Stereo Upgrade
- Thread starter newcorollaowner
- Start date
There are a couple of things to check - I am familiar with Metra, but I think you are using a 3rd-party harness (unless that was just power and didn't include the antenna.
I also don't know the 2014 Corolla harness wiring.
Pioneer usually has among the best aftermarket FM reception - (oddly for reasons I can't explain OEM's tend to do better with general FM reception, voice command, etc.) Aftermarket does better with sound quality, expandability, iPod integration, display, etc. Pioneer should be AT LEAST very close if not better than OEM, though. HD reception is very spotty if you aren't in a major city downtown - but your unit is not HD capable.
What you verified is the radio works the same with or without the antenna connected, so it is the same as if you had the radio with no antenna connected.
Ideas:
- http://community.crutchfield.com/car_audio_and_video/f/27/t/26716.aspx Pin 8 is the antenna booster on some Toyota's - if you have the same plug type, see if connecting Pin 8 to the blue/white wire on the Pioneer helps.
- It's possible (maybe likely) that whatever adapter you are using to go from the Toyota wiring to the Motorola plug (http://metraonline.com/part/40-LX11 - 40-LX11 if you were using Metra) is defective and/or it also needs it's blue wire connected to the Pioneer blue/white wire.
- Sometimes with some radios, the antenna works better if you either more fully or less fully insert the motorola plug into the radio. (I've never experienced it, and I've heard of it more with Clarion radios, but it's something to try.)
- Older Toyota's used a dual-diversity system with two antennas and the OEM radio would always select the strongest signal - but I don't think any modern ones do that.
- You can try using an underdash or even a standard antenna behind the dash and seeing how it works, but that would be a last result and shouldn't be required. - http://www.sonicelectronix.com/cat_i519_universal-antennas.html?category_id=519&sort_order=price_asc - If you go this direction, I would buy locally that you can return if it doesn't help out or test out various models.
- Antenna boosters are available, but in my experience, they don't tend to help much - (and the one I tried destroyed my AM reception).
Let us know what you find out.
I also don't know the 2014 Corolla harness wiring.
Pioneer usually has among the best aftermarket FM reception - (oddly for reasons I can't explain OEM's tend to do better with general FM reception, voice command, etc.) Aftermarket does better with sound quality, expandability, iPod integration, display, etc. Pioneer should be AT LEAST very close if not better than OEM, though. HD reception is very spotty if you aren't in a major city downtown - but your unit is not HD capable.
What you verified is the radio works the same with or without the antenna connected, so it is the same as if you had the radio with no antenna connected.
Ideas:
- http://community.crutchfield.com/car_audio_and_video/f/27/t/26716.aspx Pin 8 is the antenna booster on some Toyota's - if you have the same plug type, see if connecting Pin 8 to the blue/white wire on the Pioneer helps.
- It's possible (maybe likely) that whatever adapter you are using to go from the Toyota wiring to the Motorola plug (http://metraonline.com/part/40-LX11 - 40-LX11 if you were using Metra) is defective and/or it also needs it's blue wire connected to the Pioneer blue/white wire.
- Sometimes with some radios, the antenna works better if you either more fully or less fully insert the motorola plug into the radio. (I've never experienced it, and I've heard of it more with Clarion radios, but it's something to try.)
- Older Toyota's used a dual-diversity system with two antennas and the OEM radio would always select the strongest signal - but I don't think any modern ones do that.
- You can try using an underdash or even a standard antenna behind the dash and seeing how it works, but that would be a last result and shouldn't be required. - http://www.sonicelectronix.com/cat_i519_universal-antennas.html?category_id=519&sort_order=price_asc - If you go this direction, I would buy locally that you can return if it doesn't help out or test out various models.
- Antenna boosters are available, but in my experience, they don't tend to help much - (and the one I tried destroyed my AM reception).
Let us know what you find out.
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Here's the link to the company and part I've used on my corolla I talked to Stapana he's the one who made the harness http://www.cruxinterfacing.com/products/SWRTY-61N/index.html
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Thanks - Crux is a reputable company (Crutchfield carries them).
From your previous comments in the thread, it sounded like something some college kid wired up in his garage.
It looks like this part is too new to hit the retail chains yet, but pricing looks like it will be in the $80-$160 range.
Not terrible. Metra would allow you to wire in the radio for $10, but then you need the antenna adapter for $10 and the SWC adapter for about $75 - and they don't have a solution for keeping the rear-view camera or AUX inputs.
From your previous comments in the thread, it sounded like something some college kid wired up in his garage.
It looks like this part is too new to hit the retail chains yet, but pricing looks like it will be in the $80-$160 range.
Not terrible. Metra would allow you to wire in the radio for $10, but then you need the antenna adapter for $10 and the SWC adapter for about $75 - and they don't have a solution for keeping the rear-view camera or AUX inputs.
Was that regular price for it?
(I got the impression you might have gotten a discount b/c it sounded like they were developing it specifically for your car.)
You can get the Metra ASWC-1 for $40 so price is about the same.
Basically - it ends up as:
Crux advantages - Integrates the OEM rear-view camera. With Metra, you would either have to wire in an aftermarket camera (around $30 from China/Hong Kong), or you would have to cut the factory wiring and splice on a composite (yellow) RCA and possibly convert voltage also.
Metra advantages - The bluetooth buttons on the wheel MIGHT work, and the ASWC-1 is programmable so each button can have two functions - so you could map a button to BAND, which isn't an option for Crux. OTOH, if the BT buttons don't work with METRA, you only have the D-pad, center, and mode buttons and a lot of those have dual functions already, so there isn't a lot to work with.
(I got the impression you might have gotten a discount b/c it sounded like they were developing it specifically for your car.)
You can get the Metra ASWC-1 for $40 so price is about the same.
Basically - it ends up as:
Crux advantages - Integrates the OEM rear-view camera. With Metra, you would either have to wire in an aftermarket camera (around $30 from China/Hong Kong), or you would have to cut the factory wiring and splice on a composite (yellow) RCA and possibly convert voltage also.
Metra advantages - The bluetooth buttons on the wheel MIGHT work, and the ASWC-1 is programmable so each button can have two functions - so you could map a button to BAND, which isn't an option for Crux. OTOH, if the BT buttons don't work with METRA, you only have the D-pad, center, and mode buttons and a lot of those have dual functions already, so there isn't a lot to work with.
I don't think that will happen.
It's odd, but most new car manufacturer's don't include the BT buttons on the remote control. The Steering wheel control interface is really set up to mimic the remote control functions, so if the deck doesn't have BT on the remote controls, it probably isn't going to support the SWC. Now there might be SOME decks out there that would work with it, but ...
It's odd, but most new car manufacturer's don't include the BT buttons on the remote control. The Steering wheel control interface is really set up to mimic the remote control functions, so if the deck doesn't have BT on the remote controls, it probably isn't going to support the SWC. Now there might be SOME decks out there that would work with it, but ...