Peacemakerpro

This post is a DIY instruction for re-routing the stock ipod cable so that you can mount an iPod or iPhone cradle on the dash that will allow you to quickly dock your phone/ipod and use it through the stock t1809 Head Unit using only the supplied cabling, a little wire, electrical tape and the dock of your choice. Oh, and you won't need to damage/cut/mangle a single original piece so it all goes back nicely if you want to sell the car later!

So I hate the location of the iPod connector and the measly 10" cable that comes stock with the car, great for old school iPods but crappy for the iPhone/iPod touch. I used to have the 1st Gen iPhone dock mounted to my dash of my civic into my alpine deck so I could use maps and accept calls etc., and was spoiled by it, so I've now done that in my new xB... hope this helps!

Tools needed:
Socket wrench with socket extender
Wire Cutters/Wire stripper (that can do 22 guage wire)
3-5' 22 guage wire (solid metal core, not threaded wire filament)
electrical tape
dock - (is used the Konnet iCrado, it allows you to supply the actual cable)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00..._ya_oh_product

1. OK, so take the iPod connector cable that comes with the car, it's the wire that you physically see and one end plugs into the iPod connector location in the armrest and the other end goes into your iPod/iPhone. Remove the plastic shield from around the iPod connection end (the end that goes into the iPod). This will allow it to fit into the Konnet dock if you choose to use that. Keep sheild for later if you ever want to reassemble. Set this all aside for now.

http://gallery.me.com/matt_patterson...12438929210001

2. This is the get your hands dirty part. pull up the cupholder section of the center console... this hides the cables for the audio. There will be two quick plug connectors as you can see on the passenger seat side. You want the big one, the little one is for the aux plug. unplug that white connector piece from the mounted section.

http://gallery.me.com/matt_patterson...12438927970001

3. unlug the other end from the back of the iPod/Aux console face. Pop it out from the bottom with a screwdriver, carefully not hurting the plastic surrounding it.

http://gallery.me.com/matt_patterson...12438927870001

4. Take out the little coupler it was plugged into as well, you'll need this to later reconnect this wire to the factory iPod cable we discussed earlier. you'll be left with a hole in the face plate (you can take off the iPod flap and superglue it over it if you really need that hole covered)


5. Remove the stereo... look up other posts for how to do this.. you basically remove the molding around the stereo, the under molding, then unbolt it with the socket wrench. (If you can't get this done, call it a day and don't proceed any further, put everything back and either pay someone to do this or give up... if you can't remove a stock stereo, I'm afraid of what you might do to the car). Remove the connectors from the back paying attention to which one goes where. You want the iPod wire, which if you're looking at the stereo as you pull it out, it's the very bottom corner white connector. Easier? It's the widest flattest one. Set the radio aside.

http://gallery.me.com/matt_patterson...12438929640001

6. Cut back the wire sheilding all the way back to where all the cables meet. This will let you see not only which wires are what color, but two of the wires are seperately wrapped with their own white and black wires and you need to be able so see which white and black wire go with which colored wires so you can match them later. Do a quick check and make sure that all the wires match your other cable... look at the white end from the cable you removed from the center console and compare it to the wires in the connector from the Head Unit. You'll notice that one of the wires doesn't match. On the console cable there is a transparent blue wire with it's own white and black wires and on the Head unit side it's now Transparent Yellow. You'll be matching these together. All the rest correlate perfectly.

http://gallery.me.com/matt_patterson...12438928890001

7. Take the 22 guage wire and cut it into 6" or longer lengths. Strip off about 1/4" on one end and about 1/2" on the other. Do this one at a time, as you'll start to get more precise as you go. Take the longer exposed wire portion and feed it into the BACK of the iPod head unit connector. you're trying to shove it into the hole with an existing cable so it is now sharing the metal connector. Bend the wire away and repeat three more times or so down the line, one piece of wire per hole that has a wire already in it.

http://gallery.me.com/matt_patterson...12438928810001

8. Now take the three or so wires you've added and shove the other ends into their color matched counterpart on the FRONT of the cable you took from the console. You're in essence going to be giving that cable a new connector end without having to actually rip it off the old wires.

http://gallery.me.com/matt_patterson...12438928570001

9. Now that you've got the idea of matching the wires, do this for the rest of the wire/hole combinations allowing the 3 or so you've already done to supply the tension to keep them together.

http://gallery.me.com/matt_patterson...12438928400001

10. Now that all the wires have been patched to the back of the Head unit connector and the front of the console connector double check that all are firmly in place and don't remove easily. Now gently compress and cover with tape, to the connector if possible so they don't pop out.

http://gallery.me.com/matt_patterson...12438928300001

11. Remove the dashboard cover that surrounds the gauges.

http://gallery.me.com/matt_patterson...12438927820001

12. Pull your console cable that is now part of the head unit cable up through that hole you've now made, replace all connectors into the back of the Head Unit, including your modified iPod connector and replace into dash. Take the coupler you removed from the old iPod docking faceplate and put it onto the now free gray end of the cable that's popping up from the hold behind the radio, plug your iPod connector cable into that (mine's in the Konnet Dock already) and turn on the car to test the connection. Place your ipod or iphone on the dock and see if you can hear/power/control it like you used to be able to. If yes, proceed. If no, you've done one of two things. Crossed wires to ones that don't match in your connector patch or one is either not making a connection or has come loose. Look for weak link. When working, move on.

Now fish the mount where you want it, replace the gauge cluster cover (this may take some work to not have to cut a hole, but it can be done in certain places. Here's the two places I like.

http://gallery.me.com/matt_patterson...12438927770001

I like this but it puts my iPhone too high right in my field of vision for driving and it's a bit distracting, so I moved it here.

http://gallery.me.com/matt_patterson...12438927660001

and this works much better. I used some black heavy duty adhesive velcro to mount it to the dash, so it doesn't move around and I can remove the velcro with no damage done if I want later.

And there you have it, a clean, no damage done way to have a heads up dashmounted iPod or iPhone that uses the factory cabling, for full power and control of the iPod. Let me know if this helps!