iPod input does not work

[Its my moms car]

So my mom bought a '08 MS3 with the auxiliary port in the center console. We plugged in her iPod and pressed "Media" on the dash and nothing happened. So what I reckon is that the cable from the aux port is not pluged into the back of the head unit.

We took it to the dealership today to try and get it fixed, and they basically told us to piss off. So now I am wondering if my initial assumption was correct or not? How hard is it to get to the back of the HU and can I do so w/o voiding the warranty?


Thanks-

 

[chronus377]

Do you have the sirius radio option installed? If so that takes up the aux input, but you can get a switch box installed. My friend has one that automatically detects a signal and switches.

 

[mk_slayr]

So my mom bought a '08 MS3 with the auxiliary port in the center console. We plugged in her iPod and pressed "Media" on the dash and nothing happened. So what I reckon is that the cable from the aux port is not pluged into the back of the head unit.

We took it to the dealership today to try and get it fixed, and they basically told us to piss off. So now I am wondering if my initial assumption was correct or not? How hard is it to get to the back of the HU and can I do so w/o voiding the warranty?


Thanks-

I have the same problem, I called the dealer by my house and they want to charge me 140 for the part + 180 dollars in labor to install the switch. I'm going to call the dealer I bought the car from and throw a bit of a fit, (seeing how I didn't want Sirius to begin with, Slacker all the way). I've been told that the AuxMod was easy to install and fairly cheap so I might go down that road if the dealer doesn't solve my problem.

 

[Its my moms car]

Okay, so can you elaborate more on this switch box please? Why in hell would they include an auxiliary port if you can't use it anyway?

 

[Shane5425]

my zen works in my car, but my ipod doesnt , ihave no clue what the cause of this would be, and i dont have sirus..

 

[Rotus8]

Okay, so can you elaborate more on this switch box please? Why in hell would they include an auxiliary port if you can't use it anyway?

There is a plug in the back of the head unit. The AUX input can plug into it, or the Sirius radio can. The switch box is a thing that is buried behind the dash and allows both to work. If you don't want the Sirius, you can unplug it and plug in the AUX, you only need the switch if you want both.

 

[SHAGwagn]

get a neo pro link and call it a day. best audio mod ive bought..love it.

 

[mk_slayr]

There is a plug in the back of the head unit. The AUX input can plug into it, or the Sirius radio can. The switch box is a thing that is buried behind the dash and allows both to work. If you don't want the Sirius, you can unplug it and plug in the AUX, you only need the switch if you want both.

Is it just a simple unplug one cable, plug in dangling cable? I'm going to do it sometime this week but I want to make sure I have everything I need before I begin.

 

[Its my moms car]

If you do it, could you please take pictures on what you do? That would really be appreciated. Thanks mk_slayr

 

[khaydin]

It's pretty easy to do, if I remember right you only need a philips head screw driver to do it. This was the first mod I did when I bought the car a year ago. I also knew nothing about cars at the time so pretty much anyone can do this and save a trip to the dealership and a possible labor charge for something that takes 10-15min.

1. Open the glove box and pull at the bottom of the grey trim piece that runs above the glove box. It's held on by retention clips that pop out so just start in the middle and move left, then come back to the clips on the far right.

2. After the trim piece is off there are 2 sets of screws (4 screws), 2 are for the headunit and 2 are for the center dash piece above the headunit. Unscrew them all and take off the center dash piece, it is held in place by 6 retention clips. Just be careful pulling it off because of the wires that connect to the back of the hazard light button. The wires can be disconnected from the dash piece via the wire harness in the back of the button.

3. Once the center dash piece is off you'll want to pull out the headunit a little bit to see the wires behind it. I don't remember where they stashed the connector for the AUX so you'll have to search around for it. You MAY have to disconnect the headunit and totally remove it to find the connector, just remember that doing so you will lose any radio presets, the time, etc since you're disconnecting it from the battery.

4. Once you've found the AUX connector just remove the Sirius connector and plug in the AUX connector to the back of the headunit and then put everything back together in reverse order.

 

[icspots]

Like others have said sirius and the ACI use the same plug. The plug for the ACI usually gets taped to something else to keep it from rattling around and making noise. Look around a bit and you should be able to find it. It will take you less than five minutes to remove the HU.... really, it's that easy. A couple of notes on the directions above (mine are in red)

1. Open the glove box and pull at the bottom of the grey trim piece that runs above the glove box. It's held on by retention clips that pop out so just start in the middle and move left, then come back to the clips on the far right. The far right of the strip is held on by a hook, NOT a clip. Undo the tension clips between the right side of the LCD and the right side of the strip and then gently flex the strip to release the hook. Don't pull the right side directly backwards or you might break the hook off.

2. After the trim piece is off there are 2 sets of screws (4 screws), 2 are for the headunit and 2 are for the center dash piece above the headunit. Unscrew them all and take off the center dash piece, it is held in place by 6 retention clips. Just be careful pulling it off because of the wires that connect to the back of the hazard light button. The wires can be disconnected from the dash piece via the wire harness in the back of the button. You don't need to remove the upper dash section to pull the HU out. Remove the screws holding the HU and then grab the top where the screws were and pull firmly backwards. Don't pull on the faceplate or it might pull off. If you can't find the plug for the ACI then you might need to remove the upper dash portion in case it was tucked away higher up. If you're not fully disconnecting the HU then be careful that you don't bump it against the dash and scratch up the plastic on the center console.... it will annoy you later.

3. Once the center dash piece is off you'll want to pull out the headunit a little bit to see the wires behind it. I don't remember where they stashed the connector for the AUX so you'll have to search around for it. You MAY have to disconnect the headunit and totally remove it to find the connector, just remember that doing so you will lose any radio presets, the time, etc since you're disconnecting it from the battery.

4. Once you've found the AUX connector just remove the Sirius connector and plug in the AUX connector to the back of the headunit and then put everything back together in reverse order.

Here's some pictures from an installation of the GROM audio ipod module.

3 - Remove the carbon trim by opening the glove box, and pulling towards you. Work you way towards the drivers side first, go back to the right side, and finish on the driver's side again. Watch out for the right side, since it's got a tab that tucks underneath. If it doesn't come out easily, you need to clear more of it on the left side first.

4 - Now that you have removed the trim, unscrew the screws that hold the factory stereo in place (the botton row, as shown circled in red), and pull the stereo unit towards you (the LCD screen will stay attached to the unit).

5 - 2 cables will be plugged in the back of the stereo. The fat, square one is the main harness. To unplug it, push on the little tab at the bottom, then pull, gently but firmly. The round cable with a red tip is the antenna. To remove it, same thing, pull gently but firmly. Once you have removed these cables, you will be able to competely remove the stereo unit. Here's a photo of the back. The connector circled in red is the CD changer connector, the one you will use to plug the GROM audio vehicle specific cable into.

my zen works in my car, but my ipod doesnt , ihave no clue what the cause of this would be, and i dont have sirus..

Are you plugging both in through the ACI via their headphone jacks? If your ipod works through your headphones then it should work through the headphone jack to the ACI. Does changing the volume on the ipod make any difference?

Okay, so can you elaborate more on this switch box please? Why in hell would they include an auxiliary port if you can't use it anyway?

It's a little box ~4"x4" with two inputs and one output. It allows you to plug in the ACI plus (sirus/ipod/phatbox) at the same time. One of the plugs only works with the ACI however, so you can't have both sirius and an ipod module at the same time (for example). The output on the switchbox goes to the back of the HU and then you access the inputs the regular way (MEDIA for the ACI, SAT for sirius, CD twice for the ipod module, etc.) It costs $113 for the part from www.onlinemazdaparts.com and can easily be installed by you without the dealer.

 

[mk_slayr]

^^ awesome i'll do it tomorrow morning...

 

[mk_slayr]

^^ on that last pic, the place you have circled is where my Sirius was plugged in. My cd changer, I believe, branched off from the main harness and plugged into a clip directly behind the lcd screen...

I think this is the six cd-changer bracket

This is the Aux clip that the Sirius was plugged into,

My Aux cable was stuck up on top of the HU, ziptied to itself and a larger bundle of wires,

And all installed ready to go,

Success!

The swapping of cables was much easier than I thought it was going to be. The longest part of the change was unhooking the Sirius clip from the harness and taking pictures. All in all it was 15 minutes from the time I began by rolling the windows down until I turned her back on to test the slacker player.

What makes me mad though, is that the dealership by my house was going to charge me 2 hours of labor (180 bucks) to install the switchbox, which I'm sure adds very little, if any time, to the install. In fact they should be able to install it faster than me, as they don't take pics and probably would have an easier time unhooking the clip.
I won't mention any names <cough> el Dorado in McKinney <cough> but they won't be getting anymore of my business. I'll drive a little further down the road for warranty work and scheduled services....


-mk

 

[icspots]

What makes me mad though, is that the dealership by my house was going to charge me 2 hours of labor (180 bucks) to install the switchbox, which I'm sure adds very little, if any time, to the install. In fact they should be able to install it faster than me, as they don't take pics and probably would have an easier time unhooking the clip.
I won't mention any names <cough> el Dorado in McKinney <cough> but they won't be getting anymore of my business. I'll drive a little further down the road for warranty work and scheduled services....


-mk

The Mazda pdf instructions for how they're supposed to install the switchbox are way way overly involved. You can easily install the switchbox in a short amount of time if you're not doing it their crazy way.

 

[mk_slayr]

The Mazda pdf instructions for how they're supposed to install the switchbox are way way overly involved. You can easily install the switchbox in a short amount of time if you're not doing it their crazy way.

Does it involve copious amounts of handstands and somersaults?

-mk

 

[icspots]

Does it involve copious amounts of handstands and somersaults?

-mk

No, just removing the glove compt. (really easy), extensive securing of the switchbox, removing the panel in the back of the glovebox and drilling a hole next to it, inserting the ipod cable, replacing the panel, running all the wires..... like I said they make it more difficult and they very obviously overrate how long it takes to do.

 

[caveman lawyer]

so like...

i tried pulling my stereo out and it wasn't happening without me having to remove additional parts, but i was going to the dealership anyway and they so kindly hooked up the auxillary port free of charge.

and then i stuck my hands in my armpits and pulled them out and smelled them.

 

[daonly1around]

yea, so what is this switch box that you are talking about, i only read where people switched between sirus and the aux... i want both, i paid for sirus i'm gonna use it, atleast for six months anyway.. haha...

 

[Rotus8]

yea, so what is this switch box that you are talking about, i only read where people switched between sirus and the aux... i want both, i paid for sirus i'm gonna use it, atleast for six months anyway.. haha...

It is a box from Mazda available for about $100. It get buried behind the dash and plugs into the HU. It provides plugs for the AUX and the Sirius.

 

[icspots]

^^ What he said.