Aftermarket Stereo Head Unit integrated into the '08 stock system

[vjjack04]

Hey folks. I am in the process of installing a DMH-WT5000 NEX Pioneer stereo in my '08 coupe. I have the Metra DIN faceplate adapter and also their wiring harness 70-6502. It all will hook up fine, but I have a couple of questions. First one is, it seems there is no adapter to use the other separate small harness factory connector which must power the Amp and Sub-woofer (not sure I have that right, see the attached pics where I am pointing to). My goal (I think) is to make this Pioneer head unit work within the factory stereo architecture, using the Amp and sub-woofer...something I am short on experience about this and need some instruction. It seems the adapter harness and stereo I am using, looks like it bypasses the Amp and Sub-woofer. So, I am hoping someone here will give me some insight as to the best way to get this to work as factory, or close to it. To that end (and as mentioned above) can someone tell me what the factor harness area in the picture attached is for? (is it the Amp and sub-woofer)? And if you have a diagram or some clear info on how to make this work within the factory architecture. Thanks for any assistance.

 

[MoparMap]

I believe the small extra connector is actually for add-on components like a Sirius radio or a CD changer. The amp takes the speaker level outputs outputs of the stock head unit and some kind of power trigger line. Some aftermarket radios have a separate power antenna and amp output, while others I think treat it as one.

Long story short, I don't think you would need to worry about that second smaller connector, but hopefully others will chime in. If you have a factory service manual you can try to check the pinouts on the connectors as well to see what it should be wired to. I looked and my gen 3 one real quick, but only saw the main connector on it. It's probably just called something else though, which might be why I'm not seeing it readily.

 

[Michael Murray]

It's been about 6 years since I installed my Single-din reciever, but I don't recall doing anything extra and the subwoofer works as intended.

 

[vjjack04]

Michael. Ok. Then you used the Metra (or similar) aftermarket to factory wiring harness?

 

[vjjack04]

Ok folks. This is just to follow up with the solution (it was simple, but I couldn't see it at first). Through some more searching, I got it working great. I will try to explain what I was missing (though I am sure many folks will say "ah, that's elementary). The Metra 70-6502 wiring harness color codes are explained very well. The Pioneer unit I am using has "pretty decent" instructions. So using the color codes it's simple to hook it all up and not make mistakes....however, I didn't hook up the blue wire on the Metra harness. It was labled "Power Ant", which I thought was to power a power antenna so I left it disconnected....Not so, according to what I found, the blue wire provides power to the amplifier to it turn on. On the Pioneer harness there was a corresponding wire (which is blue/white) "Power Remote Control". It's label confused me also. Thinking "I don't have a remote control" I left it disconnected also. After searching through some old posts on VOA, I found that it seemed those two wires, even though labeled oddly, were to be connected together to get that amp to work. Once I connected the two, the system worked perfectly.