Pioneer Headunit installed by a chimp

[ChunHall]

This carries on from my last thread - about my Pioneer AVIC-301 letter number letter number number screen thingy in the front of the car. The previous owner has it (badly) installed by a chimp.

For those who aren't aware of my problems so far, the story is so:
The sat nav intermittently doesn't work. It shows symptoms of a loose power cable. Unfortunately, it's not covered by any warranty. Because I'm a cheap-skate, I shall be climbing face-first into my dashboard as any great adventurer would. I'm annoyed that when the unit was installed, the chimp didn't make use of the existing equipment - Blue&Me USB socket and microphone. instead, I had a useless USB socket in the centre console and a hideous aftermarket microphone stuck to the windscreen.
Now though, I've wired up the Blue&Me USB and now have a spare 1.5 metre USB extension cable and an annoying hole in my glove box. The cable for the existing mic is yet to be found. (any thoughts where it may be lurking?)

Earlier today, I thought it was fixed...



Turns out it wasn't fixed, it just worked briefly.

I'm mainly in the centre console, but I've extended my exploration sideways too. I popped off the front fascia, then used single-prong keys (which a colleague "borrowed" from a Halfords employee stupid enough to lend his tools) that pushed in either side of the head unit. I also popped (I mean wrenched) out the glove box to give me more room so I could push it from behind as well.

I have no idea where the problem may be now - it still shows symptoms of a loose power cable (losing/gaining power over harsh bumps thanks to an unforgiving suspension - even on 16"s!), but like I said before, all connections have been heartily taped together.

I've left the front fascia off and the glovebox (plus light) out for now and will have another crack tomorrow. I probably didn't reach the end of the seemingly endless wiring loom, and still can't find an OEM microphone aux :/

I'm going to get a 3.5 mm stereo auxillary extension lead (headphone extension lead to normal people) to run through to the glovebox tomorrow as well so I'll (finally!) have aux-in (as was advertised when the car was bought) as well as USB-in!

Wish me luck.
Help/advice gladly received

[shiny_car]

Sorry to hear about the issues. There's little advice to be offered because we can't see how the Pioneer has been wired up by the chimp.

But like you are doing, I'd be following all the connections back, and ensuring everything is solidly connected. Also check all the plugs/pins to ensure nothing is bent, to ensure a proper connection.

I would have thought you can also trace the wiring for the mic through the car, presumably behind the A-pillar.

Any hole in the glovebox: buy a rubber grommet to plug the hole. You could enlarge/reshape the hole to suit the grommet you buy. If you want a professional finish, either replace the whole glovebox, or patch the hole and have it re-flocked.

There are B&M adaptors available now. So you may be able to integrate the Pioneer with B&M.

[ChunHall]

On the back of the orginal head unit, I an't find an aux socket for a mic, so I assume it's part of the wiring loom - therefore unuseable.

The RDS used isn't the one that came with the system (going by the instruction manual) and seems to have (almost) everything going into and out of it. It's VERY loose, and is only held in by one cable tie. All the connections seem firm though and yet it's still not working.

I may concede and go to a Pioneer professional - either that or put the old head unit back in and use my superior 4-year-old Garmin sat nav!

[shiny_car]

I have never seen the plugs/wiring in a MiTo. However, if it's like older Alfas (147/156/GT), the microphone wires are in the green mini-ISO plug, but I don't know exactly which wires.

[palexr]

Originally Posted by shiny_car

...There are B&M adaptors available now. So you may be able to integrate the Pioneer with B&M.

Sorry to hijack a bit. Do you mean it is possible to keep the b&m connected and use that alongside Ann after market HU, not just the original unit? Can you reference any as it was better than my pioneer.

[shiny_car]

I've not seen/used it personally, and I can't tell what brand it is (so I don't know if you can buy them elsewhere): BLUE AND ME INTERFACE

[ChunHall]

Blue&Me is part of the manufacturer's headunit. If you take it out, goodbye Blue&Me.

I've given up with the headunit for now - I'll return to it later as it's not covered under warranty ¬_¬

My concern now is the headlight washer covers falling off - new thread!

[palexr]

Originally Posted by ChunHall

Blue&Me is part of the manufacturer's headunit. If you take it out, goodbye Blue&Me.

I've given up with the headunit for now - I'll return to it later as it's not covered under warranty ¬_¬

My concern now is the headlight washer covers falling off - new thread!

It is actually a separate physical unit, at least on the 159 it is. You need to keep it plugged in or else the odometer will continually flash at you. to relocate it you need to use this cable (an extension basically that allows the Blue&Me to stay connected (though not used unless you also use the bit shiny_car linkied).

I contacted the seller for that part and yes, you can hook up a new HU AND continue to use the bluetooth of the Blue&Me unit (which worked quite well on mine). So you can keep the steering wheel control of the phone.

[ChunHall]

Originally Posted by palexr

It is actually a separate physical unit, at least on the 159 it is.

I don't know how it is in a 159, but I'm fairly certain it's part of the HU in a MiTo...

Anyways, I went to a dealer today about my headlamp washers not working and he asked "Is there anything else?" - Of course there is, it's an Alfa!

So he said they'll have a look at the electrics and let me know if it's the car or the Pioneer Headunit that's given up. I can then decide where to go from there

[ChunHall]

So, the car went into / came back fro mthe garage today, and they said there's no issue with the car's wiring, it's a fault within the head-unit itself.

When I get time, I'll just take the Pioneer unit out and put the original Blaupunkt one back in and see if that works.