[Thomas Lundy]

I recently purchased a Kenwood satellite radio system and want to install on my 02 Prius. Can I get at the toyota antenna lead from the glove box or do I have to take part of the dash off? and can I just splice the red hot wire to the red hot wire of the toyota radio or do I have to run it through the firewall to the fusebox. (same for the yellow battery wire) Any suggestions would be helpful.

 

[Jason]

Thomas,
If no one here knows you might want to contact the people at Coastal Electronics Tech. The have many after market items, I believe one of them is an upgraded CD player, in which you have to take apart part of the dash area of the radio, if you want to change it your self. They might be able to give you some info for free or for a fee.

Their web site is:

http://www.coastaletech.com/

Good luck!

 

[kkrishnan]

You may want to try Harry Eaton as well...

Harry has an aftermarket Jensen unit he sells. His site is:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/bumpelo/front.html

At this site, you can also see some very nice pictures on how to take apart the dash to install his radio; this may be useful for you as well.

Harry may (for a fee I am sure) also help you with integrating your radio with the touch screen display, if you are interested in that.

-Kal.

 

[Thomas Lundy]

Thanks for info.. regarding satellite radio ("Sirius") Kenwood tells me that the FM modulator does not hardly affect the quality of sound. Also, it shouldn't necessitate changing the FM station when travelling town to town. They supply an "ALC module" for the tuner (in the kit) to help. So, I'll try it and see. Looks like I can just drop the glove box door (see owners manual) to get at the radio antenna lead in. that's simple enough. the fuse box is on the right side of the instrument panel, near the door. If I do hear less than satisfactory sound I'll look in to connecting the factory CD palyer directly to the satellite tuner ( thus not using an FM signal to feed the tuner) . there are "Y" type wire harnesses available from Coastal I think. I'll try the simplist thing first.

 

[Perry Rodebaugh]

Sirus radio

Thomas,
If the Sirus unit has the ability to have a low level signal output you can use the aux input cable from Coastal etech. It goes between the unit indash and the factory cd player. The sound quality would be better. The FM mod unit will degrade the performance of both your AM & FM tuner. The additional pathway for the signal from the antenna to the radio will affect the already weak performance of the factory tuner. By using the FM mod you are limiting the response of the satelite radio to that of the FM tuner in the Prius. Signal to noise and dynamic range will be limited. I'm not up on Sirus, but XM units such as the Pioneer and Dephi can be modified to give a preamp signal. If you must use the FM mod unit the antenna on the stock radio is on the left corner of the unit. A reach from the glove box. To remove the radio remove the lower trim by pressing in on the black clips center point. Remove the clips, the rest of the lower section has clips and will pull off. There are 2 screws holding the radio panel, remove them. Set the parking brake, shift the car into B, press down on the trim panel where the hazard switch is pull towards you, remove the 2 10mm nuts. pull the radio bezel from the bottom and unplug all the connectors (they have push in release tabs) unplug the antenna and remove the radio pod. The hardest plugs are on the screen. I reccomend 2 people to save some skin on your arms. You can get 12volt and accessory power at the radio plug. Hope this helps. Perry...