Hi there,

I have just bought myself a new Stilo, as I loved the old one so much! This new one has got the audio controls on the steering wheel which will obviously not work on an aftermarket stereo without an adaptor.

I got myself an adaptor from DynamicSOUNDS with a patch cable for my stereo (which is a Pioneer DEH 1300MP, i have checked to make sure it is compatible with steering wheel controls). The issue I have is that it says it's a plug and play kit, yet when I plug it in, the stereo does not turn on. Doesn't really help that the instructions are very, very vague.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else has encountered this issue and if there is a guide or a solution that can be shared with me.

Many thanks,

Toby.

Have you had the pioneer unit fitted previously?

You'll be needing to adapt the wiring for the switched live feed on the head unit, I assume you've already done this?

Hi,

I had the stereo fitted to my previous Stilo which did not have the controls. I got a ISO adaptor for that and bridged the switch live to the permanent feed to trick the stereo, just had to turn on and off manually. This adaptor is slightly different as it has a control box coming off the main loom so I'm not entirely sure about doing the same thing. Switch live is in the same place but where I'd expect the permanent to be it ran off to the control box. A bit confusing!!

toby14692 said:

Hi,

I had the stereo fitted to my previous Stilo which did not have the controls. I got a ISO adaptor for that and bridged the switch live to the permanent feed to trick the stereo, just had to turn on and off manually. This adaptor is slightly different as it has a control box coming off the main loom so I'm not entirely sure about doing the same thing. Switch live is in the same place but where I'd expect the permanent to be it ran off to the control box. A bit confusing!!

Click to expand...

Need to check there is a live feed coming out of that for the switched feed to the head unit. I suspect there isn't, from memory though Pioneer wiring should have a jumper lead on it for this though, I believe mine does iirc.

Tread very carefully - don't modify any wiring without being absolutely certain of what you are doing - it's linked to the CAN bus

My experience with my Chinese stereo was that the wiring loom feeds the CAN bus into a decoder box. That decoder box then generates the power (permanent and switched live) to turn the stereo on. I found this didn't work until I started the engine. So, the ignition was on, but there was no power 'released' until the engine was started. Then the engine could be switched off, stereo went off, and when the key was turned back on (but engine NOT started), then there was power to the stereo.

The reason for the link to the CAN bus is several - the decoder may provide a signal to dim the illumination when sidelights are on, it may provide a reversing signal (mine tried to but got it hopelessly wrong), and it may provide signals from the steering wheel controls (mine was supposed to, but can't - yours should, of course.)

So, try starting your engine, and also try doing a proxy alignment with FIATECUSCAN or MultiECUScan, to enable the new 'node' on the CAN bus.

-Alex

alexGS said:

Tread very carefully - don't modify any wiring without being absolutely certain of what you are doing - it's linked to the CAN bus

Click to expand...

Power supply isn't, and this is the only wiring that should be being modified, but like you say, if you don't know what you're doing then you shouldn't be doing anything.

Most Easterly Pandas said:

Power supply isn't, and this is the only wiring that should be being modified...

Click to expand...

I agree, normally the power supply is straightforward and not CAN controlled, but that adaptor seems to use the permanent supply for its own purposes, so it seems likely the CAN node is now controlling the power supply as it does on my replacement stereo. Therefore, that's why I was suggesting to leave it alone - consult the providers of the adaptor, it might need a 'CAN controller reset' (proxy alignment) to get it working. You definitely don't want to inadvertently power or short out the CAN bus with the possibility of damaging the body computer...

-Alex

Thanks, I haven't done anything to it yet as I was concerned about damaging things. I spoke to the provider and they suggest plugging it all in then unplugging the interface box, waiting a minute or two then plugging back in to see if it wakes it all up. Can't seem to get the standard head unit out now though

Cheers for the replies, keep you posted!

Turns out it was very very simple. In fact I felt a bit stupid for not thinking of it there and then as I work for an aerospace company dealing mainly in electronics :bang:.

The interface box that communicates with the CAMBUS actually takes a live feed and creates a switch live from there. Another words all I had to do was switch on the ignition

Probably wouldn't of found that without your help no wonder I didn't recognize the wiring pattern.

Anyway, all sorted now so thanks for the help

Toby