Corvettinator

Haven't visited this thread in a while. Curious if these can do front cameras as well as rear? Would love to be able to see parking curbs before my air damn hits them.

Is it pretty much agreed that the Joying is the best unit?

And has the crossover issue been worked around?

383

I used 1 of the usb s to mount a front camera for trackaddict

383

Has anyone noticed an excessive draw with the head unit or Pac harnesses? A buddy is having issues with his Pac and I haven't tested mine yet

Z2Z

Im not sure if the HU and or the PAC are the issue, but my car will have a dead battery if I don't drive it every 6ish days. My current car is a 2009 and I installed the android radio within the first month of ownership, so I'm not sure if the car would have had this same issue with the factory radio. It is a bit annoying, but I have gotten used to "taking my car for a walk" once a week.

bjmsam

CorvetteForum is full of dead battery threads, which is why my C6Z is on a tender whenever parked for more than a few days (this one, since long before the head unit swap). For example, try a Google search on terms site:corvetteforum.com c6 dead battery days week

How much does the stock HU draw with the engine off? How much does the new HU and PAC draw with the engine off? One can only speculate without that information (could be a problem with the HU or PAC, could be a problem with the installation, could be something completely unrelated).

383

I ask because my buddy tested his amp draw from head unit and from the pack and the pack was drawing 40 milliamps and killing a battery overnight but my car will go a few days as others have said. I haven't tested yet but I will

tracybarnes

Check this unit for direct fit and front and rear cam capability:

http://www.seicane.com/2005-2006-che...ontrol-s018724

bjmsam

I did not run into this with my C6Z, but in case it's of interest here (regardless of vehicle or head unit):

In my RAV4, when the ignition is turned to START, the accessory circuit opens (cuts power) and triggers the HU to shut down. This is super annoying when waiting for a passenger to run an errand since I switch the ignition from ON to ACC to continue using the HU with the engine off and then suffer through a reboot when restarting the engine (ACC to START to ON), which interrupts radio, music, Bluetooth connections, navigation, etc.

To work around this problem, I added a simple circuit that uses a capacitor to keep the (typically red) ACC_PWR input to the HU live for a few seconds. Frustratingly, I next discovered that the starter motor temporarily draws the vehicle's battery voltage down to ~10V, which the HU can't tolerate on the continuous power circuit, so it still rebooted. To work around that problem, I assembled a battery pack (that is topped off when the engine is running) with another circuit to keep the (typically yellow) CON_PWR input to the HU live. No more reboots!

Trios

There's a software workaround, or at least there was when I had my autopumpkin unit in my C5. There were several custom MCUs around (firmware, essentially) and one of them enabled a 'time delay after key off' before it would shut the HU down completely. The screen would turn off and it would go into soft-standby, but would come back on immediately if the key was turned back.

Unfortunately in the soft-standby mode the amplifiers remained on, so the HU draws a lot of power and it can't be left that way for very long, but I had mine set for 10 minutes so if I got gas or something it would not have to do a full reboot.

bjmsam

That addresses only the first problem.

~STOLEN~

wow i just recently thought about running a new HU in my c6z, and this seems too good to be true

how is all the software holding up? do the updates actually work that are available? how are you liking everything after it being almost 2.5 years now.

what would you change if anytthing?

btw, that torque display looks flipping awesome LOL

383

be sure to test your PAC before buttoning everything back up. Mine draws .063amps constantly. Never lets the car fully sleep and will kill a battery thats not on a charger pretty quick
HU is awesome though. I'm keeping mine dispite crappy PAC energizing the bus somehow.

~STOLEN~

well i have a 07 c6z with nav so im basically starting from scratch LOL

the oem HU is hazy and not very exciting anymore, plus the 10 year old bose speakers are about shot. Time for a makeover!!!

can someone recommend a place to purchase this HU and all the other goodies at one time?

i would like to retain the steering wheel controls
id like to add the back up camera, seems pretty cool
DEF want the torque application with the obd2 adapter

bjmsam

I absolutely love it and remain completely satisfied. It has been rock solid, performs well, is highly configurable, runs all of the apps I want and automatically keeps them up to date, etc. The latest models are even faster, cheaper and easier to install. Why anyone still would consider a traditional head unit from a mainstream manufacturer is a mystery to me.

tracybarnes

Hmm. Did you replace a standard radio or the Bose/Nav unit? With a Tech II you can disable whatever radio system that was OEM in the car, possibly the bus is staying awake trying to contact the old head unit?

Have you checked DTC's?

Rob 02

Purchased a 4 core unit from amazon a few months ago but haven't done a complete install yet. I read the first half of the thread and have a few questions.

1. Do you find the power comparable to popular brand head units or is an amp necessary?

2. bjmsam demonstrated, early in the thread, the use of the OBDLink MX. Since a few years have passed, do you still recomend this unit or have you found something better?

Thanks all.

bjmsam

The unit in my C6Z feeds the stock Bose amp, while the unit in my RAV4 drives the speakers with enough power to exceed my volume needs without audible distortion (it's rated at 45W x 4, which seems consistent with popular brand units, likely due to use of commodity op-amps).

The OBDLink MX Bluetooth worked flawlessly for years before I attempted to update its firmware from the head unit which ostensibly bricked it. Despite being well beyond the warranty period, the ScanTool folks replaced it (excellent customer service!), but the new one struggles to sync reliably. I don't know what's going on there yet (I just used my phone to revert to an earlier firmware release which may do the trick), but for my RAV4 I opted to try the , which is larger and lacks a "BatterySaver" mode but is much less expensive and communicates reliably.

Rob 02

Thank you for your quick response and contribution to helping others.

I have a C5 coupe and will be using the head unit to power 3.5 and 6.5 Polk Audio coaxial speakers via PAC ROEM VET1. the stock door woofers will be powered by the stock Bose amp.

I realize there are a lot of C6 people here but concept is not that much different for the C5.

The speakers haven't arrived yet. I did a dry run through the Bose speakers and the sound was mediocre. FM radio sounded bright while CD sounded muffled and muddy. I was not able to tune this anomaly out with the EQ. I can only hope that it is a problem with the stock 15 y/o twiddlers and the Polks will correct this. I am open to suggestions if anyone sees a better way of doing things.

I am also wondering if the rear channel can be used as an ambient channel, much like with home stereo surround for sound staging. I am really not a car audiophile but anything that can improve the sound is a bonus.

bjmsam

If the sound is worse after changing only the head unit, then either the old head unit was equalized for the speakers or something is wrong with the new head unit. My guess is the former rather than the latter based on experience with my '94 Stealth: with the stock head unit, aftermarket speakers sounded much worse than the stock speakers due to "factory equalization."

I don't know if the rear speakers are on a "channel" that is independent from the front speakers rather than merely the left and right channels attenuated by balance and fade.

bjmsam

Update: That did the trick! It has connected reliably every time since reverting to the previous version of the OBDLink MX firmware.

After a month of ownership, I must report that the 6.x units are lightning fast but remain far from polished at this time. For anyone interested, I am documenting my challenges with that particular unit here (that model is packaged for the RAV4 dash but the guts are identical to generic models that one might consider for a Corvette). Firmware updates will resolve most, if not all, of those problems eventually, but folks who don't want to wait or tinker might be better off sticking with 5.x.

Meanwhile, the 4.x unit in my C6Z remains bulletproof. In fact, it’s better than ever after installing two apps worth noting here. Twilight gradually adjusts the screen brightness within a configurable range as the sun rises and sets based on GPS position. All-In-One Toolbox launches such apps automatically when the head unit boots (as long as they are not moved to the SD Card) and offers many handy tools that optimize memory and CPU, manage files, etc. Both are free and well worth a try!