Well, it does have "Scion" embossed in it larger than the "Alpine" logo.

Secondly, thieves typically know what they are looking for. Something that can be removed quickly and sold quickly. They don't want to hold on to it.

I'd be willing to bet that a fancy 6-7" in-dash double DIN would be a far better target than this silly little Alpine, and if they do steal it, it's not a $2,000 setup to replace, it's a $200-$300 eBay purchase.

 

UPDATE: 2010-05-17

I have removed the originally identified Toyota harness from my diagram as to not cause any confusion. It was originally presented to me that it was a harness, but apparently the originally given part number 86190-53040 is just for the USB jack. There is another part number 86203-12340 that plugs into the back of the USB jack, that probably combines the harness to mix USB and AUX. However, this does not include the harness from the radio to the UBS jack. I am working on getting some pictures of them.

So far, the harness I have available for $75 plus actual shipping, which includes the USB/AUX combo jack but does not guarantee AUX operation without modification on '08 vehicles, is the only way I know for sure to get the unit functioning fully.

In other news, I have received my backup camera, I chose an Audiovox wireless unit. It's not the best out there, but seems to work decent enough and should work. I'll post the progress on that after I install it this weekend.

 

UPDATE: 05-22-2010

Got the backup camera installed. All went smooth, mostly. Just a few notes to those that are going for 100% of the Alpine's featureset.

First, as with anything like this, if you can do it all at once, do it. The Scion line of vehicles are inexpensive and this is reflected in the build quality of the snap together parts. Some of them are getting easier to remove and while there have been no negative effects so far on the interior panels, repeated disassembly and reassembly of these parts will cause fatigue and possible creaks and rattles of interior panels. Mine haven't started yet, but I expect them to prematurely.

The instructions included with the Alpine video input kit had a typographical error on my copy. The reverse signal wire is the BLUE one and requires. +12V signal to activate the rear view. The parking break signal for video input enable is the GREEN wire and requires a GROUND (-) signal to enable playback. The Alpine instructions incorrectly identified the REVERSE wire as GREEN and the PKB wire as RED/WHITE.

The instructions are also not clear where to tap the REVERSE signal wire. This wire is located in the 2A connector on pin 30. The 2A connector is located on the fuse panel module. It is accessed by removing the panel under the steering column and observing multiple connectors plugged into the fuse block. The fuses face downward to the floor board, the 2A connector (and it's family) face the rear of the car. 2A is the left most 30 pin connector and pin 30 is the lower right most pin. It is a red wire in the 2008-2010 xB. Be sure to confirm is with a multimeter before tapping/splicing any wires.

I went with an Audivox wireless backup camera. It is inexpensive, it is not IR, it seems to work fine with the bright reverse light of the xB. I found it on eBay for $60 or so. Drilled the 5/8" hole behind the trim that houses the license plate lights and hatch release. This trim piece is the most fragile piece of body trim I have ever encountered in my entire life. I took care in removing it and it "only" broke in four places. It is super glued beyond recognition. A new one, already painted, is less than $100 from a Toyo dealer. I'll replace it if my $3 of super glue doesn't hold. Anyway, after covering the drilled hole area with 3M body sealant to prevent rust I got to work. I tapped the ground using a ring terminal and a ground junction on the hatch door. I tapped power to an ignition source so I'd have the option to turn the camera on at will. I used the purple wire in a brown connector on the driver's side of the hatch. I believe it is for the wiper. I tested the wiper and washer functionality while the camera was in operation without issue.

The video input harness from Alpine leaves plenty of wire to either put your harness in the center console or glovebox. I chose the glove box because it was 94 degrees out today and it routes to there in under a minute. I have noticed the radio will let you switch to AUX video whenever the PKB signal wire has ground unlike the AUX audio that uses ground sensing before it will allow you to switch over.

I apologize if this rambles on but I'm tired, typing this on my iPad, and trying to get it all out while it is still fresh on my mind.

As always post or PM with questions comments. Also remember to double check anything I've said before doing. I take no responsibility for damage to anything. This has been tested on a 2008 xB, other models may vary.

 

Hey, sorry to go a little off topic and sorry if someone already asked this question (my internet at work is below dial up speeds so I only get pieces of the forums), but is it possible to put this Alpine HU in an older scion tC? I have been interested in doing so since I saw it on the RS 6.0, but I called toyota and they said there was no way (I dont always trust their answers though). Do you think this is a possible instaill or do too many things just not line up?

 

As long as the radio slot is double din, the radio will bolt up and fit, as for the wiring, if the plugs are the same they will most likely work. If they are not you should be able to acquire the necessary plugs to make it work. The plugs for the primary radio functions (speakers, power, etc...) have not changed in Toyota land for many years from what I understand and it should work.

What year tC do you have, I believe they're all double DIN right? You should be able to get full functionality of the 2010 Alpine in the radio in the tC. You may have to fiddle with this or that, but it can be made to work.

 

I have a 2009 tC and yes it is a double DIN (at least I am pretty sure it is). When I called my local dealership they said no way, but this post has given me a little bit of hope. The stereo is a pioneer model number T1808 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Scion...fAudioQ5fVideo)
and can be seen on ebay via the link. I am curious as to what functionality I will get for just a straight up swap with no messing around with plugs? I am not sure if the xB has the same HU or not as the tC. Thanks for the help.

 

The radio you linked is identical looking to the one that shipped in my xB. I looked at the wiring, and it looks like it is the same as the '08 xB, so the radio will plug and play, but you will lose iPod and AUX input.

I may still be able to get the parts for a harness that will enable iPod input, you will have to run a wire from the back of the Alpine unit to your console where your current AUX plug is. It is replaced with a combination USB/AUX jack that accepts your stock plug for the AUX and adds the USB plug. The harness is $75 plus $5 shipping via USPS priority, but I'm not entirely sure I can still get all the pieces for it. The last one I did the vendor told me there was only 6 of a particular connector left.

With this harness, and not changing any plugs, you'll get iPod, but you'll still lose AUX unless you do the pin 14->18 move I mentioned in my original postings, as it has the wire in the wrong place just like my '08 xB did.

Rear view camera and video input can be accomplished with the Alpine harness I have detailed in my postings.

The navigation unit should also be plug-n-play to your vehicle.

Hope this helps.

I cannot promise with 100% certainty this is correct because I have not personally done it in a tC, but the wiring looks the same so it shouldn't be difficult. The radio should plug-n-play without ANY modification and you'll have AM/FM/HD/CD without any changes.

 

Can you change the orange buttons on the alpine unit to blue like on the 09 pioneers?

 

I'm not 100% sure about the night time view, but I think you can switch between orange and blue. What I can tell you, is that during the day, they are always orange as the backside of the button is painted orange. So they appear orange during the day regardless of the back light color. If you're still wondering, I can check it tonight and post my findings.

 

Dave,
It is now almost 2AM and I just finished reading the updated post you made to the Scion Life Forum on 05-22-2010 and all I can say is Hallelujah!!!!
This afternoon I started installing Alpines Video Input Kit on my 2010 xB2 and could not understand the directions that came with the kit. In fact, I was so confused by them I sent an email to the company that distributes the Alpine kits. I’m going to try to attach that email to this. Your post answered every question that I asked of the people at Warren Distribution. I did not have high hopes of getting answers to that email but it made me feel better just sending it.
Thank you for taking the time to share what you learned installing the Alpine Kit on your car in such a detailed and clear way.
Very Sincerely,
Michael P. O’Connor
------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Cook,

There are a few of questions listed below that I hope you can answer:

1. Is there more than one sheet (printed on both sides) of instructions that are supposed to come with the kit? The reason I am asking is because on the back side of the instruction sheet (attached below), the very last instruction states:


I have read and re-read the instructions and there is no ‘Fig. 3-17.’ Additionally, there are no instructions for how to operate the Alpine Stereo with the features that the cable is supposed to be set up for.

2. Also on the reverse side of the instruction sheet, item (j)(2) tells me to “Route the PKB signal wire (Red / White) from the harness along the vehicle wire harness.” There is no Red / White wire with this kit. There is a Green wire that is to be connected to the fuse panel (Fig. 3-9) but no red & white wire. There is a Blue wire that the instructions do not mention.


3. There are three (3) wires equipped with RCA jacks in the kit; one yellow, one red and one white. I assume that the yellow RCA jack is connected to the backup camera. What are the red & white RCA jacks for and where are they supposed to be mounted in the vehicle? In the glove compartment or the center console? The instructions do not mention them or what to do with them.

4. How do I get the backup cameras’ view to appear on the Alpine stereos screen?

5. What is the procedure for connecting an iPod to the system and what settings are used to display the video on the Alpine screen?

I hope that you can answer these questions or that you will forward them to someone who can. Right now I have the Alpine stereo pulled out of my car, the panel over the fuse cover removed, and the center console of my car removed and sitting on the floor of my garage. In short, the car is not drivable in this condition and I sure don’t want to put it back together again only to take it apart when I learn the answers to the questions I’ve asked above.

Thank you for your help,

Michael P. O’Connor

Kristie Cook
Dealer Services Operations Coordinator
Warren Distribution
727 South 13th Street
Omaha. NE 68102
Phone (402)977-5875
E-Fax (402)939-0646
>>> .

 

can you just clarify this for me there is alot of stuff going on here. i have an 08 xb and bought the 2010 alpine unit and i have no inputs.

if i buy the toyota p/n 86190-53040 what do i get?
at the same time, where does the custom harness plug in on the headunit itself?

sorry i just read through everything and am very confused.

 

Installation Experience using Toyota Parts - Updated 9/20
I bought the 2010/2011 Alpine premium unit Toyota P/N PT545-21100 on Sep 13 to upgrade my daughter's 08 xB2 (It had the original basic Pioneer unit). I studied this thread carefully to understand Dave90T’s excellent work before taking the plunge. I am pleased to report that I now have all radio/cd/USB(IPOD)/AUX functions working perfectly! I have no immediate plans for Satellite radio, video, nav functions, etc so I cannot add any additional experience for those functions or installations.

<<Sept 20>>: I re-edited this entire post to share my final solution approach. Where possible I used the 2010/2011 Toyota parts discussed in earlier posts but a harness modification was still required as I explain below. I have broken my report into sections:

Toyota USB/AUX Adapter port P/N 86190-53040
I purchased the 2010/2011 Toyota adapter ($126.93) that is for the Alpine premium head unit. It combines the AUX/USB into one port for the center console. The adapter snaps directly into place after popping out the 2008 AUX adapter. I left the 2008 IPOD adapter in place but it is now inoperative as all IPOD functions are now handled thru the AUX or USB adapter plug. I purchased separately from Best Buy the cable that connects from the USB port to the 30-pin connector on the ipod.

Toyota Wiring Sub-Assembly P/N 86203-12340
I purchased the 2010 Toyota wire harness ($100.89). This wire harness has combined USB and AUX functionality. It is about 15 inches long and is configured as a “Y” shape. The single connector end plugs directly into the back of the AUX/USB adapter port now added to the center armrest console. One connector on the “Y” end plugs directly in to existing AUX harness next to the parking brake. The other “Y” end has a Toyota proprietary USB connector. This is where a modification is required as there is no corresponding USB harness on the 08/09 xB. I determined that this USB connector can be modified to plug into the back of the Alpine head unit (shown as Connector #7 on Dave90T’s drawing). Three modifications are required:

1) The Toyota USB connector (brown color) is very close to fitting the Alpine head unit. Using an Exacto knife, I carefully shaved some of the plastic guides on the top surface of the connector until the connector plugged into the head unit. It was relatively easy and quick to accomplish the shaving mod (10 minutes). If you desire, you can facilitate your shaving and fit checks by temporarily removing the outer brown colored shell of the connector by popping out the white release bar.

2) I elected to modify the USB leg of the Toyota harness by cutting the USB leg and splicing in approximately 4.5 feet of USB cable. You can easily prototype the best length of the additional cable by laying it in near the parking brake and stringing to the back of the head unit leaving enough slack at the back of the head unit. USB cable has four conductors (red and black are for power and the two colored wires are for signals) and it is shielded. I cannabilized a common computer USB cable I had lying around. Use good technique to prepare the wires and shielding for the splices. Insert heat shrink tubing over the wire and then solder each wire splice and shrink the tubing to insulate each wire splice. Work the braided shielding back into place and use more heat shrink tubing and/or electrical tape to stabilize and protect the splices. Important: Do all of the soldering/splicing on the work bench. It is easy to route this lengthened cable following the existing harnesses in the xB…you don’t need to splice and solder inside the car! Also make sure you are consistent to match the USB colored signal wires during splicing.

3) Route this now lengthened USB leg of the 86203-12340 harness from the area next to the parking brake to the back of the head unit. You have to remove the gear shift handle and all of the plastic liner panels below the shift handle for access. I routed this harness under the remaining 6-inch section of floor carpet and then followed the other existing harnesses up to the back of the head unit. This was relatively quick and easy job. Liberally use nylon wire ties along the routing to neatly stabilize the harness into position.

Parts removal for access: Remove the entire center armrest/drink holder console. Also unscrew the gear shift handle, and remove all the plastic lining panels below the shift handle.

C27 Connector Modification (move pin 14 to pin 18]
Dave90T's C27 Connector pin 14 to pin 18 mod is required with the Toyota harness. See his drawing earlier in the thread.

The trick to easily accomplishing the C27 pin relocation was to finally locate the wire pin lock release bar on the wide flat side of the connector (For the electrically challenged, the C27 connector is part of the existing car-side harness that plugs into the back of the head unit… don't disassemble the Alpine unit thinking the mod is to the connector integrated into the head unit.) The pin lock will be on the bottom surface of the C27 connector depicted in Dave90T's drawing. The pin lock is a 1/8 inch strip the width of the connector about halfway back from the end of the connector. You have to look closely as it is same white color as the connector. Use a sharp object to pop it out about 1/32 of an inch to release the lock on the pins. I used a sewing needle. You can then easily relocate the wire pin 14 --which was a gray wire on my 08 xB --to the pin 18 hole (4 holes away). Pop the lock back into the connector and pat yourself on the back for a job well done!

Why this approach?
I had sent PM to Dave90T September 13th to inquire about purchasing his custom harness but I had not received a response from him. I also talked to a professional installer as well as Best Buy stereo folks and determined that they did not have capability to fabricate the custom equivalent USB extension harness. I had also contacted a few junkyards to see if I could pull the needed cable from a wrecked car. No one had a junked 2010/2011 xB.

I also spent time at the Toyota dealer and found that the needed 4-foot USB cable from parking brake area to the rear of the head unit on the 2010/2011 xB was not available for purchase. The reason is that it is incorporated into the overall engine and instrument wire harness and cannot be purchased separately. So I decided to proceed by purchasing and adapting the 86190-53040 and 86203-12340 Toyota parts. Once I received the parts, I ultimately decided the best approach was to splice in the needed length of USB cable and shave the existing connector on 86203-12340 harness until it fit the Alpine Head unit. I found it very helpful to have the Toyota parts counter person print the illustrated parts diagram pages for the 2010 xb P/N 86190-53040 Adapter and the 86203-12340 wire harness. Also had him print the equivalent pages for the 2008 xB adapter installation, the wire harnesses in the armrest console, and the page for the breakdown of armrest console itself (you can then see where all of the fasteners are located to remove the armrest console without damage). These schematics make it much easier to visualize what you need to do to remove the console, install the adapter and harness in the armrest console and to lengthen the USB leg side of the Toyota harness. (I had just spent $250 on parts from Toyota so the least the parts person could do was print a few diagrams.)

I estimate that once I had decided on the splice approach, I had the total job completed in about 2.5 hours from start of panel removals to the head unit buttoned up and fully functioning and the area cleaned up and vacuumed.

I hope my experience and details are helpful to the readers wishing to move ahead with the Alpine premium unit based on using Toyota parts approach and also that it expands on the knowledge imparted by Dave 90T.

Acknowlegements
PS: I want to thank Dave90T for his contribution and for blazing the trail to install the 2010/2011 Alpine unit in 08 xB!

Dave90T here are suggested improvements to your drawing:
1) You may want to add the pin lock location & release instructions to your drawing for easily accomplishing the pin relocation mod in the C27 connector. It's a quick job once you have this info. By the way it's a gray wire on my 08 xB2 that has to be moved from 14 to 18.
2) You may want to clarify your drawing label for connector #7 to include "(ipod)" to reflect that the ipod function is now handled through the USB connection on the back of the Alpine unit and that is why it needs a different harness from what's is in the o8 xB.
brgrds,

 

Brian,

Not to sound like a smart ***, but you do know that the inputs that you are looking for are on the rear of the Alpine / Scion stereo right??

 

Good news - I have completely re-edited my prior post #32 to include all of my experience and details for installing the 2010/2011 Alpine Premium Head unit in the 08 xB using Toyota parts along with the required modifications for full AUX and USB(IPOD) functionality. I successfully applied an alternative approach to obtaining Dave90T's custom cable... (The bad news - I was not successful in making contact with Dave90T to purchase his custom cable so you will find my approach somewhat pricey). I hope you find this alternative solution helpful and that it definitively answers several of the posted questions regarding the use of Toyota parts.
brgrds,
========

 

will this work in a 2009 xD?

 

I'd like to apologize for being out of touch for a month or so as I got sent away for work on an emergency, I'm back now and have inquired with my distributor to see if the custom harness I previously had available can be made available again. If you're looking for this harness PLEASE PM ME ASAP!

DDStrat: Thanks for the updates and finding some comparable Toyota parts to complete this with. I was unable to find these when needed. Also, good update on the lock mechanism on the connector. I will update that to make it more clear. I plan on updating the drawing and clearing up those few little nick-nacks.

Again, sorry for being out of touch for a bit, but I'm back and happy to help anyone with these Alpine installs. It's an excellent upgrade for those of us with '08 xBs (and many other vehicles I'm sure, I'm considering installing it into my 1989 Toyota Supra).

 

UPDATE: 2010-10-11

I updated the JPG and PDF of the installation diagram in my earlier post to include DDStrat's helpful tips.

I've also made an inquiry with my connector supplier to see if I can make the harness I had available, available again. I'll keep everyone posted. As I said before, if you're interested, please PM me.

 

First off Great post.
I am anxious to add this Alpine unit to a 2006 XB.

I would think the wiring is the same for the 08 as the 06.

Has anyone done this? where can I find more info on people who have done this?

Thanks in advance

Jason

 

Jason,

Well, Toyota hasn't changed the primary (power, memory, front/rear speaker) radio harness since like...the eighties. So, there's a pretty good possibility the *basic* features of the radio are plug-n-play, but I cannot confirm it.

You would be on your own for custom additions, but as far as SAT and USB, they should be addable without issue. DDStraat has found the harnesses above for USB that can be extended or used as is in any vehicle, with a little work. His part numbers are in an above post.

I'm not sure if there's anyone over in the XB1 forum that has attempted it, but you could check there. Depending on how savvy you are, it could be an easy or very difficult install.

If you can get your hands on the official Toyota wiring diagrams for all of the '06 xB radio connectors, that'd be an excellent start.

 

Well I got my Alpine all installed with the custom USB/AUX connector. Just one problem The AUX does not work. You see my 06 XB does not have a pin 14 or 18 on the connector to be able to switch. Also the little connector on the USB/AUX module has a 8 pin connector but my harness is only 4 pin. I plugged it into the 4 top pins of the connector but there is 1 pin out in space. I think this might be the AUX ground but I cannot be sure unless I can get a factory wiring diagram.

Everything else is plug and play and the USB works flawless
Can anyone help?

Jason