Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Aux In / Bluetooth for Factory Radio or RB1 - JEEP WJ 99-04 Grand Cherokee

Keep the stock radio/nav unit and add an Aux Input and Bluetooth adapter for streaming audio.



*You must have a factory head unit and a functional factory CD changer
** This is total redneckery, and CD Changer is not functional (depending on head unit model) after you do this modification.
*** I'm not responsible for ANYTHING you do to your own vehicle... 

What you need:

Tools:
Parts:

Basic Aux Input (no Bluetooth)
OR

Aux Input for use with a Bluetooth Adapter
Images of the parts I installed


 



Getting Started

  • Remove radio bezel. Pry gently on one side, then the other until it snaps out.
  • Unbolt radio and unplug all connections.  Remove/set aside. 4 screws
  • Locate round cd changer plug and cut outer wire casing (you do not need to cut the plug off, stripping the casing back 2-3 inches will give you plenty of room to work with)
  • Using the wiring diagram from your year WJ, locate the left, right and left/right common ground audio wires coming from the plug side.   You will cut these wires and solder them to the female input jack. The left/right/common FROM the changer can be capped off, left unconnected.  The jack packaging should show you which prong is left and which prong is right and the ground prong.  Do not cut the ground/power wires to the cd changer, it must be powered on to *handshake* with the headunit.

  • Solder wires and test functionality before securing everything.  
    • Plug in the stereo and set it to cd changer (don't reinstall radio yet, just hold it up so it can be plugged in momentarily)
    • Plug a male to male aux cable into the input you just soldered and to your iphone/ipod/android
    • Play music and verify left/right sound.  It helps to turn the volume to 75% on the phone and THEN increase volume on radio.
  • Secure the adapter and wiring.  After you have soldered the input and tested left/right audio successfully. (and depending on your redneck level) secure the adapter with electrical tape and zipties to make sure the connection is solid so nothing comes loose when you reinstall radio or when you are jumping sand dunes while streaming the theme song to Dukes of Hazard.
  • If you are doing a basic aux input, leave your male end plugged into the soldered input and run the wire through the back of the dash and up in front of the shifters (or where ever makes you happy).  If you are doing bluetooth, with the male end plugged into the soldered input, run the female end out the back of the dash and up by the shifters.
  • Basic aux install is done, reinstall radio and re-test!
  • Bluetooth install, continue by powering up your MPow adapter  (or similar)  by plugging it into the power adapter port (cig lighter)and plugging the stereo jack into the female end that you just ran on the previous step.
    Here is where I ran my female cig lighter plug (wired into fuse panel so it powers on when key is turned on), totally optional...but this way, there are NO wires showing. again, zipties are your friend. and yes that's my CB external speaker


  • I put the bluetooth adapter just left of the radio.  The knob next to it is my rockford fosgate amp bass knob.

**Items I've noted with different stock headunits...

The basic tape player (no cd player on the headunit) didn't work well if a CD was actually IN the changer.

The RB1 Nav unit requires at least one CD be present for it to play audio.

Shoot me an email and some pics if this worked for you or have questions.

Matt
j33pin@gmail.com

5 comments:

  1. Within this era, 98% of vehicles which are in the marketplace have some kind of Best AUX Car input for external audio tracks devices. 

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello
    It is possible to adapt the AUX for video input?, so I could connect a reverse camera.

    regards

    ReplyDelete
  3. Do yuo have the noise then charging your android/iphone?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Matt, I sent you an email but you never replied.
    Need help urgently man. Appreciate your help.

    dany dot eid at hotm...com

    ReplyDelete