless the unit is in standby mode, then it stops.
I just capped the factory amp ground cable and I also didn't think to ground the hu chassis. It seems now that I should've but do you guys think that could be causing my static; some kind of ground loops or something?

I'm sorry if I should've started my own thread, please let me know and I will! Not too forum-fluent.

Thanks!

-Adam