Cheap Mod: DIY AUX Input in a 2005-2008 Factory Head Unit

Still have the faint bit of static in mine.. I think it's coming from the USB power adapter I'm using. That's what you get from 0.50 cent Chinese stuff!

BTW, there is the Thumbs up/Thumbs down thing.

 

Just did this mod last night and jammed to new tunes this morning. It worked great. My radio is the stock single disc player.

Here is my addition to this thread:

During the tear down of the radio, once I had the top plate off and all the screws out, I was stumped for 10 minutes on how to get the next part out. After a little chin scratching it made sense that the left and right sides should just lift up, which they did, but it took a little more force than I was comfortable with the first time I tried. So if you get to this point and the side screws are out just push the sides up with a little bit of force. Here is the radio with the right wall out:


I used a 3.5mm stereo extension cable as my attachment. A 6 ft cable was found at Staples for $5. I cut and soldered the female end to the radio. The ground/shield is a wire braid that I twisted the exposed portion of and put in heat shrink so it looks like a black wire in the photo. My solder points, thanks to Sandman614, red is right, white left:


Radio back together. I put a notch in an unused connector where the wire comes out. When the cd player is reattached to the radio it clamps the wire nicely. Also zip tied the end to the radio so the cable doesn't get pulled:


I installed the aux on the bottom of the radio face plate. I soldered the male portion of the stereo cable here. This way the two cables plug to eachother, but I can seperate the radio from the faceplate if I ever need to do another teardown in the future:




Had to notch the plastic "C" channel that is part of the radio's friction installation tab to get the port to fit. The arrows show the length of notch:


It was a very tight fit and the climate control panel barely squeezes behind it, not sure if I'd recommend this spot unless your very confident in your dremel/drilling/soldering skills. I got pretty lucky that everything fit back together and turned out looking great:




With the cable not attached I don't think you can even see the port when sitting up in the seats. I wanted the cable as low and to the right as possible since the music player will most likely be sitting in a cup holder and I wanted the cable out of the way of the manual stick. This way the cable is also out of the way of all the radio buttons and climate knobs.

It worked out great, thanks to everyone here for the info and the inspiration.

 

Well done! I especially like the placement of the aux jack. This is where I would have put mine if I didn't have the 2009 dash.

 

I also have static, but only if i charge at the same time. One of these weekend when i dont have o chem homework i will find a fix.

 

.

 

I couldn't help but notice the engineering paper in your pictures. I thought maybe you were an ME or something but I guess it makes good chemistry paper as well. When I was in school, my professors required all of our homework be turned in on engineering paper so I made my own using MS Word and printed it out using the school's computer lab. Just another way I tried to save money while being a starving college student.

Ok Back on topic...

 

Yep, ME for me, guess I fell into habit of using this paper for everything. In the pics, the paper is holding the screws with qty and face of the radio they came off of so I wouldn't forget any.

 

OFF TOPIC- I am at BYU.

ON TOPIC- Love engineering paper as well. But seriously i tried charging my phone using a power inverter instead of going directly to the cigarette lighter, and it got rid of the static while charging.

 

oops I tore of the pad. not good at soldering. does anyone know if there is another place to solder the conection on the 6 disc changer unit, mine is like the the OP unit.

 

Im in your area, I can help you if you want

 

wow I have noticed quite a few TW folks in my area.
I wonder if its possible to just attach to the unused harness plug on the back. it looks like the gromunit goes in there. or just another solder point.
"drknsloth thanks maybe I could use your help on this one.
I will pull my radio and see if I can track down another solder spot.

 

I am hunting this weekend but I actually might be in salt lake next week for a friends wedding I also know someone down there who has done this mod too. But it sounds like drknsloth will be able to help you at least. I also have my old radio apart so when I get back I will snap some pictures of other tap points

 

thanks fbconvert
pics would be cool

 

I'm not sure what harness plug you are talking about

 

I think its on the right side. mine is not being used. I tried to tapinto it with some barewires attatched to my ipod but nothing. I looked for somewhere else to solder to but the only spot I could see is where the ribbon cable attatches but its to small for me to solder.
forgive my spelling and crammed and stuff, typing on phone

 

Just finished this mod last night. Just wanted to say thanks!!! cost me a total of 8 bucks + beers. Sounds great. Thanks!

 

Great mod, description, and pictures. Thanks. I did it and the MP3 player works great. I put the CD in, and it works just as said...one issue; however...

The CD will not eject. Here's a picture of the CD player with the CD stuck in it: http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii88/rsdill2/?action=view&current=photo42.jpg

You can see, it looks like those two metal pieces with springs on them are in the way of the ejection. When you plug it up to the truck, it makes the sound like it's trying to eject but nothing happens. Any ideas?

 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure thats the rear of the cd unit Any chance you mounted it backwards when reassembling?

 

Thanks for the reply. It's definitely the front of the unit, that piece is supposed to move and lay down flat to allow the cd to eject.

When I first inserted the cd, it acted a little funny but finally accepted the cd. It started playing but now it won't play (the cd won't play - the aux input still works great) and gives an error code 5.

I'd love to get it fixed but if I've permanantly damaged the cd player I'm fine with that as long as the aux input is working.

 

Is there any way to crack the cd in two and try it again?

Or I found this: Maybe it's the problem and you knocked something out of place when you took it apart http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2004/3/24/45212/6874