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New Head unit Installed

18K views 60 replies 29 participants last post by  LS6-Cts 
#1 ·
I picked myself up a JVC KW NT-800HDT headunit. This unit has it all:

7" Screen
3D Navi
Bluetooth with an excellent mic
Bluetooth Audio
IPod Integration
Pandora and iHeart Radio Apps
USB
Free Real Time Traffic
Hooked up to my rear view cam
ETC...
I keep my iPod Touch and Verizon WIFI hotspot in the car and it gives me every source of music I could want. I will post pics once I figure out the permanent place for the Pod and hotspot.





I should have done this sooner. The sound is much better than the stock headunit. Now I need some speakers to round out the system. I will keep you guys posted on my choices.
 
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#39 ·
Its a free app. I use it all the time to clear my CAT inefficiency codes cuz I have been too lazy to tune the car after the headers went on. It shows pretty much anything you can through the ECU via the OBD2 port. I believe that the BCM (body control module) does safety stuff like TMPS, ABS, AIRBAGS, and other stuff so you won't have access to that. Anything engine related though, its on there.
 
#35 ·
There are many posts about keeping the DIC. Somewhere there is a good guide/tutorial on how to do. Search for "retain dic mod" it will be in the results somewhere. Basically you will remove most of your old existing stock radio. It requires cutting a circuit board and cutting up your trim piece to fit the new double din. Quite a bit of work. I plan on starting it soon on my CTS soon. Waiting on all the parts including a new stock stereo to hack up.
 
#36 ·
I've been using the Bluetooth obdII and torque pro app and it does 99% of what the stock dic in my 06 srx. Things not included would be oil life trans life tire pressure and i dont think it shows voltage. But other than that i love the check engine alerts. Still have my stock radio for now.
 
#41 ·
Seems like I read somewhere that if you lose the DIC, then you lose the ability to go into competition mode or some similar functions. I may be wrong on this as it was in a thread I read A WHILE back. Maybe they didn't know what they were talking about. Do you still have that function?
 
#43 ·
The trim piece is from crutchfield. It will do single or double DIN. I just put one in my 04, with a Kenwood double din. Used an easy hook up adapter kit from crutchfield to keep my chimes, and hook up directly to the factory Bose harness/amp.

Looks great, works well. Great, detailed instructions.

Scott
 
#45 ·
I actually have this setup in my car. http://www.kawal.net/bluetooth.htm I talked to the guy and he made a custom harness for me because I wanted the female plug. Now I think he sells this as a package. I Bluetooth my phone into my head unit and it works great. I just pump it though the XM. My only real beef now is that I have really really crappy lows. I think my sub is blown. I plan on replacing it this summer just have to decide what speaker I want in there. I would prefer a 12 but I think a 10 in a simple drop in.

Lot of hassle to replace the head unit. This add on got me 90% of where I want to be.
 
#46 ·
Think I'm going Kenwood because (as far as I'm being told) is the only aftermarket head unit using genuine Garmin GPS.

Of all the functions I regret loosing, the volt meter is the only one I'll try and replace with some sort of aftermarket gauge....I know when my oil needs changing, I understand that it could be icy outside, I know when to turn on my headlights and I could really care less about the rest of it.....won't miss my factory head unit which has nice, "no chip" buttons and a clean screen if anybody is looking for a replacement!!!!!
 
#47 ·
I like my Kenwood, Garmin NAV was one of the leading reasons I went that route. Persoanlly, I think the base model CTS radio conversion looks better and more OEM than using the Metra kit for a double din install.

FWIW, just got $600 for my OEM head and GPS DVD unit on eBay. That's pays for a lot of aftermarket goodies.
 
#53 ·
I have the excelon 890HD, very happy with it. The parametric EQ gives you enough control to tweak the system and most of the normally buried menus are easy to get to with hot buttons. The ergonomics are better than the last two excelon double din models I've owned and the current version of Garmin Nav software is hands down the best I've used to date. I was even able to edit the start-up and background images with a CTS-V logo.

I use a Galaxy S3 and the bluetooth phone part of that works flawlessly. I use an old 160gb iPod classic hardwired with the accessory cable as the primary source of MP3 files. Sounds better than bluetooth link on other head units I've used, search function is the best I've seen in a while, but it's a little slow to skip between multiple songs. Not sure if that's a refresh problem caused by the older model iPod, the huge number of files I keep on that iPod, or simply the data speed employed by the Kendwood iPod interface. I've been meaning to try a newer iPod Touch to see if that changes any thing, but its a minor annoyance that hasn't bothered me enough to do anything about.

My only real complaint has been the buggy Pandora App integration. Again, unsure if it's a Kenwood issue, Android, Samsung Galaxy, or Pandora issue. I was hoping to use it more, but rarely even bother with it.

Car Vehicle Center console Multimedia Luxury vehicle
 
#54 · (Edited)
Nice looking setup! I like the way you combined the 890 with CTS DIC but I probably won't even bother.

I'm looking at the Crutchfield reviews on this HU and I see "its been freezing up" and "it takes it a full 60 seconds to boot up" problems but I'm suspecting that these reports may be skewed because people report problems long before they do success.

Isn't there an e-brake bypass that you need to perform when wiring this unit in order to allow the user to enter new GPS destinations while the car is moving?? Someone noted that having to pull over to work with the GPS was a pita...

Last thing, does it look like this ebay kit would have everything I need to install this?? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Radio-Stere...es&fits=Model:CTS&hash=item54065eec6c&vxp=mtr

Thanks for your time!
 
#56 ·
I'm looking at the Crutchfield reviews on this HU and I see "its been freezing up" and "it takes it a full 60 seconds to boot up" problems

Isn't there an e-brake bypass that you need to perform when wiring this unit in order to allow the user to enter new GPS destinations while the car is moving?? Someone noted that having to pull over to work with the GPS was a pita...

Last thing, does it look like this ebay kit would have everything I need to install this?? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Radio-Stere...es&fits=Model:CTS&hash=item54065eec6c&vxp=mtr
Older firmware, no longer an issue, or none that I've encountered with the most recent version installed at the factory.

Ground the parking brake wire. Nav still has a one time safety bypass acknowledgement, but after that, all features are available while driving, including watching the rear view camera! :lol:

Not sure what you're going to need for your car. I used a steering wheel control adapter to keep those buttons active, an ipod cable add-on, an On-Star add-on to keep that active with the dash center speaker, and then the usual power and line level wires run to the trunk where all of my amplifiers and crossovers are installed.
 
#55 · (Edited)
Isn't there an e-brake bypass that you need to perform when wiring this unit in order to allow the user to enter new GPS destinations while the car is moving??
it's usually a ground wire that is wired to your parking/e-brake. most people just ground it out.
The CTS radio is in place for cosmetics and the DIC functions only.
good to know though for me, i'd rather the volume control come from the CTS since i'll be using a tablet with no steering controls. i'll have to figure out how to get it to work or add a separate control in place of the volume knob.
 
#57 · (Edited)
I too was lucky enough to sell my stock NAV unit for $600 on ebay.

Based on that I purchased a used Kenwood 890HD.

I chose this unit because it has all the features I need and it has Garmin Nav which I am used to. I bought used ($630) because I'm cheap and because ebay offers a warranty ( http://pages.ebay.com/warranty/squaretrade.html#q2 ) that gets as good reviews as the factory Kenwood warranty and I have 30 days to buy it....put the stereo in, if I don't like, turn around and resale without taking much of a hit, if I do like it, spend the $165 for the 2 year warranty and call it a day. The biggest challenge (that would affect me anyway) with aftermarket HUs is there ability to pair up with certain phones. Who's to really say for sure if this HU and my Iphone are going to play nice...only time will really tell.

For installation kits, I went with....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Radio-Stere...es&fits=Model:CTS&hash=item5402114c98&vxp=mtr

not the.....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Radio-Stere...es&fits=Model:CTS&hash=item54064aa190&vxp=mtr

because the first on has a nice detail embossed in it that really tends to breakup the sea of plastic created when you take out the stock NAV.

It will be at least a week before I can get around to installing this so I will take a few pics of the install if anyone is interested...it should be straight foward.

disclaimer....this picture is not of my car but hopefully, that's what it will look like when done....
 
#61 ·
I was looking at a wiring diagram of the ebrake switch .I saw that the switch was the ground ebrake (which would be the light blue wire as the power ?) And if grounding it out.... wouldnt it leave the ebrake light on at all times ...curiosity ...im actually in the thoughts of bypassing to use dvd or navi while car is in motion
 
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