stereo wiring & dual climate control

[enslow]

I've just ordered the JVC KW-XR610. I always like the large buttons on OEM, I liked the fact that the lights would dim on the stereo with the rest of the dash lights, and I liked how the OEM stero had the same lighting as the rest of the car. But my wife's stereo died, so I'm giving her mine which means I needed a new one. The JVC solved all the issues I ever had with aftermarket.

Except one.

The VFDIM wire for the HVAC is in series with the VFDIM of the original stereo. I'm told that by installing this stereo, my HVAC controls will no longer dim. When I look at the wiring diagram, I should be able to take the VFDIM input wire and jumper it to the VFDIM output to the HVAC, and thus my HVAC controls should dim again. (jumper pins E4-F5 on the radio connector)

Has anyone tried this before when installing an aftermarket stereo in a Lesabre?

Also, I've ordered the Axxess steering wheel control adapter. I haven't heard anything bad about it. How easy is it to connect? Is it just "plug'n play", or do I need to do some soldering?

[happydog500]

Sorry I can't answer your question. I wanted to thank you for posting the model of the stereo.
I want more power, but hate the kits you have to buy with the Lesabre, plus they stick out a little more then stock. I like the stock look. I always wanted an after market stereo, with the factory look.

Do you know that this one will dim at night with the rest of the dash? One thing I don't like about this one in the reviews is, you can't see it in the daytime. That's almost a deal breaker for me, I like to know what station or other info without having a lot of trouble in the day. Glad to know I can get one that fits like a factory, with USB!!!!

Not being able to see the lights in daylight is a real bummer for me tho.

I emailed Crutchfield a while back and asked. They told me they don't sell a unit that fits in my Lesabre without a kit. Thanks again for posting the model of the unit. Wonder why they didn't know about it?

Chris.

[enslow]

Crutchfield is kind of funny with their compatibility chart. As I recall, they say the XR610 fits in the Lesabre, but not the XR810. As far as I can tell from from JVC, the case is exactly the same except for the screen and a few extras. Sonicelectronix website says the XR810 fits. Bottom line sit that I don't trust what these web sites say about fit and compatibility.

I don't know what this is going to look like once I get it installed. It says you're supposed to be able to adjust daytime colour settings separately from nighttime settings, and there is a wire that connects with the dimming wire from the car wiring.

I'm confident I can hook this up so that I can maintain all steering wheel controls for both the radio and HVAC, but it would have been nice to hear from some one who has already done so. I'll let you know how it turns out next week.

[enslow]

As for kits, because GM has a post on the back end of their radio that fits into a dimple in the back of the stereo cavity. It may be possible to put a post in the right position on the back of the JVC unit, but I thing this unit will stick out a little.

I got this unit for two reasons. First, it had large buttons. I hate hunting and pecking in a car. Secondly, it has the dimming feature for the illumination. A third feature that I really like, but wouldn't have been a deal breaker, is the fact that you can adjust the colour to match the rest of the car's illumination. You can adjust the buttons separately from the screen.

[happydog500]

I forgot to ask, what year is your Lesabre?

[enslow]

I have a 97 and 99. The stereo will be going in to the 99. Given my FSM is for the 97 year, I'm hoping the wiring diagram is identical. Probably won't be though.

I'm still waiting for it to come from UPS. The tracking still says "on time" for a Friday delivery, but it's been sitting in Hodgkins IL for 2 days now. It still must go through Canadian Customs. Delivery by tomorrow? Unlikely!

[enslow]

I installed the JVC yesterday. I was hoping I could maintain HVAC VF dimming and HVAC temperature controls with the new JVC. I figured it would be possible to jumper the light green and dark green wires (on a 99 Lesabre they are pins E1 and E5) to maintain HVAC temperature controls from the steering wheel. Just so that no one else has to go through what I went through, if you have a 99 Lesabre, this does NOT work.

I figure there must be solid state processing of the data line in the OEM head unit. (thanks a lot, GM!) At first I was rather upset about this, but I also discovered that the Axxess ASWC steering wheel adapter reassigns the Temp Down to Mute/Pause and the Temp Up to Source. This function is actually more useful than Temp Up/Down, so I'm happy with the steering wheel controls.

The VFdim control circuit was the most puzzling. I have a 97 FSM which I use for the 99 Lesabre. For the most part, things are identical. The wiring harness for the radio was identical, but the HVAC connector was very different. The VFdim signal to the OEM head unit is a constant 12V with headlights ON, 0V with headlights OFF. This is consistent with the 97 wiring diagram. The VF dim signal leaving the OEM head unit (purple/white) does have variable voltage, but is high voltage at low dim, and low voltage at high dim. (another solid programming of non stereo functions in the OEM stereo, thanks a lot GM!) However, this signal does not appear to go the the 1999 Lesabre HVAC connector. (The 1997 FSM shows an VFdim wire going from the OEM head unit to the HVAC display.) Some time in the future I'll look at the wiring diagram for the 1999 Lesabre HVAC controls and see what GM changed.

Incidently, only the vacuum fluorescent display on the HVAC control is affected by this. All incandescent bulbs, including those on the HVAC controls, dim with the rest of the dashboard lamps.

The bottom line: at least for the 1999 Lesabre with dual climate control and steering wheel controls:
(earlier years/different models may be similar)
1) steering wheel control for the Temp Up/Down will no longer function.
2) the vacuum fluorescent display on the HVAC control (centre control only) will no longer dim.

If you use the Axxess ASWC with JVC XR610, Temp Up/Down will be reassigned to Source/Mute/Pause. I cannot say what reassignments will be done for other head units. Manual programming for the Axxess ASWC is possible so you can choose different stereo functions for the steering wheel control.

Also, the Axxess ASWC installation manual for the 1999 Lesabre says to connect the orange/green wire to E6. Be sure to check the OEM harness and find what pin is used for the steering wheel control data. Some Lesabres use E6, others use E5.

[enslow]

Update:

As of yesterday, the autodimming feature of the JVC was not working. The dimming wire on the JVC must be connected to the VFDIM wire, not the incandescent wire. Make sure you wire the JVC orange-white stripe to the wire connected to pin F5 (99 Lesabre).

Now I'm working on why AM reception is poor. I suspect I have a power boosted intenna.

[happydog500]

Can you post a picture of what it looks like installed? How is the display in the daylight?
Chris.

[enslow]

This last update is information that many who have already installed aftermarket stereos in these cars are probably already aware of. For those who have not yet installed stereos in these cars and are searching for answers, I did not find the solution on any forum, nor in the installation instructions. If I had poured over the FSM I might have figured it out, but even the FSM was vague. The issue was poor AM reception with the rear window "heated backlight antenna".

If you have a Buick or Oldsmobile, you might have a "heated backlight antenna", the antenna built into the rear defogger. This antenna goes to an antenna module which requires power from the radio. If you have a radio with a "remote output" wire, this must be connected to the Ant Relay pin (F3). There should be a wire on your harness adapter that goes to the Ant Relay, and it's this wire that must be connected to the "remote output".

According to the FSM, Pontiac's have the power mast antenna, so it's pretty obvious to connected the "remote output" wire to operate the power mast antenna. Because I didn't have a power mast antenna, I didn't connect this wire because I didn't think it needed power. Then I wondered why I have poor AM reception.

I now have wonderful AM and FM reception, and the sound quality from the stock speakers is absolutely fantastic! I love being able to adjust the colours of the HU buttons and display to match the interior of the car. I have set the button colour to amber, and the display to green. I love how the display will automoatically dim when you turn your headlights on. The only things I don't like are the fact that the VF display on the HVAC will no longer dim. I might be able to figure out a work around for that in the future when I get a 1999 circuit diagram for the HVAC control. I was a little disappointed that I lost the steering wheel controls for the temperature up/down. That MIGHT be programmable with the Axxess SWC, I don't know if that's supported. However, the SWC reassigned the temp buttons to radio functions, so I'm happy. Oh yes, I also love the fact that the JVC has large buttons. I guess my age is catching up with me and I hate fiddling with these tiny buttons on most head units.

---------

The reason I'm posting all this is because no one on several forums seemed to have answers for my questions, and there appeared to be no solutions posted in any forums as far as I could find. Maybe I'm a complete idiot when it came to installing this stereo, but I don't think so. I've installed several head units in the past with no trouble at all. I've solved several wiring glitches that dealerships couldn't solve, but knowing there can be idiots working in dealer shops too, that might not be much to boast about.

In spite of this being somewhat verbose, I hope some one finds this useful in the future. I'm sure these issues apply to more than just a 1999 Lesabre, and to more than just the JVC KW-XR610.

[enslow]

Chris,

I'll post a daytime and night time picture soon. I should have taken some pictures of my handiwork to boast about my soldering skills, but then I realized that there are pros who have better soldering skills than I. I did the soldered connections as recommended in the FSM, used heat shrink and all. No crimp connections in this car!

Lar

[enslow]

Here ya go Chris,

1) Before bezel installed



2) At night with flash



3) At night, no flash (60th of sec, 400 ISO, F 3.5) I couldn't slow the exposure more because the vibrations of the car made things blurry. IS >400 doesn't look good from the Sony H50. However, you can see the display and botton colours. If I worked more at it, I could probably match the colours closer.



Sorry, I could not get the pictures to upload here, so I'll leave the links.

All in all, I love the look of the head unit. Its conservative looks blend nicely with a Lesabre. Probably my biggest complaint is that the display is completely blank at night with the stereo off. It kinda leaves a big black hole in the dash at night if I'm not using the stereo. Also, I cannot figure out how to get the clock to display full time with the radio off.

The display during the day so far is very readable in a Lesabre. I'm not noticing any issues with glare. I'll update is I discover any issues in that regard.

Lar

[HotZ28]

Originally Posted by enslow

The reason I'm posting all this is because no one on several forums seemed to have answers for my questions, and there appeared to be no solutions posted in any forums as far as I could find. Maybe I'm a complete idiot when it came to installing this stereo, but I don't think so. I've installed several head units in the past with no trouble at all. I've solved several wiring glitches that dealerships couldn't solve, but knowing there can be idiots working in dealer shops too, that might not be much to boast about.

In spite of this being somewhat verbose, I hope some one finds this useful in the future. I'm sure these issues apply to more than just a 1999 Lesabre, and to more than just the JVC KW-XR610.

Thanks Lar for the excellent writeup and technical advice. We may move this thread to our Tips & Maintenace Procedures forum. BTW, I downloaded the pics for you.

[enslow]

Originally Posted by HotZ28

We may move this thread to our Tips & Maintenace Procedures forum. BTW, I downloaded the pics for you.

Thanks, and wow. It's not everyday and every forum that my stuff is considered worthy to be included into some kind of "body of knowledge". You can feel free to edit out the verboseness, or I can make a more clear version for the "Tips & Maintenance Procedures if you like.

[happydog500]

Wow! looks nice! Last year when I had lots of money crutchfield told me there was no stereo I could put in a Lesabre without using the adapter for the smaller units. Now when I'm broke, I find they have one.

I want the time to show, so please let us know if you get that to work or it's not possible.

You soldered? What about the adapters crutchfield sells to just connect everything? I thought that would be by far the easiest way? Other units you just plug in, with adapters and your done. Now, you solder?
Chris.