replace radio

[starider]

Once,quite by chance whilst trying various combinations of buttons, managed to get a DVD to play, but because I couldn't remember how I achieved the result, have been unable to find the method again. It's a shame someone hasn't photographed each screen that pops up and then found someone to translate the various wording.

[Rojie]

45 minutes ago, starider said:

Once, quite by chance whilst trying various combinations of buttons, managed to get a DVD to play, but because I couldn't remember how I achieved the result, have been unable to find the method again. It's a shame someone hasn't photographed each screen that pops up and then found someone to translate the various wording.

 

Hi Starider,

 

The most coherent instructions on how to use the head unit (that you probably have) is to visit.

 

Eightseaterblog.com

 

If your hard disk has any space left, CDs (or MDs) will be copied to it.

As ever, there is a knack to using these Japanese head units.

 

I think you will find the DVD won't work if you are moving or the footbrake is released.

It isn't the easiest of things to get used to.

 

Try 8 seater, see how you get on. He has lots of other useful info there. Pairing a Bluetooth phone for example.

And he does use photos too.

[starider]

Thanks, when I get some spare time I'll have a look.

[Rob Harris]

We fitted a Pioneer AVH Z5200 DAB head unit to our 2005 Alphard last year. Had the same problem of the local car audio place not wanting/couldn't be bothered to work out how to fit the new unit. So cracked on and did ourselves. Retained front and rear cameras, steering wheel controls etc. Not the cheapest way of doing things but it works!! Happy to provide more detail if anyone is interested.

[Andyx]

On 3/7/2021 at 8:23 PM, Moomins2 said:

Hi

Just for your info, if your Alphard has the factory fitted amplifier that is fitted under the front passenger seat then it is a very different lead that is required to fit an aftermarket radio, I had a Fujitsu ten 86120-58080 Japanese radio and changed it to a UK spec Kenwood double din radio that required the fascia adaption kit but the lead described in the previous post did not fit the Toyota harness in the dash. I eventually found a lead that did the job from INCARTEC of Exeter and the lead code was 20-259 just trying to sort out the sound at the moment but it might just be the Amp turn on wire, if I cannot figure it out then I will probably just bypass the amp and wire the speakers directly to the radio, but I will get there eventually.

Hiya I must be just round the corner from you, small world, anyway the question is did you fit a head unit yourself? if you did was it easy? and what head unit did you fit?

Thanks Andy

[Moomins2]

The unit that I fitted myself was a Kenwood DMX5020DABS the short chassis design and it fits perfectly with the adapter kit that I got with it.

the only issue was getting the existing amp to work with it but as it turned out the built in amp is more than capable of powering the factory speakers so i had to cut the speaker wires from the plug to the amp under the front passenger seat and wire them directly to the stereo and it works just fine.

the Kenwood does everything that I require gets all the FM stations and DAB stations and when I plug the phone in I get choice of SAT NAV from a couple of sources but my favourite is waze, brilliant sat nav and all the info on the road ahead pot hole warnings speed cameras even if a vehicle is parked partially obstructing the road. it even plays movies and all the music you could possibly own through a usb stick. happy to show you if you would like if you are local to me.

John

[Edmxrs]

On 9/12/2021 at 2:42 PM, Ldrego said:

My channel name is cuttothechase.  Have a look at this head unit. It cost about 140 pounds from aliexpress and was plug and play.

 

 

were you able to retain the factory rear and front cameras as well as the screen in the roof of the van? 

[Shakira]

Hi there. 
 

looking for replacement too. We are in the West Sussex area so if anyone could let us know of anybody to fit we would be very grateful ☺️

[Paul Kelly]

On 4/4/2022 at 11:12 PM, Moomins2 said:

The unit that I fitted myself was a Kenwood DMX5020DABS the short chassis design and it fits perfectly with the adapter kit that I got with it.

the only issue was getting the existing amp to work with it but as it turned out the built in amp is more than capable of powering the factory speakers so i had to cut the speaker wires from the plug to the amp under the front passenger seat and wire them directly to the stereo and it works just fine.

the Kenwood does everything that I require gets all the FM stations and DAB stations and when I plug the phone in I get choice of SAT NAV from a couple of sources but my favourite is waze, brilliant sat nav and all the info on the road ahead pot hole warnings speed cameras even if a vehicle is parked partially obstructing the road. it even plays movies and all the music you could possibly own through a usb stick. happy to show you if you would like if you are local to me.

John

Hi John

I have just purchased an Alphard series 2.0 campervan - late 2008 with an alpine 8" screen unit - obviously all in Japanese so need to replace it. I am in Essex so not far away - the Kenwood unit looks great and ideal for me - does it work with the reversing camera as well? Would it be possible to view your unit at a convenient time? Thanks - Paul

[Rojie]

2 hours ago, Paul Kelly said:

Hi John

I have just purchased an Alphard series 2.0 campervan - late 2008 with an alpine 8" screen unit - obviously all in Japanese so need to replace it. I am in Essex so not far away - the Kenwood unit looks great and ideal for me - does it work with the reversing camera as well? Would it be possible to view your unit at a convenient time? Thanks - Paul

Is your van a 10 series or 20series ?

VIN number is on passenger side B pillar

[Paul Kelly]

1 hour ago, Rojie said:

Is your van a 10 series or 20series ?

VIN number is on passenger side B pillar

Hi - it is a 20 series

[Rojie]

44 minutes ago, Paul Kelly said:

Hi - it is a 20 series

 

I believe the OEM units on the 20 series can have the language changed,

Unfortunately, I suspect your Alpine is an aftermarket unit.

 

Have you tried some of the Manual Library sites to locate an English version?

[Paul Kelly]

1 hour ago, Rojie said:

 

I believe the OEM units on the 20 series can have the language changed,

Unfortunately, I suspect your Alpine is an aftermarket unit.

 

Have you tried some of the Manual Library sites to locate an English version?

Hi - thanks - i have tried already and it cannot be changed to English- so i need a replecement unit fitted.

[arthurj]

On 8/23/2022 at 5:25 PM, Rojie said:

I believe the OEM units on the 20 series can have the language changed,

Only the ones sold for export (Malaysia etc.) as far as I can tell, the JDM ones are still Japanese only. You can sometimes find firmware upgrades for non-HDD models that have English language. It looks like switching to English may have become a feature only after 2014 or thereabouts.

[starider]

I hope those of you who are able to modify/replace the radio, achieve good results,we have decided not to spend lots of money to replace ours and are quite happy with good old Radio 2 and DVDs. We just carry our DeWalt site radio for use on camp sites.

[Rojie]

7 hours ago, starider said:

I hope those of you who are able to modify/replace the radio, achieve good results,we have decided not to spend lots of money to replace ours and are quite happy with good old Radio 2 and DVDs. We just carry our DeWalt site radio for use on camp sites.

 

Me too, and our collection of CDs.

[starider]

Forgot to mention we use CDs in the unit as fitted. As it is usually difficult to get good TV reception, we have a small TV which will play DVDs,so box sets are useful.

[Rojie]

4 hours ago, starider said:

Forgot to mention we use CDs in the unit as fitted. As it is usually difficult to get good TV reception, we have a small TV which will play DVDs,so box sets are useful.

 

I have a PC allocated to Alphie; just need a tiny DVB tuner, and hey presto

[HumanyHuman]

Useful info on this forum, thanks to all that have posted. I decided on an Atoto F7xe, and also that my wiring skills weren't up to scratch, so asked the company that did my conversion to have a go. Absolute champs, did it for sixty quid (so £310 including radio). It works perfectly (in a 20 series Vellfire, non-amplified system), connects to Android Auto on my phone as it boots up, shows rear view from camera, and has DAB+, even comes with a mic. I had quotes from car radio specialists for fitting this system ranging from £780 upwards, so it's worth just phoning around for a cheaper fitter.

Edited September 30, 2022 by HumanyHuman
Added bit about rear camera

[Bazzer1955]

I expect many will frown on this but I couldn't have all the trouble with wiring and cameras may not work and maybe lose steering wheel controls etc

So we bought a decent fm transmitter, tuned the fm onto 87.5, tuned the transmitter to the same, voila , We now have all the music we want, every radio station we want, phone mounted on an air vent holder for Google maps, not had a bit of interference, "Alexa play random 80's music"

Works for us 👍

[HumanyHuman]

3 hours ago, Bazzer1955 said:

I expect many will frown on this but I couldn't have all the trouble with wiring and cameras may not work and maybe lose steering wheel controls etc

So we bought a decent fm transmitter, tuned the fm onto 87.5, tuned the transmitter to the same, voila , We now have all the music we want, every radio station we want, phone mounted on an air vent holder for Google maps, not had a bit of interference, "Alexa play random 80's music"

Works for us 👍

I was doing this for a while, but it was a drag rocking up to the camping spot with a drained phone battery. I needed to offload radio6 (don't roast me) onto DAB and have the phone charging on journeys while it was providing navigation. Whatever works, right.

 

[Bazzer1955]

18 hours ago, HumanyHuman said:

I was doing this for a while, but it was a drag rocking up to the camping spot with a drained phone battery. I needed to offload radio6 (don't roast me) onto DAB and have the phone charging on journeys while it was providing navigation. Whatever works, right.

 

The transmitter we use has usb charging ports so drained phone battery is never a problem also we have 3 usb ports in the rear of the centre consol via an adapter plugged in the 110v socket, as you rightly said "Whatever works, right "

[HumanyHuman]

1 hour ago, Bazzer1955 said:

The transmitter we use has usb charging ports so drained phone battery is never a problem also we have 3 usb ports in the rear of the centre consol via an adapter plugged in the 110v socket, as you rightly said "Whatever works, right "

Nice - that is a really handy place to have USB ports. My nearest one was at the back of the van by the rear seats. I traded the centre console for a swiveling front passenger seat.

[Bazzer1955]

35 minutes ago, HumanyHuman said:

Nice - that is a really handy place to have USB ports. My nearest one was at the back of the van by the rear seats. I traded the centre console for a swiveling front passenger seat.

Again if it works for you LOL 👍

[RobDennis]

Hi, I am new to this forum, I have recently purchased an alphard 2008 model, the original head set is still in the car. However it does not appear to be working at all (no power)?
I am living in Essex near London would really appreciate all of you fellow alphard owners giving me some tips please 

thank you kindly in advance 

 

Rob