2020 86 Stereo Info

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by trueno86power

It did play fine all weekend long on my 86. I can't confirm that your 2020 is exactly wired as my car but my guess it they didn't change a thing...

I'm pretty sure they bypass the amp since they didn't want to hack the factory harness. They had a radio on the shelf that had the 200mm dimension, but was not design to work with the factory amp. And by not design I mean, it simply don't give a ignition 12v on 1 wire.

The radio is an afterthought, it's installed either at the dealership or at the port arrivals. It must be the simple and easiest way to make the door speakers work and that what they come up with, bypass the amp.

Things like that happens all the time in the automotive industries.

Btw, the amp only feeds the door speakers. None of the others speaker are linked to it. Well on my 2017 !

The 2020 should have the same basic wiring as 17 so if your dash speakers are separate then mine should be as well. This is contrary to what I have been told but if it works then that info could very well be mistaken and just the result of how they bypassed with that pigtail.
I will give it a shot!
Now, my next peeve is the back up camera in the mirror. May be fine for the youngins' with 20/20 vision but trying to see anything in that postage stamped size picture while wearing bifocals is impossible! If you were able to hook up the 17 camera I would think I could move the 20 to the HU.

LOL. I have been in the Tier One auto parts manufacturing industry for 30 years so know about the shortcuts but this one seem especially strange. Even worse if the fix is so simple.

[trueno86power]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

The 2020 should have the same basic wiring as 17 so if your dash speakers are separate then mine should be as well. This is contrary to what I have been told but if it works then that info could very well be mistaken and just the result of how they bypassed with that pigtail.
I will give it a shot!
Now, my next peeve is the back up camera in the mirror. May be fine for the youngins' with 20/20 vision but trying to see anything in that postage stamped size picture while wearing bifocals is impossible! If you were able to hook up the 17 camera I would think I could move the 20 to the HU.

LOL. I have been in the Tier One auto parts manufacturing industry for 30 years so know about the shortcuts but this one seem especially strange. Even worse if the fix is so simple.

What ??? The backup camera in the 2020 is in the rear view mirror ? Really ???

Wow. I didn't do ANY modifications on my harness for the camera to work with the 2020 radio. Like ANYTHING. Plug and play. Why the hell they didn't put the signal into the radio ??? Bonus, the rear view camera is super clear now. I'll take a picture of it soon to show you how great it is with the new headunit. That's really really strange...

I don't know how the rear view mirror is wired but this fix could be really easy. Since the car from factory have the rear view camera wired to the radio, it may have some T-harness on the back of it to feed the rear view mirror.

They were in a rush when they fitted this radio to the 86, now I'm really sure of it haha. They may asked the production line to do it that way since they didn't know what radio they were to put it, so they were sure at least the car would pass the rear view mirror requirement in US.

I'm a tech at a FCA (Or Stellantis, Chrysler etc... lol) so you can imagine how many time I work with last minute decisions lol.

PS: I'm still shocked that a fully equipped car (you have an Hakone edition if I remember) came out with a big screen and a backup camera into the rear view mirror. But I as I write this I may have and idea why. The radio take a bit of a time to turn on. Maybe it's a requirement to have immediate backup camera image when you turn on your car. The radio still show up the backup camera image really quick tho, even if the radio is loading you can see the backup image but it have a really small delay. That's maybe why they couldn't wire up the camera to the radio.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by trueno86power

What ??? The backup camera in the 2020 is in the rear view mirror ? Really ???

Wow. I didn't do ANY modifications on my harness for the camera to work with the 2020 radio. Like ANYTHING. Plug and play. Why the hell they didn't put the signal into the radio ??? Bonus, the rear view camera is super clear now. I'll take a picture of it soon to show you how great it is with the new headunit. That's really really strange...

I don't know how the rear view mirror is wired but this fix could be really easy. Since the car from factory have the rear view camera wired to the radio, it may have some T-harness on the back of it to feed the rear view mirror.

They were in a rush when they fitted this radio to the 86, now I'm really sure of it haha. They may asked the production line to do it that way since they didn't know what radio they were to put it, so they were sure at least the car would pass the rear view mirror requirement in US.

I'm a tech at a FCA (Or Stellantis, Chrysler etc... lol) so you can imagine how many time I work with last minute decisions lol.

PS: I'm still shocked that a fully equipped car (you have an Hakone edition if I remember) came out with a big screen and a backup camera into the rear view mirror. But I as I write this I may have and idea why. The radio take a bit of a time to turn on. Maybe it's a requirement to have immediate backup camera image when you turn on your car. The radio still show up the backup camera image really quick tho, even if the radio is loading you can see the backup image but it have a really small delay. That's maybe why they couldn't wire up the camera to the radio.

The camera in the mirror is an advanced "feature" not a compromise. I am sure it is very nice for those can actually see what is in it.

[trueno86power]

Well personally I don't take it as a advance feature lol. For example, 2020 base Dodge Caravan have a rear view camera in the mirror as a US law requirements when they have the base radio (no screen). When they have the bigger radio with the screen, the rear view camera is displayed on the radio.

Camera on the rear view mirror is a dated feature honestly ! They had a reason to do that.

Anyway, if someone could test the amp try on its 2020 that would be great !

[FR-S2GT86]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

The 2020 should have the same basic wiring as 17 so if your dash speakers are separate then mine should be as well. This is contrary to what I have been told but if it works then that info could very well be mistaken and just the result of how they bypassed with that pigtail.
I will give it a shot!
Now, my next peeve is the back up camera in the mirror. May be fine for the youngins' with 20/20 vision but trying to see anything in that postage stamped size picture while wearing bifocals is impossible! If you were able to hook up the 17 camera I would think I could move the 20 to the HU.

LOL. I have been in the Tier One auto parts manufacturing industry for 30 years so know about the shortcuts but this one seem especially strange. Even worse if the fix is so simple.

Yes, I do believe you've been misinformed on how the speakers are wired. And I still don't believe that the speaker wiring has changed at all since day one up until the final year in the first generation cars.

Here's how the system was wired and originally intended to work:

The two front outputs of the head unit feed the dash mid-range drivers and tweeters acting as separate components.

Then the factory tapped off of those speaker leads to send signal back to the amplifier at the signal feed/speaker output harness (the one that gets the bypass plug in your current set up).

Then that signal would normally be amplified and FILTERED through a low pass crossover to remove the unneeded frequencies that the door speakers don't need to recreate because the mid-range drivers in the dash are already reproducing those frequencies.

Then the amplifier sends the amplified and filtered speaker-level signal up to the door speakers ON SEPARATE WIRES through that same signal feed/speaker output harness.

The problem in your "upgraded" system is that with the bypass harness in place, your door speakers are now trying to reproduce frequencies that are already being reproduced by the mid-range drivers and you're getting destructive interference because of that. AND the fact that the head unit now has to power two larger speakers than it really should be powering creates an unnecessary draw on the amplifier inside the head unit which is causing distortion. I can just about guarantee that the amplifier inside your "upgraded" head unit is no more powerful than the amplifier that was inside the head unit that it replaced. You're not blowing midrange speakers or tweeters, right? And they're still being powered by the head unit, right?

Taking into account the issue of blowing a fuse that @trueno86power ran into before he got his system working with the factory amp, I've added a few extra steps in the procedure that I posted last week in the Stereo system thread, made a few edits, and am reposting it here:


1) Remove the bypass plug from the factory amp signal/speaker harness plug at the amplifier in the trunk.

2) Identity the amplifier turn-on wire in that same harness. You can locate it with the information in this thread,

https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42239

then cut that wire about three inches back from the plug, strip and and crimp on a female bullet connector on the head unit side of the wire. After you're through with this test, you can crimp on a male bullet connector on the plug side of the wire so that the two wire ends can easily be reconnected, but for now, leave the plug side of the wire stripped back about a quarter of an inch. This is the only wire that you should have to cut for this test.

What this will do is prevent any 12-volt signal from feeding back on that turn-on wire to the deck and blowing a fuse like
@trueno86power experienced.

3) Now plug the harness back into your factory amp with the turn-on lead hanging loose.

4) Reinstall the 15-amp fuse that was pulled out from the inside fuse panel which was removed when the new "upgraded" head unit was installed by the dealer.

5) Using the information in the thread that I referred you to in step 2, locate the amplifier's main +12-volt power wire in the other amp plug (which now has +12 volts on it there which was non-existent previously due to the fuse being removed) and jumper it to the bare wire of the turn-on lead going back into the amp. You should be able to simply insert the bare turn-on wire into the back-side of the plug so that it is touching the +12-volt lead wire. This should turn your amp on.

6) Turn on your head unit and take a listen.

7) Once you're done listening and determining if it sounds any better or not, you can crimp on that male bullet connector that I mentioned in step 2 and reconnect the two wire ends (or leave them disconnected as it won't really matter anyways), and reconnect your bypass plug to the signal input/speaker output harness plug.

Let us know how it sounds and if you like what you hear, you can either run a new circuit through a toggle switch from the ACC circuit to the amplifier turn-on lead male bullet connector at the amp to power it on without pulling the head unit, or you can pull the head unit and find the turn-on wire in there and connect it to an ACC wire like @trueno86power did on his. You might even be able to use the powered antenna lead to turn the amplifier on as long as it stays on when you switch to a different source other than AM/FM. I won't be able to figure that out for you though since I don't have the same head unit that you have.

If you're uncomfortable doing this yourself, print these instructions out and bring them with you to your local car audio shop. I'm sure they can get this test completed for you in about 15 minutes so that you can take a listen to it.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by FR-S2GT86

Yes, I do believe you've been misinformed on how the speakers are wired. And I still don't believe that the speaker wiring has changed at all since day one up until the final year in the first generation cars.

Here's how the system was wired and originally intended to work:

The two front outputs of the head unit feed the dash mid-range drivers and tweeters acting as separate components.

Then the factory tapped off of those speaker leads to send signal back to the amplifier at the signal feed/speaker output harness (the one that gets the bypass plug in your current set up).

Then that signal would normally be amplified and FILTERED through a low pass crossover to remove the unneeded frequencies that the door speakers don't need to recreate because the mid-range drivers in the dash are already reproducing those frequencies.

Then the amplifier sends the amplified and filtered speaker-level signal up to the door speakers ON SEPARATE WIRES through that same signal feed/speaker output harness.

The problem in your "upgraded" system is that with the bypass harness in place, your door speakers are now trying to reproduce frequencies that are already being reproduced by the mid-range drivers and you're getting destructive interference because of that. AND the fact that the head unit now has to power two larger speakers than it really should be powering creates an unnecessary draw on the amplifier inside the head unit which is causing distortion. I can just about guarantee that the amplifier inside your "upgraded" head unit is no more powerful than the amplifier that was inside the head unit that it replaced. You're not blowing midrange speakers or tweeters, right? And they're still being powered by the head unit, right?

Taking into account the issue of blowing a fuse that @trueno86power ran into before he got his system working with the factory amp, I've added a few extra steps in the procedure that I posted last week in the 2020 86 Stereo Info thread, made a few edits, and am reposting it here:


1) Remove the bypass plug from the factory amp signal/speaker harness plug at the amplifier in the trunk.

2) Identity the amplifier turn-on wire in that same harness. You can locate it with the information in this thread,

https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42239

then cut that wire about three inches back from the plug, strip and and crimp on a female bullet connector on the head unit side of the wire. After you're through with this test, you can crimp on a male bullet connector on the plug side of the wire so that the two wire ends can easily be reconnected, but for now, leave the plug side of the wire stripped back about a quarter of an inch. This is the only wire that you should have to cut for this test.

What this will do is prevent any 12-volt signal from feeding back on that turn-on wire to the deck and blowing a fuse like
@trueno86power experienced.

3) Now plug the harness back into your factory amp with the turn-on lead hanging loose.

4) Reinstall the 15-amp fuse that was pulled out from the inside fuse panel which was removed when the new "upgraded" head unit was installed by the dealer.

5) Using the information in the thread that I referred you to in step 2, locate the amplifier's main +12-volt power wire in the other amp plug (which now has +12 volts on it there which was non-existent previously due to the fuse being removed) and jumper it to the bare wire of the turn-on lead going back into the amp. You should be able to simply insert the bare turn-on wire into the back-side of the plug so that it is touching the +12-volt lead wire. This should turn your amp on.

6) Turn on your head unit and take a listen.

7) Once you're done listening and determining if it sounds any better or not, you can crimp on that male bullet connector that I mentioned in step 2 and reconnect the two wire ends (or leave them disconnected as it won't really matter anyways), and reconnect your bypass plug to the signal input/speaker output harness plug.

Let us know how it sounds and if you like what you hear, you can either run a new circuit through a toggle switch from the ACC circuit to the amplifier turn-on lead male bullet connector at the amp to power it on without pulling the head unit, or you can pull the head unit and find the turn-on wire in there and connect it to an ACC wire like @trueno86power did on his. You might even be able to use the powered antenna lead to turn the amplifier on as long as it stays on when you switch to a different source other than AM/FM. I won't be able to figure that out for you though since I don't have the same head unit that you have.

If you're uncomfortable doing this yourself, print these instructions out and bring them with you to your local car audio shop. I'm sure they can get this test completed for you in about 15 minutes so that you can take a listen to it.

I was never worried about the HU causing issues. I was worried about plugging into the amp in the truck and that feeding to the dash speakers.
I will let somebody else do it. I gave up on the instructions at about "remove the bypass".

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by trueno86power

Well personally I don't take it as a advance feature lol. For example, 2020 base Dodge Caravan have a rear view camera in the mirror as a US law requirements when they have the base radio (no screen). When they have the bigger radio with the screen, the rear view camera is displayed on the radio.

Camera on the rear view mirror is a dated feature honestly ! They had a reason to do that.

Anyway, if someone could test the amp try on its 2020 that would be great !

The quotation marks around feature were intended to indicate sarcasm. It is just marketing's spin for a workaround as you said.

[chaoskaze]

Wohhhh guys.... I was looking for info on 2020 HU cuz my 2015 HU blows.

You guys are on fire Thank you for all the wonderful infos.



*Wait are all 2020 HUs the same as the one in Hakone or not?

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by chaoskaze

Wohhhh guys.... I was looking for info on 2020 HU cuz my 2015 HU blows.

You guys are on fire Thank you for all the wonderful infos.



*Wait are all 2020 HUs the same as the one in Hakone or not?

no. the rest of the 2020 hu's are the same as you'd have for 2015. hakone was a special edition model

[FR-S2GT86]

Originally Posted by soundman98

no. the rest of the 2020 hu's are the same as you'd have for 2015. hakone was a special edition model

Yeah, according to Tcoat an (e)special(ly awful) edition model.

[Sasquachulator]

Originally Posted by soundman98

no. the rest of the 2020 hu's are the same as you'd have for 2015. hakone was a special edition model

All the 2020's got the new HU, not just the Hakone (my 2020 has it)

The 2015 HU is the pioneer one with the blue touchscreen?
Had the same HU in my Scion iM. The 2020 HU has no bass compared to the Scion. (assuming its set up the same way as in the FRS/86)

Overall its...bleh. Its a bit more responsive and full featured than the Pioneer unit, but its sound quality is....bleh.

[Autoxer62]

Thanks to FR-S2GT86 for the additional explanation, I think I understand mostly what's going on here. Basically the newer head unit wants to turn on the trunk amp differently than the original. I'm still a little confused as to why it blows the fuse, but I'll get out there with a meter and jumper wire and test to see if applying 12V+ works. Rather than cutting the wire, I'll just unpin it from the connector but the test should otherwise be the same.

And I'm gonna stick with my original comment that there's a mistake in the wiring

[Autoxer62]

I did a little poking around today, not really enough data but something:

- The power connector with gray/black wires is 12V battery (not switched).
- The signal wire appear to be grounded all the time according to my meter - no power, acc only, radio on all read the same. According to the wiring diagram I saw it also supplies the antenna amp, so this may be a false result.
- Putting the jumper in place does power the door speakers, but as expected the sound is kinda muddy.

I want to do get that rear amp functional, and also get the camera display through the head unit, so I'm going to put this on hold until I get a better handle on what wire goes where. Thanks for the clues so far.

--Bryan

[FR-S2GT86]

Originally Posted by Autoxer62

I did a little poking around today, not really enough data but something:

- The power connector with gray/black wires is 12V battery (not switched).
- The signal wire appear to be grounded all the time according to my meter - no power, acc only, radio on all read the same. According to the wiring diagram I saw it also supplies the antenna amp, so this may be a false result.
- Putting the jumper in place does power the door speakers, but as expected the sound is kinda muddy.

I want to do get that rear amp functional, and also get the camera display through the head unit, so I'm going to put this on hold until I get a better handle on what wire goes where. Thanks for the clues so far.

--Bryan

This should help you out.

https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42239

And to show you what to jumper to get the amp to turn on, run a jumper wire from the Yellow wire in the right-side plug in this picture below to the pin position where the Blue wire is in the left-side plug. Your colors will differ from what you see in these pictures, always go by pin position.





The signal wires into the amp are the Green and Violet wires in these pictures, and the speaker outputs are White and Grey. The black stripes on the signal and speaker wires indicate them as negatives. Yellow is +12 Volts constant and Black is ground.