HOW-TO: Always on Party Mode EQ

Ryan_S

Ryan_S

New member
This HOW-TO details how to modify the stock non-nav radio to have the EQ always be in "Party Mode".

Background
the Party Mode button on the 4R does two (2) things.

  1. turns off the rear door speakers
  2. switches the radio's equalizer to sound more like a party
What this mod does
overrides number 2 above to be always enabled, leaving the Party Mode button to only turn off the rear door speakers. this makes it a party at all times.

why? I like the sound quality with the Party EQ enabled, but I like using all of the speakers. I will eventually be removing the rear gate speakers, so my puppy doesn't get blasted in the face with music.

What you need to do
(I realize pictures are worth 1000 words, but I'm lazy and not taking the radio out again to take the pictures I should have taken the first time. so you'll have to use your imagination and try to follow this diagram)


  1. remove the radio. here's a great write up: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/90970-removing-stock-head-unit-5th-gen-4runner.html
  2. use the diagram below to locate the correct connector on the back of the radio.
  3. cut the white wire, pin 1, of the connector. leave as much as possible sticking out of the connector.
  4. connect the connector end of this wire to ground. the easiest way to to this is to add a little wire on with a ring terminal on it to the wire coming off of the connector. connect the ring terminal to one of the screws on the back of the radio (which are the chassis ground). touch the wire to the screw first and turn the radio on, to verify the screw is connected to ground.
party.png~original


5. put everything back together.
6. party all the time! :cheers:
 
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interesting, how does it sound with all speakers going, plus the extra amplification to the front and hatch? can the stock amp handle it?
 
mtbnole said:
interesting, how does it sound with all speakers going, plus the extra amplification to the front and hatch? can the stock amp handle it?
Click to expand...



I'd like to know about this as well. I prefer all speakers on vs. the party mode, and honestly, I'm not sure I enjoy the sound EQ of party mode that much more, but since I ordered the Kappas and apparently party mode is somewhat necessary for the full enjoyment of them, I'm looking at this mod...
 
You don't need to run party mode to get benefit from the Kappas. I only run party mode when there's nobody in the back seat. If someone is back there, I'll be nice and turn on the rear door speakers. lol It still sounds decent.
 
Problem. I followed the instructions and all went well except for the grounding part. I cut the white wire going to pin1 and whenver I would place the cut wire to metal the rear door speakers would not work. PARTY MODE stayed on like it was supposed to as far as I can tell. If I left the wire dangling w/o it touching any metal PARTY MODE stayed on, as far as I can tell, all the time the button just switched the read door speakers on/off as this mod was supposed to. Any idea whats going on?

EDIT: I just looked at the diagram again and realized I went backwards. I tried to attach the white wire coming into the connector to ground. NEW PROBLEM. Now I have just a stub coming off the connector, not nearly enough to tie a new wire to. What next? Its not grounded right now and seems to be fine. As an electrical ubernovice, what happens it it remains ungrounded?
 
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emsmatt said:
Problem. I followed the instructions and all went well except for the grounding part. I cut the white wire going to pin1 and whenver I would place the cut wire to metal the rear door speakers would not work. PARTY MODE stayed on like it was supposed to as far as I can tell. If I left the wire dangling w/o it touching any metal PARTY MODE stayed on, as far as I can tell, all the time the button just switched the read door speakers on/off as this mod was supposed to. Any idea whats going on?

EDIT: I just looked at the diagram again and realized I went backwards. I tried to attach the white wire coming into the connector to ground. NEW PROBLEM. Now I have just a stub coming off the connector, not nearly enough to tie a new wire to. What next? Its not grounded right now and seems to be fine. As an electrical ubernovice, what happens it it remains ungrounded?
Click to expand...

Eventually, you will launch a missle.....seriously, can't help, but other will chime in soon I am sure. Good luck and be safe. :naughty:
 
emsmatt said:
Problem. I followed the instructions and all went well except for the grounding part. I cut the white wire going to pin1 and whenver I would place the cut wire to metal the rear door speakers would not work. PARTY MODE stayed on like it was supposed to as far as I can tell. If I left the wire dangling w/o it touching any metal PARTY MODE stayed on, as far as I can tell, all the time the button just switched the read door speakers on/off as this mod was supposed to. Any idea whats going on?

EDIT: I just looked at the diagram again and realized I went backwards. I tried to attach the white wire coming into the connector to ground. NEW PROBLEM. Now I have just a stub coming off the connector, not nearly enough to tie a new wire to. What next? Its not grounded right now and seems to be fine. As an electrical ubernovice, what happens it it remains ungrounded?
Click to expand...

take apart the connector, and start soldiering? if you didnt leave enough one way or another, looks like you might need to do just that.
 
First of all, sorry I haven't been replying here, I haven't been getting updates for this thread for some reason. :shrug:

emsmatt said:
Problem. I followed the instructions and all went well except for the grounding part. I cut the white wire going to pin1 and whenver I would place the cut wire to metal the rear door speakers would not work. PARTY MODE stayed on like it was supposed to as far as I can tell. If I left the wire dangling w/o it touching any metal PARTY MODE stayed on, as far as I can tell, all the time the button just switched the read door speakers on/off as this mod was supposed to. Any idea whats going on?
Click to expand...

Grounding the wire coming out of the harness is the equivalent of pushing the button, without the radio knowing about it (i.e. it will switch the relay for the speakers but not turn on the EQ part of party mode).

EDIT: I just looked at the diagram again and realized I went backwards. I tried to attach the white wire coming into the connector to ground. NEW PROBLEM. Now I have just a stub coming off the connector, not nearly enough to tie a new wire to. What next? Its not grounded right now and seems to be fine. As an electrical ubernovice, what happens it it remains ungrounded?
Click to expand...
Grounding the wire on the connector side just turns on an input to the radio. So leaving it hang is the equivalent of just never pushing the party mode button. Since we probably don't want that after you went through all the work so far.... You could try to crimp or solder another wire on, or make a wire with a small pin on one end that you can stick into the connector (similar to this radar detector thing...
bannerimage2.gif
)
 
what sort of wire should be used to extend the one wire?

and is this mod still working without issue for you (op)
 
mtbnole said:
Anyone?
Click to expand...

Sorry. Didnt see your reply for some reason.

I just used some speaker wire I had laying around and pulled it apart so it was only one wire, instead of two.

The mod is still working great, Im actually quite happy with the stock stereo now. With this and the Infinity Kappa dash speakers.
 
So I am trying to do this but confused since the one post on here talked about doing it backwards. Looking at the diagram, it's backwards to me. Meaning, the wire is in slot 10, not 1. Does this make sense?

Do I need to open the radio to get to the wire?
 
Got iT!!! This is a great free mod. I noticed that with the rear door speakers on, the back hatch speakers don't get as much power.

Honestly, I think someone at Toyota missed the boat with the party button. The way it works now is great, and if the hatch was opened for tailgating, the party button now works as advertised.
 
mtbnole said:
Got iT!!! This is a great free mod. I noticed that with the rear door speakers on, the back hatch speakers don't get as much power.

Honestly, I think someone at Toyota missed the boat with the party button. The way it works now is great, and if the hatch was opened for tailgating, the party button now works as advertised.
Click to expand...

Agreed, and easy mod given the great posts and pics [MENTION=49162]Ryan_S[/MENTION] and [MENTION=70510]darkdane[/MENTION] , thanks!

I just did this mod last night, to my 2011 SR5 with basic (two-knob, non-nav, non-JBL, non-RDS) unit and 8 speakers (2 front dash, 2 front door, 2 rear side door, 2 back hatch).

I only had two white wires from my "G9" connector, at #1 and #7, nothing at #16. Maybe my 2011 SR5 non-everything unit is even lower-pedigree than yours!

Pre-mod, button out/disengaged: all 8 speakers were on, Normal EQ. Engaging the button would cause radio to fade out 1 second then back in with rear door speakers off, back hatch speakers louder, Party Mode EQ.

During mod, #1 white wire cut: grounding wire caused the fade out/in to Party Mode EQ; ungrounding wire did a fade out/in back to Normal EQ.

Post-mod, button out/disengaged: all 8 speakers on, Party Mode EQ. Engaging the button turns rear door speakers off, back hatch speakers get louder, still Party Mode EQ. No fade out/in using button, always Party Mode EQ.

So, Toyota must have wired the rear door and back hatch speakers in series. Before AND after this mod, the back hatch speakers are louder when the Party Mode button is engaged/depressed. Button now only bypasses rear door speakers, causing back hatch speakers to get louder because resistance is cut in half (4 speakers -> 2 speakers = less Ohms resistance when wired in series).
This makes me feel better about the mod, knowing that no extra load is being put on the unit's amplifier beyond factory wiring.

Thanks again!
 
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