Hi All,
I couldn't find any posts addressing this issue, but please forgive me if I am re-posting what someone else has already posted.
If you own a Nissan with a "premium sound" or "audio fanatic" package*, replacing your factory CD deck (while retaining all functionality in factory speakers, subwoofer, and amp) requires a special wiring harness (called an amplifier integration harness). I spoke to 4 different "professional" car stereo installers at Best Buy, Circuit City, and Car Toys, and 3 out of the 4 had no idea what an amp integration harness was or how to install one. They all tried to sell me replacements for the factory subwoofer and amplifier, claiming that an after market CD deck cannot integrate with the factory equipment. This is simply not true; you just need an installer who knows what an amp integration harness is and how to install one. Don't waste money on equipment you don't need!
The amp integration harness used by my 2001 Nissan Sentra SE (with front pillar speakers) is a Metra model number 70-7551. Crutchfield's website reports that the 7551 does not fit my car, but it is installed in my Sentra and I can assure you that it fits exactly as designed. If you have a Sentra with front pillar speakers, you have one of the 2 premium audio packages and the 7551 amp integration harness fits. Please note this is NOT the same as the Metra 70-7550. The 7550 wiring harness is for Nissans with the standard audio package.
*The "Audio Fanatic" package is Nissan's label for the Rockford Fosgate stereo option. For important clarifying details, please read the B15 Sentra forums Audio FAQ 1 and FAQ 2.
I hope this is helpful for all of you. Good luck and happy driving!-kagerousan =D
Thank you for the heads-up. I have reported this issue to CF and hopefully they will update their "Outfit My Car" to call out the 7551.
kagerousan:and 3 out of the 4 had no idea what an amp integration harness was or how to install one.
The cynic in me says they aren't that ignorant and have a vested interest in selling you equipment you don't need, but hopefully I'm wrong and they are that ignorant - that didn't sound right, but ....
2002 Ford Focus Sony CDX-GT410u Sony XT-100HD HD Tuner Stock speakers, no amp, no subs
I checked with our Vehicle Research Team and here is what they had to say about:
"While Metra does list the 70-7551 harness for the premium sound system, we have found that it is not really necessary. Even with a high power aftermarket receiver, the 70-7550 harness will work fine with the factory Nissan or Rockford Fosgate amplifiers."
I'm also trying to use this harness 70-7551 for my 2001 Infiniti G20 with Bose. I can't get the stereo to power on and I don't know what I'm doing wrong. First on the 7551 harness there is an orange wire labeled as "Illumination" but there is no such matching wire on the Panasonic stereo.
Also on the 7551 harness with the RCA inputs for the rear speakers there is a black wire with a white stripe (labeled as Amplifier Ground) and blue wire with a white stripe (labeled Amplifier Turn-on). Do those have to be connected to anything? Right now I have the black one with the white stripe connected to the ground wire on the stereo wiring and the blue one with the white stripe connected to the blue wire on the stereo wiring. Any help would be greatly appreciated because I can't get this thing to work.
Bryon456:First on the 7551 harness there is an orange wire labeled as "Illumination" but there is no such matching wire on the Panasonic stereo.
If there is a wire labelled Dimmer on the Panasonic, it should be connected to the Illumination wire on the 7551. If there is no Panasonic Dimmer wire, the illumination (and Dimmer, if present) wire on the 7551 should be capped off.)
Right now I have the black one with the white stripe connected to the ground wire on the stereo wiring and the blue one with the white stripe connected to the blue wire on the stereo wiring.
The black/white should be as you have it. The Blue/white should be to the amp remote turn on lead on the Panasonic (you might have it to the power antenna lead.
What model Panasonic is it?
If it won't even power on, check the power and fuses on the red, yellow, and black wires. Preferably with a DMM.
HTH!
Thanks TigerHeli. The stereo is a Panasonic CQ-RX400U. The Blue/White wire on the Panasonic wiring diagram is labeled as both the power antenna and External Amp Control Lead. Below are links to scans I made of the wiring diagrams for the stereo and Metra 70-7551 harnesses.
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h153/Bryon456/Panasonic.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h153/Bryon456/MetraHarnessOriginal.jpg
Everything looks correct to me.
Am I correct - your problem is the unit won't even power on, not that you can't hear music from it?
If so - again, check the fuse on the unit, check the ground wire, and check for voltage on the yellow and red wires (check the fuses at the fuse panel and under the hood).
If no luck, you can try holding the yellow and red wires to the battery + post and the black wire to the battery - post. If it still doesn't come on, it's probably a defective HU.
Bryon456:It's not that I don't get sound, it doesn't even power on.
Fuses, wiring, or defective HU, then.
Also just to clarify there are two harnesses for the 7551. One has a blue wire and one has a blue wire with a white stripe. So it is correct that both of those connect to the blue wire on the pansonic wiring?
Correct - the Panasonic uses the same wire for power antenna and amp remote (which means the power antenna would be up even if you were listening to a CD, if you had a power antenna). The blue/white wire on the 7551 is for the amp turn on. The Blue wire on the 7551 is for the power antenna - even if you don't have one, you might have a factory antenna booster, so it is best to connect it anyways and if you don't need it it won't be used (if there is no mating wire in the factory harness you won't be using it, but it doesn't hurt to connect it).
OK
1) I'm an idiot. I found the reason the stereo wouldn't even turn on - Apparently the antenna wire must provide some type of power to the stereo because I didn't plug that in the first time since I was just testing the stereo. Well anyway today I didn't change anything in the wiring but I plugged in the antenna and the stereo powered on.
2) Unfortunately though this saga is not over yet. I'm positive everything is wired correctly but there is barely any sound coming from the speakers. I turn the volume all the way up and I can barely hear anything. Also I get a popping noise in the speakers every time I do anything like change a station or even adjust the volume. I thinking it has something to do with either the BOSE speakers or the use of the pre-amp outputs on the stereo for the speakers. Any ideas?
1) That is weird on the antenna connection keeping the unit from even powering on - in fact I wouldn't think that should happen - don't have a good explanation, though.
2) The popping noise can probably be fixed with a ground loop isolator, not sure if you only need one for front or rear, or if you need one for each.
2a) Not sure about the low volume or what a fix would be.
Anyone?
Bryon456:What exactly is a ground loop isolator and where can I get one?
This and here.
I've also been wondering all day that if this is a BOSE system do I maybe need to bypass the BOSE amps somehow? I remember back in the 90's I had a Ford T-Bird with premium sound and I needed another adapter to bypass the factory amp. I'm pulling at strings here and since Crutchfield doesn't have any research for this car I'm really lost.
You don't need to bypass the amps - in fact, I don't think you can bypass the amps unless you are willing to replace the speakers also. (Bose likes to run 1-ohm and 2-ohm speakers that you can't run directly off the HU.) However, I was looking for more detailed 7551 Instructions and I came across this post (See reply #91), which makes a lot of sense and implies the 7551 may be your problem. He is incorrect, you are not connecting the speaker level outputs to the Bose amps, but the pre-outs, but many of these adapters have adjustable level controls to match your HU outputs to the levels the Bose amps want, but the 7551 lacks these. I would think it would make a difference if the HU has 2V or 4V pre-outs, for example.
There does not seem to be a PAC adapter for your car though - the adapters you would be looking for would be here (The ROEM and the OEM-2) kits (note the descriptions seem to say it would fix the problems you are having). The applicability guide is here, Infinity is not listed, I am not sure if the ROEM-NIS2 would work or where to get one.
CF does sell the OEM-2 Interface (which is the bare wires version), and I think you might be able to use that in conjunction/place of your 7551, you would be using the speaker level outputs on the Panasonic to the speaker level wires on the OEM-2 to the speaker wires on the 7551, but I don't think you would then need to cut any factory wires, so if it didn't work you wouldn't be any worse off, but I'm somewhat guessing, so I'll try to get an advisoe to look at this and comment.
Another idea would be that they make a product usually called "Line Drivers" (like the PAC Turbo 1 or Turbo X) that essentially let you boost the RCA output. Street price about $25 each, but might be your easiest option.
UPDATE-EDIT: It seems really odd to me that Metra would design the harness with no type of gain adjustment so it only worked with 4.0V pre-outs - there are a lot of 2.1 V pre-out HU's on the market, and it would be easy to design the unit to work with them with an adjustment to decrease the gain for the 4.0V ones.