I recently got a great deal on a used Rostra MZ1 Bluetooth kit for installation in my 2012 Mazda5 Sport. The item was pulled from a 2011 Mazda6, It looked like installation was going to be straightforward, but not surprisingly, it didn't work. I didn't receive any installation manuals, and the documentation on the manufacturer's website was fairly straightforward, with a few hints as to what to do if the unit doesn't turn on or the speakers don't mute.
Installing the factory-looking switch was no big deal, mounting nicely in the spot next to the traction control button. Microphone installation was also fairly easy, running up the left A-pillar and tucking nicely under the headliner, popping out of the dome light area and sticking in place with some thin Velcro. The main wiring is where the questions started to arise.
Where to plug in the mic? The obvious place would be the port marked 'MIC', but there is a little pigtail sticking out of the main bundle that it just long enough to plug in there, leaving an identical port marked 'SWC' as the next logical place for the mic. Figuring that SWC means steering wheel controls, I left the pigtail disconnected and plugged the mic into the MIC port. There is only one place to plug in the switch, so in it went. According to the wiring information on the back of the ECM, it looks like the pigtail is for a line-out connection (left and right, + and -). There is also one red wire in the harness that has a bullet connector, but no matching connection to the harness on the Rostra ECM, unlike the blue and black wires that have a similar connector inline.
Figuring this was all wired up in the most logical fashion, I reconnected the battery and fired it up. There was a brief screech out of the right front speaker, but no other sound. The unit paired up with my phone just fine, and Siri popped up on screen when I pressed the button on the dash, but still no audio. I can hear some relays clicking in the Rostra ECM when I hit said button, but I don't get any sound from any of the speakers, either from Siri or whatever's playing through the stereo. When I try to play music on the phone it appears to be sending it via BT, but still, no audio.
I disconnected the whole BT setup and went back to stock. Everything appears to work, but I don't have any audio, not from the radio, the CD player or the aux input. I popped in the original stereo (I had upgraded to one with a six-disc changer out of a GT), and still nothing but brief screech from the front right speaker followed by silence. I tried mute, I checked the volume, tried all sources and still nothing. Eventually after a few swaps of head unit and retrying the Rostra setup, I got sound back once, albeit never with the Rostra unit installed, but this appeared to be, at the time, a one-time thing. The last time I tried installing the Rostra unit I noticed that it seemed to be connecting only sporadically to the phone, with what seemed to be excessive relay clicks whilst hitting the button on the dash. I finally yanked it out and reconnected the stereo in a standard configuration and found that once again the radio is not producing any sound. I packed up the tools, snapped some of the panels back into place and went into the house. A few hours later I tried the radio again, and it now seems to be working.
Any idea what's going on here? Did I buy a dud kit? Is it not wired correctly? I didn't see anything negative about the Rostra kits, and was wondering if anyone has been able to install one and have it work reliably. I hadn't heard about Rostra until I did a eBay search and found this unit just prior to the auction closing. I did contact tech support before I received the kit, and they assured me that it would be a straightforward job installing this in my 5. Any help here will be most appreciated.
Thanks,
Ryan
Installing the factory-looking switch was no big deal, mounting nicely in the spot next to the traction control button. Microphone installation was also fairly easy, running up the left A-pillar and tucking nicely under the headliner, popping out of the dome light area and sticking in place with some thin Velcro. The main wiring is where the questions started to arise.
Where to plug in the mic? The obvious place would be the port marked 'MIC', but there is a little pigtail sticking out of the main bundle that it just long enough to plug in there, leaving an identical port marked 'SWC' as the next logical place for the mic. Figuring that SWC means steering wheel controls, I left the pigtail disconnected and plugged the mic into the MIC port. There is only one place to plug in the switch, so in it went. According to the wiring information on the back of the ECM, it looks like the pigtail is for a line-out connection (left and right, + and -). There is also one red wire in the harness that has a bullet connector, but no matching connection to the harness on the Rostra ECM, unlike the blue and black wires that have a similar connector inline.
Figuring this was all wired up in the most logical fashion, I reconnected the battery and fired it up. There was a brief screech out of the right front speaker, but no other sound. The unit paired up with my phone just fine, and Siri popped up on screen when I pressed the button on the dash, but still no audio. I can hear some relays clicking in the Rostra ECM when I hit said button, but I don't get any sound from any of the speakers, either from Siri or whatever's playing through the stereo. When I try to play music on the phone it appears to be sending it via BT, but still, no audio.
I disconnected the whole BT setup and went back to stock. Everything appears to work, but I don't have any audio, not from the radio, the CD player or the aux input. I popped in the original stereo (I had upgraded to one with a six-disc changer out of a GT), and still nothing but brief screech from the front right speaker followed by silence. I tried mute, I checked the volume, tried all sources and still nothing. Eventually after a few swaps of head unit and retrying the Rostra setup, I got sound back once, albeit never with the Rostra unit installed, but this appeared to be, at the time, a one-time thing. The last time I tried installing the Rostra unit I noticed that it seemed to be connecting only sporadically to the phone, with what seemed to be excessive relay clicks whilst hitting the button on the dash. I finally yanked it out and reconnected the stereo in a standard configuration and found that once again the radio is not producing any sound. I packed up the tools, snapped some of the panels back into place and went into the house. A few hours later I tried the radio again, and it now seems to be working.
Any idea what's going on here? Did I buy a dud kit? Is it not wired correctly? I didn't see anything negative about the Rostra kits, and was wondering if anyone has been able to install one and have it work reliably. I hadn't heard about Rostra until I did a eBay search and found this unit just prior to the auction closing. I did contact tech support before I received the kit, and they assured me that it would be a straightforward job installing this in my 5. Any help here will be most appreciated.
Thanks,
Ryan