[dmaurer]

I've identified the car stereo I'd like to replace Honda's stock stereo with. It is an Aiwa.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-cjsO8xuo5W ... 055CDCX144

My question, will this stereo place any strain on the Insight's electronics? I'm no expert in this area, but I've seen references in other postings about limitations to what can be installed in terms of sound systems.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated !

 

[Holicow]

You will be fine. Plug it right in. They will send you the harness adaptor, too....

 

[Guest]

Hi Dmaurer:

___Are you sure you wouldn’t like to climb the scale just a bit and install a head unit that can play MP3’s as well? Given how loud the automobile is at 60 on the hwy, an MP3 ripped at even 128 sounds as good as a CD in my experience.

___If you do come across a Head unit that can play both cassettes, CD’s, and MP3’s yet fits in the same space, please let me know … Books on Tape are coming in Books on CD format more and more and I really need both …

___As for the mileage loss, I am beginning to think there is a pretty large hit with any electrical accessory use myself. It is usually a bit colder for my night time commutes of course but I am consistently seeing a 4 - 6 mpg hit from segment to segment when driving to work at night w/ the headlights on then when driving back in the morning without. This alone almost has me considering a HID kit given the much lower power use after light off occurs …

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:3289btkz][email protected][/email:3289btkz]

 

[Rick Reece]

Wayne,
I notice the same but is it the headlights or the cooler temp after sunset that is causing it. I suppose we could test it by driving with the lights on in the daytime followed by the lights off. Perhaps I will give it a try this Thursday. Have fun, Rick

 

[figgy]

I had one trip going south in CA on 101 to San Luis Obispo where the sun was hot and intense, then it dipped behind the mountains to the West, and the temperature dropped by 10-20 degrees in a flash. My mpg plunged by at least 10+, and I did not yet have the lights on as plenty of ambient light was coming off the sky and clouds.

That trip prompted me to fiddle and do cold air blocking experiments. I see some different with the lights maybe, but it is totally overwhelmed by temperatures going down. It doesn't have to be really cold, either.

 

[Tim Maddux]

tip - connect the new head unit's illumination control (if it has one) to the orange "dimmer" cable coming out of the wiring harness provided by Crutchfield, and not the orange/white "illumination" cable. That way your head unit will dim along with the rest of your dash panel.

 

[dmaurer]

Thanks everyone. Yeah, this stereo will play Mp3s. I'm also getting it mainly for the front auxiliary input so that I can plug in my Mp3 player. Thanks for the tips !

 

[IHonda2002]

When installing a new stereo in the Insight, do you disconnect the 12 volt battery? And if so, do you have to do any sort of special reset after reconnecting it?

 

[Holicow]

Do you REALLY have to? No. Should you when working with any wiring? Yes.

 

[Tim Maddux]

Yes, disconnect the 12v negative lead, and reconnect when you are finished. The IMA system will show 0 charge after you reconnect and will do a forced charge until it finds the IMA batteries are full. No need for you to do anything special.

 

[IHonda2002]

Ok, thanks!

 

[IHonda2002]

So I was ready to order a new radio from Crutchfield and as I was about to check out, I got these two messages from them:

"You will need to fabricate a mounting kit in order to install your new receiver. "

"The harness does not have a power antenna connection, so you will need to connect your new receiver's power antenna wire to your vehicle's power antenna connection."

What do I need to know based on those comments?

Thanks.

 

[Rick]

Ok I know exactly what they're talking about. I ordered a few things from Crutchfield myself.

As far as the mount no problem. There are two brackets that screw in to the side of the stock deck that mount it in. All you have to do is unscrew these and screw them in to the side of the new deck and mount it back in. Really easy to do, but you have to make sure the deck is made for an ISO DIN mount (most are... in fact I don't know of one that isn't).

For the wiring harness I ended up getting mine from Crutchfield as well when I ordered speakers (already had the new deck). What they mean is for you to get AM stations there's a power amplifier in the antenna which gets power fed from the deck. I believe it's the top right wire on the harness. The adaptor Crutchfield uses does not have this wire on thier harness. What I ended up doing was scraping off some of the wire on the car and soldering to it, not cutting the wire though, and electrical taped it. Not the best method, but I didn't totally cut the wire.

So there's a better solution. I believe the adaptor came from Ultimate Electronics, but it did have the wire connection for the power antenna. It's just different manufacturers of the harness include or don't include certain pins. You should be able to find a harness that'll work.

 

[IHonda2002]

Thanks Rick! I love this forum being able to get accurate info from people that have already done mods! At least I know what to expect, rather than getting surprised with my head under a dash.

Is the power amplifier wire marked so I know which one to solder to?

 

[Rick]

There will be a color coded cross reference sheet with the harness. For the most part it's just solder the same color wires together. The only exception is the dimmer. There are two connections, one gives you just a lower voltage when the running lights are on and the other gives you the panel dim level. I don't remember exactly which, but I just soldered the same color wires together the first time and it was wrong so it's the other one.

I remember the antenna amplified wire being at the corner of the connector, I think two right one. It should be listed on the package of the adaptor you get.

 

[Tim Maddux]

Deck removal/upgrade instructions:
http://www.qagh.com/insight/howto/show. ... emove_deck
http://www.geoff.shepherd.com/insight/stereo.html

The orange "dimmer" cable is the one you want, and not the orange/white "illumination" cable. Guess which one I did!

 

[IHonda2002]

I just got my new stereo installed! It works great. Thanks to all for the helpful hints. I had pictures of what everything should look like before I even started. (That plastic cover sure comes off hard though. :lol: )