Hey guys I’m new to the forum. I have. 2003 Nissan 350z 6spd. The old double din was smashed during a break in so I’m attempting to replace it and hopefully also connect the amp and subwoofer that came with the car. I took a pic of the wiring harness for the old double din, not sure what this square black box is for? Also it has this red wire going from the battery to the back of the car, it just has a merret on the end of it right now. Any advice on what these two things could be for are much appreciated. Thanks
Ryan





This is the end of the red wire from the battery. I guess they spliced into the blue wire at some point

 

Can't say anything for certain but the red wire is (95% positive, geddit? Sorry. Laff.) the amp power cable. (Stinger is an amp brand of some sort.)

What I usually do if trying to install where something existed previously (aside from OE) is re-wire everything. Since I'm gonna have everything out, might as well baseline everything with known quantities of stuff and yank anything from previous install. (In my Z's case, everything was stock so just needed a harness adapter and separate runs of cabling for amp and sub. Getting set to re-do the system - after I finish my other car's gut out and audio replacement - but at least I know what all the wiring is because I labeled everything new that I installed. Plus I can re-use the harness adapter with the new HU and power cables.

No, doesn't really help you but just something to consider since it appears you've got all the panels/controls and such out already.

 

Mic's got dad jokes. And I love them.

The "black box" in your first pic is a relay. Definitely aftermarket. No telling what it controls unless you trace the wires back to the source. Most likely it was used as a remote wire to trigger the aftermarket amp that used the red and blue power wire in your other pics.

Agree with MicVelo - tear everything out. Start over.

Use the Nissan Pac module to use the OEM Bose amp with an aftermarket HU. There are plenty of write ups on here to do this if you search.

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Or the relay was used to bypass the parking brake so videos can play anytime

Too many variables, I agree with mic.. rip it out,, start over

 

Ok guys thanks for the advice. Sorry I couldn’t login sooner for some reason to respond to your comments. I have the new HU wired up but I’m not sure if the oem sub amp and subwoofer wiring is still good as there is a bunch of aftermarket amp and sub wiring run in the car as well. My oem subwoofer speaker was either damaged or stolen prior to me owning the car, but I still have the oem sub amp. If the wiring is still good I’ll probably just replace the stock subwoofer speaker with another oem one as I want it to look as clean as possible. Should I just use a voltmeter to test the oem sub amp and subwoofer wires to make sure they’re still good? And If they are do I just rip out all the aftermarket wires then? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
Ryan

 

It's really up to you. Does your new HU have preamp outputs for an amp? If so, if I were you, I would just scrap the idea of using the OEM Bose amp and sourcing another OEM Bose subwoofer. I get that you want to keep it as clean as possible, but if you're using the OEM Bose setup, you'll need to get a signal converter like the PAC ROEM module in order to convert the output signal from your new HU down to Bose's proprietary 1 ohm (or whatever it is) signal input. In your case, I would run an aftermarket amplifier to a new sub in a sealed enclosure and put that in the stock space. You could then put the plastic grille back on it and everything would like clean. Even if your new HU does not have any external outputs, you could still use a LOC (line out converter) and use the speaker output on your HU to convert it to a usable signal for the aftermarket amplifier.

If you go aftermarket with a sealed enclosure in the OEM space behind the seat, I would insulate that area with dynamat or some other type of deadening material in order to reduce any rattles from all the plastic back there.

Good luck!

 

thanks for the advice. If I do decide to get an oem subwoofer, is the PAC ROEM module this one? Or do you recommend a specific one? I just did a quick google search.

 

you will prob spend less money, and sound better if you went aftermarket

 

I believe the one you want is the PAC-ROEM-NIS2. The NIS1 might work, but I can verify the NIS2 does work. Lots of write-ups on here about installing it.

Agreed. That's why I recommended going aftermarket. There may be a very faint hiss or sound distortion at low volume if you stay with the Bose setup and the PAC module. Also, the Bose system decreases bass in order to preserve clarity of the higher frequencies. The OEM Bose amp has also been notorious about crapping the bed due to a weak relay. You may end up needing to desolder that bad part and install a new relay if the bass drops out. It would definitely be cheaper and the sound quality would be much better with aftermarket. Also, less prone to future issues. Just my $0.02.

 

all valid points guys and I appreciate the feedback. I guess I’ll mull it over and post again once I choose a route to go down. Damn I hate wiring lol

 

I used a relay in my install as well. I have 2 amps. The remote turn on triggers the 2 amps as well as the antenna booster.
Using the relay avoids overload on that remote wire from the headunit. Just to be safe even though it probably should be fine without it

 

If that's the case, the PAC-ROEM-NIS2 may not be for you since it requires a fair amount of wiring splicing and connecting from the factory harness to the module. It's still definitely doable, but aftermarket would be easier.

 

ok well I got a good deal on an oem subwoofer speaker that should be arriving soon. I also have a couple old Amps and subs lying around so I’ll figure it out hopefully in the next week or two and I’ll post what I come up with. Thanks again guys

 

Bose operates at a different ohm than aftermarket. I think it's 3 ohm vs 2, 4 or 8 for aftermarket depending on speaker