MAV
Well-Known Member
I got started on the project this weekend, and here are some things I ran across that I wished I had known beforehand:
1. GET PROPER TOOLS! Trying to strip tiny wires in cramped spaces is not for fatasses or the faint of heart. Buy a stripper and crimper made for these terminals. There are several obvious reasons why, but some are not so obvious until you're too far into it. For example, the area where the wire is crimped to the fittings on the APIM connector needs to be flattened as a proper crimping tool would do. Why? Because when you try to put the APIM connector cover back on the sliding terminal blocks, there is a tab inside that cover that runs the length of the side channel (see the illustration in the OP) in the block. This channel is aligned where the wire is crimped on the connector. If the crimps are not flat, the tab will catch on them and the cover won't slide on. Or, in my case, it will slide on with a lot of pressure - so much so that there's no way I'll get it back apart without prying and probably destroying the whole thing. Luckily, I tested it with the Sync 3 module, and it all seems to work.
2. The panels and clips are TIGHT. Don't let the videos fool you. It felt like I was breaking everything I was pulling on, and the front dash panel containing the air vents and gauges (if you have them) would have broken had I continued pulling on it from the end as the videos show. Use plastic trim tools and pry near the clips (watch the videos again for clip locations) as you pull. I had a heater warming up the inside of the car all day, and it was still a bitch.
3. When you pull the top panel off to get to the GPSM, be prepared to lose the two outermost clips. They will break or fall into the dash cavity. Order more clips before you start. Don't skip this step. Also, once this is out, release the metal tab holding the GPSM mount from underneath with a screwdriver or trim tool. I didn't realize it wasn't another pry-out tab, and broke mine while prying the GPSM from the metal mount. It would have been so much easier to simply remove the whole GPSM from the dash and pry it loose from the metal mount that way. And by the way, my new GPS won't stick to the glue remaining on the mount. Maybe it's because it's cold, but it's not tacky any more.
4. Rather than try to strip and solder to the GPSM MS-CAN wires, I thought I would simply pull them from the connector and solder to the terminal, and tape off. It would have been much easier to do that than to try to get a good connection in the cramped space. Well, I destroyed the GPSM connector in the process. Not that it matters to me, because I don't ever plan on going back stock, but cutting tape and splicing into wires is not the best solution for someone that might want to reverse this upgrade one day.
I didn't change my ACM, so I can't speak to any difficult that might be encountered there, but adding any more wires to my APIM connector might have put me over the edge. Plus, I haven't finished the back portion of the installation (USB hub and new USB cables), so there may be more cursing to follow.
Bottom line: In my experience, this upgrade would be significantly easier if I had built an adapter harness first instead of trying to swap and add terminals to the APIM and trying to splice into MS-CAN and video wires. You'd need a new male/female APIM connector, a female GPSM connector, a female 4.2" video screen connector and again, the proper tools to put it all together. [MENTION=28081]HextallS550[/MENTION], if you could list the connector part numbers and link to a stripping/crimping tool, that would be great. Or just buy one from him if he has them available. Worth every penny in my opinion.
It would have been somewhat easier if I had had the proper tools doing it the way suggested in the OP, but still there is the problem of physically cutting existing wiring. There's no way I could go back to stock without significant time and expense, so if that's important to you, keep that in mind.
1. GET PROPER TOOLS! Trying to strip tiny wires in cramped spaces is not for fatasses or the faint of heart. Buy a stripper and crimper made for these terminals. There are several obvious reasons why, but some are not so obvious until you're too far into it. For example, the area where the wire is crimped to the fittings on the APIM connector needs to be flattened as a proper crimping tool would do. Why? Because when you try to put the APIM connector cover back on the sliding terminal blocks, there is a tab inside that cover that runs the length of the side channel (see the illustration in the OP) in the block. This channel is aligned where the wire is crimped on the connector. If the crimps are not flat, the tab will catch on them and the cover won't slide on. Or, in my case, it will slide on with a lot of pressure - so much so that there's no way I'll get it back apart without prying and probably destroying the whole thing. Luckily, I tested it with the Sync 3 module, and it all seems to work.
2. The panels and clips are TIGHT. Don't let the videos fool you. It felt like I was breaking everything I was pulling on, and the front dash panel containing the air vents and gauges (if you have them) would have broken had I continued pulling on it from the end as the videos show. Use plastic trim tools and pry near the clips (watch the videos again for clip locations) as you pull. I had a heater warming up the inside of the car all day, and it was still a bitch.
3. When you pull the top panel off to get to the GPSM, be prepared to lose the two outermost clips. They will break or fall into the dash cavity. Order more clips before you start. Don't skip this step. Also, once this is out, release the metal tab holding the GPSM mount from underneath with a screwdriver or trim tool. I didn't realize it wasn't another pry-out tab, and broke mine while prying the GPSM from the metal mount. It would have been so much easier to simply remove the whole GPSM from the dash and pry it loose from the metal mount that way. And by the way, my new GPS won't stick to the glue remaining on the mount. Maybe it's because it's cold, but it's not tacky any more.
4. Rather than try to strip and solder to the GPSM MS-CAN wires, I thought I would simply pull them from the connector and solder to the terminal, and tape off. It would have been much easier to do that than to try to get a good connection in the cramped space. Well, I destroyed the GPSM connector in the process. Not that it matters to me, because I don't ever plan on going back stock, but cutting tape and splicing into wires is not the best solution for someone that might want to reverse this upgrade one day.
I didn't change my ACM, so I can't speak to any difficult that might be encountered there, but adding any more wires to my APIM connector might have put me over the edge. Plus, I haven't finished the back portion of the installation (USB hub and new USB cables), so there may be more cursing to follow.
Bottom line: In my experience, this upgrade would be significantly easier if I had built an adapter harness first instead of trying to swap and add terminals to the APIM and trying to splice into MS-CAN and video wires. You'd need a new male/female APIM connector, a female GPSM connector, a female 4.2" video screen connector and again, the proper tools to put it all together. [MENTION=28081]HextallS550[/MENTION], if you could list the connector part numbers and link to a stripping/crimping tool, that would be great. Or just buy one from him if he has them available. Worth every penny in my opinion.
It would have been somewhat easier if I had had the proper tools doing it the way suggested in the OP, but still there is the problem of physically cutting existing wiring. There's no way I could go back to stock without significant time and expense, so if that's important to you, keep that in mind.
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