Clarion In dash touch screen DVD player

[CrashKelly]

it's not for sale you suckers...

I just need to find out a good place to have it installed. I dont like taking on stereo type projects and I just got a Clarion 7 inch motorized touch screen DVD player to replace my busted Kenwood CD player.

Anyone know of a good place in the Philly area to get the install done? Any idea how much moola this will cost me? And lastly, this unit has one of those e-brake leads that you have to connect to the e-brake to keep the DVD off while driving (only works when brake is engaged)....any idea how to wire that lead to keep it on while I am driving? I dont really want to watch DVDs while driving, but I would like my passengers to have that option.

[CrashKelly]

anybody?

[terbow]

usually u just ground it out.

[wes.pro5]

yeah, just ground out the e-brake ground with the rest of the ground wires.

[CrashKelly]

werd, thanks fellas....and if anyone knows a good shop in the northeast philly area please let me know.

[Blake]

Just add it to the stereo ground and wallla.

[kansei]

werd, thanks fellas....and if anyone knows a good shop in the northeast philly area please let me know.

Problem is a good shop won't ground out the wire going to the e-brake, for liability reasons.

what model is it? My best friend back home has a Clarion in dash 7" touch screen dvd player in his Tiburon and it's pretty nice, but it's deep enough that it sticks out of the dash awkwardly when closed.

[CrashKelly]

Problem is a good shop won't ground out the wire going to the e-brake, for liability reasons.

what model is it? My best friend back home has a Clarion in dash 7" touch screen dvd player in his Tiburon and it's pretty nice, but it's deep enough that it sticks out of the dash awkwardly when closed.

VRX575USB...Its pretty clean looking...I'll see it I can get a link...

[CrashKelly]

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-rPsDHtxWWkq/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?i=020VRX575U

[kansei]

oh wow that is nice and clean looking!

All I can say as far as where to go for the install is to avoid ALL of the big national chains.

[CrashKelly]

oh wow that is nice and clean looking!

All I can say as far as where to go for the install is to avoid ALL of the big national chains.

Exactly, I dunno a good shop for this sort of thing though....Its cool though cause it is going to have to sit in the box until I get a new job and can pay to have it installed. So plenty of time to research it.

[SATimko]

If you were local, I'd have a shop for you. Too bad I can't help you out in PA.

[CrashKelly]

If you were local, I'd have a shop for you. Too bad I can't help you out in PA.

no worries, I will figure something out...I dont have any work right now, so I cannot even afford to put it in anyways...which is ashame because it is so cool and I have wanted one of these forever...but like I said it gives me some time to research good shops.

[Blake]

its so easy to install it >.< im not electrically inclined in the least bit, and i made it work :D

[CrashKelly]

its so easy to install it >.< im not electrically inclined in the least bit, and i made it work :D

you hooked up your own dvd head unit? I give you props man...I just do not have the ballz to mess with it and believe me the thought has come into my head more than a couple of times.

[kansei]

Honestly I could have the harness adapter soldered and it installed in 15 minutes. It's like 16 wires max

power
ground
ignition
illumination
8x speaker wires
the e-brake nanny wire
antenna (just plugs in)

If you don't have the mazda wiring harness adapter pick one up from crutchfield.

oh wait you have an MSP so you do already have said adapter, but you'd have to cut it in half.

soldering is so much fun!

honestly I'd gladly do the soldering for you but I'm .. over here, and you're all over there and stuff

[CrashKelly]

Honestly I could have the harness adapter soldered and it installed in 15 minutes. It's like 16 wires max

power
ground
ignition
illumination
8x speaker wires
the e-brake nanny wire
antenna (just plugs in)

So if you leave now....you could be here in how many hours? Do you take payment in the form of beer, blunts, and sandwiches?

[turbolife]

I'll solder it if you need help, but you drive to me this time, or hook a brotha up with some gas bucks :)

Or you can just let me have the deck and I will show you how nice it looks installed in an MSP...

[kansei]

I don't drink, smoke, or do any drugs lol. I also hate food

I'm quite hard to please.

I could be there in a little over 5 hours

[kansei]

I'll solder it if you need help, but you drive to me this time, or hook a brotha up with some gas bucks :)

Or you can just let me have the deck and I will show you how nice it looks installed in an MSP...

lol nice.

yeah have that dude do your soldering, he's at least a little bit more local.

either way it's better than what you'd get from an audio shop.. they'd just use crappy crimp connectors.

[CrashKelly]

I'll solder it if you need help, but you drive to me this time, or hook a brotha up with some gas bucks :)

Or you can just let me have the deck and I will show you how nice it looks installed in an MSP...

haha very funny. If I knew how to install it myself and was confident enough that I wouldnt screw it up I would definately enlist your help Brad, but I just dont have the balls to mess with a headunit install....I always seem to mess up electronics.

[kansei]

if he did the soldering your factory wiring would be 100% intact.. it would just be a matter of unplugging your kenwood and plugging in the clarion.

[CrashKelly]

I don't drink, smoke, or do any drugs lol. I also hate food

I'm quite hard to please.

I could be there in a little over 5 hours

goddamn, um what about prostitutes? I still havent even researched anywhere to go yet, still broke until I can hook up a new job.

[CrashKelly]

if he did the soldering your factory wiring would be 100% intact.. it would just be a matter of unplugging your kenwood and plugging in the clarion.

yeah bvut how do you identify the wires that need to be soldered to the units harness?

[kansei]

yeah bvut how do you identify the wires that need to be soldered to the units harness?

your clarion came with a plug that goes to bare wires. crutchfield sells (also you have but probably haven't ever seen it) an adapter that goes from the mazda plug to bare wires.

they're colour-coded, labeled, etc.

it's seriously one of the simplest jobs to do. 15mins from the kenwood being in and functional to the clarion being in and functional.

[CrashKelly]

your clarion came with a plug that goes to bare wires. crutchfield sells (also you have but probably haven't ever seen it) an adapter that goes from the mazda plug to bare wires.

they're colour-coded, labeled, etc.

it's seriously one of the simplest jobs to do. 15mins from the kenwood being in and functional to the clarion being in and functional.

does the msp have this adapter already? You mentioned something like that in another post.

I just re-read that...nevermind

[CrashKelly]

maybe I will give it a shot...I have nothing, but a lot of time on my hands...

[CrashKelly]

ooh the good news is that someone just left a message on my answering machine about a job! So maybe I'll have some money sooner than I think!

[kansei]

good luck with the interview and such!

[CrashKelly]

good luck with the interview and such!

Thanks, Ive been hired and fired so many times that these things are second nature...I am not sure if I should be proud of that...

[turbolife]

either way it's better than what you'd get from an audio shop.. they'd just use crappy crimp connectors.

Seriously. I've been in Electronics for almost 10 years now, it makes me shudder to think of things like crimp connectors, t-taps, etc, etc...lol.

Do you take payment in the form of beer, blunts, and sandwiches?

I know this was directed towards Kansei, but that sounds like a good offer, except drop blunts and thow in some grape dutchies ;)

It's really not that hard of an install man, as Kansei said. The soldering, heat-shrinking and beautifing of the harness is the longest part...hit me up if you want to throw the Clarion in...

[CrashKelly]

Seriously. I've been in Electronics for almost 10 years now, it makes me shudder to think of things like crimp connectors, t-taps, etc, etc...lol.



I know this was directed towards Kansei, but that sounds like a good offer, except drop blunts and thow in some grape dutchies ;)

It's really not that hard of an install man, as Kansei said. The soldering, heat-shrinking and beautifing of the harness is the longest part...hit me up if you want to throw the Clarion in...

Sounds like a plan man...but we'll have to drop the dutchies...I'll have to purge my system if I obtain a new job!

[CrashKelly]

I'll hit you up this weekend maybe if you arent doing anything.

[turbolife]

I'll hit you up this weekend maybe if you arent doing anything.

This weekend is no good, already putting some iPod/aux inputs for my friend in his and his wife's cars...

[CrashKelly]

This weekend is no good, already putting some iPod/aux inputs for my friend in his and his wife's cars...

Ah ok, no worries I'll just pm you sometime soon and we'll figure it out.

[Blake]

i did mine in the parking lot of the store I bought the unit in, with a butane solder torch.

[turbolife]

i did mine in the parking lot of the store I bought the unit in, with a butane solder torch.

lol, i am taking my butane solder torch down if I do it for him...not dragging my workbench setup down :)

[CrashKelly]

i did mine in the parking lot of the store I bought the unit in, with a butane solder torch.

Hey guys. I have another Query for ya'll. I am going to attempt to hook this thing up tomorrow...I have realized that with the harness that is already in my MSP it is very possible to do this my myself....It seems like all I have to do is cut the old Kenwood connector off the big white harness that plugs in to the car and then wire the Clarion one to it.

My question is this...The old Kenwood connector has 14 wires attached to the white harness...the Clarion has 16 wires...One is for the parking break lead which everyone is saying to ground to the chassis because then I can play video while driving. The second wire is a purple and white wire that the manual calls the "reverse" wire.

Does anyone know what I wire this wire to? Or do I need to wire it at all?

Also the wires on the Clarion connector that I am going to be soldering to the white harness match the colors on the old Kenwood connector. Are they exact matches? Meaning can I just solder each wire to each color (ie. RED to RED, White to White, blue to blue)? Or do they have to match how they are attached at the pin location on the black connector piece? (14 of the Clarions 16 wires match the colors of the old Kenwood connector, but the Kenwoods black connector has them connected in different pin locations than where they are connected to the Clarions black connector...I hope that makes sense).

Once I can answer these questions I am ready to solder up the harness. Once it is soldered up I can just plug in the DVD player! Let me know what you think. Thanks!

I'll take pics when it is finished!

[kansei]

no, the pin locations don't need to match, just the purpose --is the harness going to the kenwood labeled? aftermarket harnesses (like $10 from crutchfield) are.

99.99% chance that the colors do match up, all the aftermarket companies stick to the normal colours.

black is ground, yellow is power (which if the thing is mega high powered you'll want to get direct from the battery, it'll blow the fuse if this is the case), red is ignition, orange is illumination, white, gray, purple, and green are the speakers (with and without stripe, stripe is positive).. is that how it is?

[CrashKelly]

no, the pin locations don't need to match, just the purpose --is the harness going to the kenwood labeled? aftermarket harnesses (like $10 from crutchfield) are.

99.99% chance that the colors do match up, all the aftermarket companies stick to the normal colours.

black is ground, yellow is power (which if the thing is mega high powered you'll want to get direct from the battery, it'll blow the fuse if this is the case), red is ignition, orange is illumination, white, gray, purple, and green are the speakers (with and without stripe, stripe is positive).. is that how it is?

damn you replied before I got my PM sent to you!

[CrashKelly]

no, the pin locations don't need to match, just the purpose --is the harness going to the kenwood labeled? aftermarket harnesses (like $10 from crutchfield) are.

99.99% chance that the colors do match up, all the aftermarket companies stick to the normal colours.

black is ground, yellow is power (which if the thing is mega high powered you'll want to get direct from the battery, it'll blow the fuse if this is the case), red is ignition, orange is illumination, white, gray, purple, and green are the speakers (with and without stripe, stripe is positive).. is that how it is?

That sounds about correct...I just dont know what the "Reverse" one is...it is purple and white.

It doesnt match up to the harness and it is a super long wire like the ground wire.

[kansei]

that tells me it for some reason hooks up to the harness to sense power on the reverse light circuit.

is there an option back-up camera or something?

[turbolife]

is there an option back-up camera or something?

That was my first thought too.

Crash - as for matching the wires up, its all been posted already...just make sure they are going to the same thing (as said, they should be labeled, FR+, FR-. RR+, RR-, etc, etc)

Just to verify, you aren't chopping into your car's harness, right?

You are going to unlplug the install kit that your Kenwood used from the car's harness, cut the kenwood end off, and solder the Clarion leads to the leads from the connector that mates to the car's harness, correct??

If so, I would recommend leaving enough lead length on the Kenwood end that you can put it back in easily if/when you are ready to sell the car.

[CrashKelly]

that tells me it for some reason hooks up to the harness to sense power on the reverse light circuit.

is there an option back-up camera or something?

Yes it does, I guess I wont have to wire that one up then...It has an RCA pre-out for the back-up camera also.

[CrashKelly]

That was my first thought too.

Crash - as for matching the wires up, its all been posted already...just make sure they are going to the same thing (as said, they should be labeled, FR+, FR-. RR+, RR-, etc, etc)

Just to verify, you aren't chopping into your car's harness, right?

You are going to unlplug the install kit that your Kenwood used from the car's harness, cut the kenwood end off, and solder the Clarion leads to the leads from the connector that mates to the car's harness, correct??

If so, I would recommend leaving enough lead length on the Kenwood end that you can put it back in easily if/when you are ready to sell the car.

Thanks Brad, yes that is correct...I disconnected the aftermarket harness from the car and I am going to cut the Kenwood connector off and wire up the Clarion. That is a good idea about the leads, I will definately make sure to leave enough on there if I have to put the Kenwood back in.

[CrashKelly]

Ok so basically the only wire that doesnt go to the harness(but still gets used) will be the parking brake lead and if I just ground this to the chassis then I can play DVD's while driving.

So step one will be to solder up the harness kit, then place the mounting bracket, then plug the harness in, then plug the red and white wires to the unit, plug in the antenna, plug in the Subwoofer RCA's, ground out the two or three ground wires (including the parking brake wire), plug in the power wire, and Bada-Bing everything should be a go-go!

[Blake]

PM replied

[CrashKelly]

SO here is the bad news...And i need some opinions...

I got the DVD player all hooked up...tested it, it worked...Then when going to mount it I plugged it in and it wouldnt fit...so i needed to unplug it....I used a metal screwdriver and managed to spark the plug...there was no fuse in the headunit at the time...Then when I tested it again it didnt work...Did I fry the DVD player? I put a fuse in it afterwards and plugged it in again and the fuse blew and I still got no power, so I put in a 20 amp fuse and plugged it in....it didntblow the fuse but I still got no power.

Please help me guys! Any ideas on whether I might just have a short somewhere or did I completely destroy my new dvd player?

[Blake]

wtf r you doing pluggin stuff in when there is power to it dude....

[turbolife]

Damn dude, that's rough.

Definately don't hook things up hot.

Was it fused and you just didn't hook that up at first? The power is normally fused. Did anything else short/pop/fubar?

[CrashKelly]

wtf r you doing pluggin stuff in when there is power to it dude....

No worries I only blew a fuse...only problem now is I cannot get video...only audio...It looks killer and sounds waaaay better than the previous stereo....Any ideas?

I tried just grounding out the parking brake wire, but nothing happened...I think it actually needs to be getting power or making some kind of connection.

Thoughts?

[Blake]

run it through the same wire the stereo uses for ground just tap into it. The parking brake when pulled up creates a ground, so the wire should never see power.

[CrashKelly]

run it through the same wire the stereo uses for ground just tap into it. The parking brake when pulled up creates a ground, so the wire should never see power.

Yeah I figured it out finally...There was a connection issue with where I had grounded it and now it is fixed and wicked awesome!
I'll snap some pics tonight for everyone...It fits nice and looks great...better yet it sounds Faaaaar better than what was in there! Thanks for all the help guys!

[kansei]

yaay!

now this thread is worthless without pics

[CrashKelly]

yaay!

now this thread is worthless without pics

actually no...I still need help...It is the strangest thing...

I can find plenty of places to ground the parking brake wire that activate the DVD feature, but when I take the key out and then cut the power back on it says only audio...if I detach the wire and the touch it to the ground again it reactivates...but its wierd...it is like it resets everytime the car turns off..(not the unit, but the parking brake wire...)

[kansei]

oooh that actually kinda makes sense. They may have done that as a way to 'outsmart' people just grounding it out.

[CrashKelly]

oooh that actually kinda makes sense. They may have done that as a way to 'outsmart' people just grounding it out.

i hope not cause that would be lame...I guess I could always wire a switch to the wire?

[CrashKelly]

here are some pics

[DemonIAm]

....and you are watching the best television show ever! big thumbs up, great work!

[CrashKelly]

oooh that actually kinda makes sense. They may have done that as a way to 'outsmart' people just grounding it out.

yo that shit was definately to prevent grounding out...I spliced in a switch and now all I need to do is flip it twice when I turn the car on and it will run the DVD while in park or drive...the picture is Awesome!

Well im out for a drive...Thanks again for all the help fellas.

[CrashKelly]

....and you are watching the best television show ever! big thumbs up, great work!

Thanks man, the pics kind of make the unit look like it is crooked or something, but in person it fits perfectly...i'll need to get some night time pics of it too. It illuminates white which I have never seen on a headunit...usually it is green, red, or indiglo.

[DemonIAm]

take a pic from the center of the back seat and recline both seats backwards. then you can get a great full front dash shot.

[terbow]

you, my friend, need to stop touching things with electricity. lol

im glad u got it situated. I havent installed a screen since the days of grounding out but I figured they would find some way around it. I dont see why, if they do their job of making sure its 'grounding' to the ebrake, why not turn a blind eye. its not their problem some asshole watches a ben stiller movie while driving.

i kinda want a vid screen in the car but then again i dont, im scared to make the plunge. since the cars running so damn well, and looks nice, audio is the only place to turn.

[CrashKelly]

you, my friend, need to stop touching things with electricity. lol

im glad u got it situated. I havent installed a screen since the days of grounding out but I figured they would find some way around it. I dont see why, if they do their job of making sure its 'grounding' to the ebrake, why not turn a blind eye. its not their problem some asshole watches a ben stiller movie while driving.

i kinda want a vid screen in the car but then again i dont, im scared to make the plunge. since the cars running so damn well, and looks nice, audio is the only place to turn.

haha yeah I seriously am always fucking things up when it comes to electrical...I guess I am just not careful enough...I dont have problems installing bolt-ons and whatnot, but when it comes to electrical I am a nightmare!

Honestly I only got the dvd headunit because my stocker CD player was crapping out so it gave me the excuse to upgrade. I am really glad I did though because I love it....and as for the grounding out thing I can understand that they dont want to be liable for some idiot crashing because they were watching a DVD while driving..It was easy enough to bypass with a switch though. I mean honestly no matter what they do to make it safer there will always be a way around it.

[DemonIAm]

where'd you mount the switch?

[CrashKelly]

where'd you mount the switch?

i just have it taped near the shifter...took out my ratty ass shift boot so there is just an open space and I taped it to a flat piece of plastic...It looks like shit, but does the trick for now...once I can think of a better way to mount it I will. For now though it works fine and is out of sight.

[DemonIAm]

maybe in the dummy switch beside the fog lights??

[CrashKelly]

maybe in the dummy switch beside the fog lights??

I already have unichip switches taking up those spots, otherwise that would be the spot!

[DemonIAm]

maybe if you got a flat-ish switch ( like this (http://www.oznium.com/rocker-switch)) you could mount it inside of your radio pocket/armrest console/somewhere inconspicuous. just a thought.

[SATimko]

It may have been stated previously, and I didn't see it...but did you have to make any modifications to the bracket in the dashboard? The headunit I'm looking at requires modification to this.

[kansei]

It may have been stated previously, and I didn't see it...but did you have to make any modifications to the bracket in the dashboard? The headunit I'm looking at requires modification to this.

you're talking the beam behind the dash that holds up the rear, right? If you are going by what crutchfield says, they're not always right. Specifically there are head units that they think require dash mods in our car that don't.

The Alpine CDA-9857 and the JVC rob has are two that I know of that didn't actually require modification (but Crutchfield said did)

[CrashKelly]

yeah mine did not require any special modifications...It slid right into place once I was able to move all the cables/wires to the sides and out of the way.

I did tape some foam like stuff to the top of my cd pocket thingy so that if I hit a really hard bump or if there are strong vibrations from the motor mounts it will have a little "cush" and wont skip as easily. The fitment was great though.

[SATimko]

Ok cool. I just put my head unit in yesterday. No modification was needed to the rear brace, but something wasn't quite right. There must be another kit for this because it's not a great fit. The unit is slightly smaller than factory and there's an unneccessary gap all around it.

[kansei]

Did it not have a mounting sleeve like most do? I know some cars don't need them but ours do. Hyundai Tiburons I know don't.. just two bolts on each side of the head unit and it's mounted.

[SATimko]

It was assumed that the sleeve was with the head unit. In fact it is a special order piece. I have to do that soon.