Removing Stock Head Unit - 5th Gen 4runner

[Vwright14]

I know this is an old thread...but two questions, although may be slightly silly on one but here goes lol...
1. What do you guys use to get the plastic off the wires so I can solder in my L.O.C....not much room to get a normal wire stripper in there so just looking for ideas....
2. Any idea what wire I could use for my amp remote turn on?

 

[tigger]

I know this is an old thread...but two questions, although may be slightly silly on one but here goes lol...
1. What do you guys use to get the plastic off the wires so I can solder in my L.O.C....not much room to get a normal wire stripper in there so just looking for ideas....
2. Any idea what wire I could use for my amp remote turn on?

Assuming you have the radio on all of the time you can just tie the remote turn on to a keyed fuse. That way it comes on when you turn on the vehicle. Most factory head units don't have a trigger wire unless it's for an electric antenna but then your amp would only work when the radio is on and not with the CD.

 

[_JD_]

Boys, this was super helpful. Thank you for posting this!

 

[Luca1147]

Do I need to detach battery cables to replace radio?

Do I need to detach battery cables to replace radio???.?

Let me first say your post was very helpful. I have a 2


013 Limited and basically followed your instruction and removed the head unit without any problems. Thank you!

Not sure if you are still watching this thread. But see below.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/156694-2013-4runner-limited-add-output-audio-jack-2.html

I just want to add an output for a headphone. I am not sure which wire to tap in here. Any tip would be very helpful.







I am a complete rookie at this.

 

[tinman831]

Do I need to detach battery cables to replace radio???.?

I would, just so you don't pop any fuses.

 

[GearJunkie88]

2. Any idea what wire I could use for my amp remote turn on?

On the 10-pin wiring harness, there's a gray wire that goes into pin #3. The wiring diagram (http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/140402-anyone-has-wiring-diagram-nav-entune.html) calls it "radio ignition". I used this wire for the remote turn-on for my Kenwood compact amp.

I didn't cut any of the wires on the factory harness. Instead, I purchased a wiring harness and a reverse wiring harness from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009UHKW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007KK2LK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

There are 2 connectors in each package. The 10-pin connector has the front speaker wires and some others for power, etc. The 6-pin connector has 4 wires for the rear speaker. I read somewhere on this forum that if I used the connector for the rear speakers, I would lose the functionality of the head unit lights. So, I didn’t use it.

I connected the wiring harness (WH) and reverse wiring harness (RWH) wires together using butt connectors: yellow to yellow (12V battery constant), black to black (ground), black/white to black/white (factory amp ground, I don’t think this is actually used), blue/white to blue/white (factory amp remote turn-on, I don’t think this is actually used), orange to orange (illumination dimmer), orange/white to orange/white (illum dimmer), orange/black to orange/black (illum dimmer ground), and brown to brown (mute, I don’t think this is used).

The red wire on the WH & RWH is called "12V ignition switched". I spliced in the “power control” wire from the sub to serve as the remote turn-on for the amp.

For the white (left front speaker +), white/black (left front speaker -), grey (right front speaker +), and gray/black (right front speaker -) wires, I spliced in the speaker wires from the sub. Again, I used butt connectors to connect the wires to the WH and RWH.

That’s all the wiring. Plug the RWH into the head unit. Plug the factory wiring harness into the WH.

Voila! All hooked-up and no factory wires cut! This makes it nice if you ever decide you want to make changes to your system.

 

[bward4runner]

rear speaker wires

I noticed that on the connecter with the rear speaker wires, there is only 4 speaker wires…

Black = Rear Left Positive (+)
Yellow = Rear Left Negative (-)
Red = Rear Right Positive (+)
White = Rear Right Negative (-)

But there are 4 rear speakers. which means the factory has wired 2 speakers on each side in series or parallel.

I know that you can simply do a continuity test but does anybody know off the top if they are in series or are they in parallel ??

I am installing an amp and am using the factory wiring so I want to know this to figure out what the load will be on my amp.

Thanks

 

[rigtec]

He looks like "The Professor"




I love this little guy! God bless him (or her)!

Cheers!

 

[rigtec]

anyone knows what's the small white wire in the middle?

"Hey Jack... long ^X no see"! I think the small white wire is a (NEG) trigger for the Party mode relay; It's easy enough to find out... just disconnect it when in OFF mode (normal) and the rear passenger door speakers should drop-out and the HU music source will lose ALL reasonable listening fidelity! Good hearing from you again!

rig, cheers!

 

[Auntie Soshul]

Hey, Rig, I believe that small white wire is the illumination wire. I used a 4-pin plug when I added the DSP, and had no illumination on the head unit. I added a pin to the plug, and illumination returned.

Check out the last paragraph in this post: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/216776-dsp-added-audio-system.html

 

[helmetface]

Thank you for the demails!

What HU did opt for? (Did I miss it?)

 

[UtahRnr]

Removing later 5th gen head unit (stereo)

YouTube video showing disassembly of dash and getting to the head unit in a later 5th gen