Pioneer AVIC-Z1 Install

[f5fstop]

Well, the coil (filter) made no difference at all; alternator whine is still there and drives me crazy.

[marin8703]

hey, what did you guys do with the old xm receiver thats in the car, leave it conncted or disconnect it, and take it out completely?

[2-H2's]

f5fstop...

I have the same pioneer unit in my H2. No noise to speak of, everything works great. However, I can't eliminate the CB, from changing the radio stations when keying up the mic It's always something

[HummerNewbie]

Originally Posted by f5fstop

Well, the coil (filter) made no difference at all; alternator whine is still there and drives me crazy.

Guess I won't try going down that route then

Originally Posted by marin8703

hey, what did you guys do with the old xm receiver thats in the car, leave it conncted or disconnect it, and take it out completely?

Didn't have XM in my originally.

[f5fstop]

Left my XM in and connected. It might set a code if removed...not sure. When I sell the vehicle, I will probably pull the Pioneer system, and install on the next Hummer. So, I'll install the factory radio and connect the XM and get rid of the vehicle.

As far as no whine in an H2; don't believe the H2 comes with the Monsoon, and I'm sure, unless a newer H2, you have a different Onstar module.

I have decided to go with bluetooth, but I will be trying to shield the wires with aluminum tape when I install the bluetooth, just to see if that kills the whine.

[marin8703]

alrite, i've put off the install long enough but tomorow im gona do it.

I just have one or two questions left (sorry about all the questions so far):

1) I have the monsoon system so, to connect the speakers am i supposed to connect the speaker wires from the peripheral adapter to the "power cord conector" wires, or the speaker wires on the "RCA connector 1". In either case do i still connect the subwofer wires to the subwoofer wires on the rca connector 1 or where? and i do connect the system remote control rite?
Do all of the speakers go through the amp or just the subwoofer?

2) is it ok to connect all of the acc wires coming from nav unit, ipod adapter, and xm tuner all onto the same wire that comes to the wiring harness or should i run a larger gauge wire to some other place? Also the same question goes for the constant, and also the ground?

I think that all i need to know to do the install tomorow (well at least i hope so) .

Thanks for all the help peope, i really appreciate it, Thanks!

P.S. Can someone post instructions on how to remove rear panel, whre subwoofer is thanks.

[f5fstop]

Originally Posted by marin8703

alrite, i've put off the install long enough but tomorow im gona do it.

I just have one or two questions left (sorry about all the questions so far):

1) I have the monsoon system so, to connect the speakers am i supposed to connect the speaker wires from the peripheral adapter to the "power cord conector" wires, or the speaker wires on the "RCA connector 1". In either case do i still connect the subwofer wires to the subwoofer wires on the rca connector 1 or where? and i do connect the system remote control rite?
Do all of the speakers go through the amp or just the subwoofer?
I connected to the speaker wires, not the amp wires coming from the pioneer. All speakers go through the amp. Do not connect the subwoofer wires, and amp does the splitting to the sub. Just connect the eight speaker wires.
2) is it ok to connect all of the acc wires coming from nav unit, ipod adapter, and xm tuner all onto the same wire that comes to the wiring harness or should i run a larger gauge wire to some other place? Also the same question goes for the constant, and also the ground?
I connected all the IGN hot wires to the red wire from the Peripheral relay that is designed to provide IGN power to the radio. I also connected the one yellow (B+) wire from the XM to the yellow wire from the Peripheral adapter and the radio.
For ground, I made one basic ground circuit, grounding all the wires behind the radio. DO NOT, connect to the ground wire coming off the GM connector. If you look behind the radio opening, you will see two 10mm bolts, on each side of the opening, attaching a brace (or braces) to the round cross car beam. That is what I used for the main ground. Last week I also ran a very heavy gauge wiire from this location directly to the negative battery cable for a redundant ground point. (Trying to remove the alternator whine that is only on the Onstar Phone Circuit.)
I think that all i need to know to do the install tomorow (well at least i hope so) .

Thanks for all the help peope, i really appreciate it, Thanks!

P.S. Can someone post instructions on how to remove rear panel, whre subwoofer is thanks.

You don't really need to completely remove to fish the camera wire into the vehicle. Open the rear door, remove the seal from around the panel, and pull the panel partially away. This gives you the access to the area in the rear corner to fish the wire into the vehicle, then just fish the wires forward to the rear seat area.

[marin8703]

Hey, just wanted to let you know i finished my install in about 5 hours, with breaks. Job wasnt difficult if you know what your doing (thanks to you guys I knew what I was doing), but it go a little frustrating at times.

I just wanted to thank everyone who helped me out. Thanks!

Drove around for 2 hours yesterday, loving it!

[marin8703]

hey, tried the onstar phone with the nav on, the was no whine or noise of any kind, quiet like before. I have the monsoon system.

The only thing im having a problem with now is the trim around the screen. I gotta even it out quiet a bit.

[f5fstop]

Originally Posted by marin8703

hey, tried the onstar phone with the nav on, the was no whine or noise of any kind, quiet like before. I have the monsoon system.

The only thing im having a problem with now is the trim around the screen. I gotta even it out quiet a bit.

Interesting...
I wonder why I have this whine, and still do. I wrapped the wires with aluminum foil yesterday, and it helped, but it was still too much for me to ever take. I guess I'll have to use those extra 100 minutes Onstar gave me for paying a one-year safe and sound package while sitting in a parking lot with the engine off.
However, I sure do love the Bluetooth I added. Actually cheaper than using Onstar (even with the Verizon Onstar plan they offer), sound is fantastic. Did take a while to sync the phone to the NAV. Seems you have to do everything in about a 30 second window, and with an LG 8100 phone, you cannot transfer the phone book. Every time I tried it, it lost bluetooth. But I manually punched in the numbers and everything works great.
Placed the bluetooth adapter under the front of the console.
I'm done taking that trim piece off.

[f5fstop]

I just downloaded the update for Gracenotes, and was wondering, what is on that 20 gigs that we cannot access on the AVIC hard drive? There must be a lot of empty space, just waiting to be filled with something.

[marin8703]

Supposedly its all maps, maps and more maps, the gracenote database, the windows mobile operating system, and whatever other files are needed for operation. There most likely is plenty of free space on there, but i guess that might be needed for future updates.

Im not totaly sure, but i think also all of the used data is stored onto that partition of the drive, except for the music lybrary which is in a separate partition.

Some people on avic411 are trying to figure out the HD, how it can be modified and upgraded, looks like they have made great progress.

Oh by the way the flashing circuit that unlocks teh nav doest work for me , which totaly sucks, i got a July 2006 build, and aparantly that bypass was fixed somewhere in july. im praying for some smart fella to figure out another way to unlock the nav, fo i dont have to pull over to enter a new adress.

oh an also, does anyone else get a "pop" through the speakers when turning on onstar, right aster you press the button, and everything else after that is normal?

[f5fstop]

Mapping software is not that large. I have Garmin Street Maps, which contains all the same information as the Pioneer Nav, and it is contained on two CD-ROMs, and is not compressed. So, that's about 1.5 gig.
(My Garmin total USA Topographical set, is only on three discs.)
Gracenote is a pretty large data base, the update was about 400 meg, and I'm not sure if that was an update, or a total new file.
Operating system takes quite a bit I'm sure, but here must be about 10 gig non used. Just my thoughts.

I had heard that on later systems the Z1 did not work. Give 'em some time and someone will find a way. I guess I'm lucky, the Z1 works great for me.

If yours was manufactured in July, you probably don't need the Gracenote update with is dated in June.

The times I have tested onstar for the alterator whine, and the one time I actually used it to place a quick call, did not produce any snaps or pop. Even with Bluetooth, there is no snapping or popping, and the owner's manual warns you that it can happen. Only problem so far with Bluetooth is I get complaints from people saying they receive an echo. Something that is common with Bluetooth setups.

[f5fstop]

I will have to add something about this unit which is annoying, and it is the voice system. Sometimes, I can say, Call, Telephone book and it takes me to telephone book. However, most of the time when I say telephone book, it takes me back to the Map screen. It may not actually be in the voice recognition circuit, it may just be a flaw in the system, but it is annoying as hell.
Other things I have noticed that make no sense.
You can't mute the audio when actively on the phone.
Echo is terrible on the other end. In fact, I have some people who refuse to talk to me while using the bluetooth system. I even contacted Pioneer before purchasing this and they said that it was not a problem.

Pioneer says that if people are receiving this feedback echo, it is due to the location of the microphone. I have it installed in the corner of the I/P cluster trim. Per Pioneer, it must be installed on the visor; however, they don't say what happens when you have to use the visor...something I do quite often since I travel west quite a bit in the evening.

I'll relocate the mike somewhere on the top of the A-pillar and see if that solves the problem, but I believe the problem is in their unit.

Anyone else getting complaints on the echo from people they talk too?

[deserth3]

Well, the coil (filter) made no difference at all; alternator whine is still there and drives me crazy

Couple of things to check.
First remove the redundant ground. The two ground connections can develope a feedback between them (can't remember the "big" words for this offhand). It's best to use only one ground. In my opinion the shorter the better.

Second check and make sure your antena wire is in all the way. If you had to add an adapter check that too. but I think the first is your problem.

[f5fstop]

The problems existed before the extra ground wire to the battery was run. The original ground is about four inches in length. I agree a redundant ground can be a problem, not if the wire to the second redundant wire is directly to the ground post of the battery.

All connections are in tight, and the VCIM connections were never touched.

Spend a lot of time this evening on AVIC411, the Bluetooth echo is talked about in many forums. I have to agree with a few, it might be that the mic is not a sound cancellation mic, and that the sound from the speaker is feeding back into the mic.
As for the screen going to the map when the phone book is requested, many are experiencing this, and some only experience it if calling while on the map screen, but not when on the AV screen. I will check this out tomorrow, but still, doesn't sound right.
I just wrote pioneer a very long bitch letter. I am quite sure they are well aware of the problems, and if it is as simple as a new mic design, then I would hope the would be in the development stage at this time.

I know now, that next year when I sell the H3, the Pioneer nav can go with it, and I'll just pay for the overpriced H3 optional NAV unit. At least Onstar will work without an alternator whine.

[BuzzH3]

Originally Posted by marin8703

Supposedly its all maps, maps and more maps, the gracenote database, the windows mobile operating system, and whatever other files are needed for operation. There most likely is plenty of free space on there, but i guess that might be needed for future updates.

Im not totaly sure, but i think also all of the used data is stored onto that partition of the drive, except for the music lybrary which is in a separate partition.

Some people on avic411 are trying to figure out the HD, how it can be modified and upgraded, looks like they have made great progress.

Oh by the way the flashing circuit that unlocks teh nav doest work for me , which totaly sucks, i got a July 2006 build, and aparantly that bypass was fixed somewhere in july. im praying for some smart fella to figure out another way to unlock the nav, fo i dont have to pull over to enter a new adress.

oh an also, does anyone else get a "pop" through the speakers when turning on onstar, right aster you press the button, and everything else after that is normal?

Check this out: http://www.sminntech.com/z1flash.html

This guy figured out the bypass for the newer units.

[Mark805]

OMG great write up! Glad you got it all installed.


sorry for the slow response.. I was on vacation all month

[marin8703]

Originally Posted by BuzzH3

Check this out: http://www.sminntech.com/z1flash.html

This guy figured out the bypass for the newer units.

Thanks for the heads up! Ill try it whis weekend, hopefully it works!

[JeffW]

Originally Posted by f5fstop

I connected to the speaker wires, not the amp wires coming from the pioneer. All speakers go through the amp. Do not connect the subwoofer wires, and amp does the splitting to the sub. Just connect the eight speaker wires.

I'm a little confused, probably because I don't have a Z1 to look at. I'm assuming when you say "speaker wires" you are talking about the output of the Z1's built in 4x50W amp, and "amp wires" are the low level outputs that bypass the built-in amp. Is that right?

I just got my service manuals and see that they show low level outputs from the oem premium head unit going to the Monsoon amp, so I'm wondering why not do the same with the Z1?? Does it seem like the Z1 speaker outputs are overdriving the amp at all, or are you really getting a good range with the volume control? Or are the OEM low level outputs really not so low?