jkwon

Hello all, I thought I saw a DIY around here with pictures, but I couldn't find it. So I'm posting this up. Hope it helps some of you. I took the simple route and left the ipod in the trunk. The reason why I did this is because when I installed it in my BMW, it too was installed in the trunk and I routed the cables to the armrest. I snaked the cables under the carpet which was a huge pain in the ass and actually ended up tearing a muscle between one of my ribs. Don't ask. I later realized that I really did not need to access my ipod at all and wasted all that time and effort for nothing. You can pretty much access the whole ipod from the screen. Personally, I just like to choose a genre, start random and keep hitting next. That's how I normally listen to it on the bus going to work and it's also how I listen to it in the car. So if you're like me, don't bother with wiring and just leave the ipod in the trunk. The install took me about 15 min.

Here's the package contents: Cables on the right plugs into the SAT unit and the USA Spec box. Cables on the left connects to the USA Spec unit and the ipod itself


Pull this plug out first. I used a little pick tool, but you can use anything, there very little resistance. Pull the front part out and the rest just pulls out. Then you have to pull the panel out by lifting the carpet out from underneath the weatherstripping, then pull it towards you a little. There are 2 areas that's clipped. At least I thought they were clips, they are not. They sort of look like hooks. Just pull the carpet towards yourself and it will come loose. There's no need to undo anymore clips. You can manipulate the carpet to move it out of the way, plenty of space.


Here's the SAT unit. I'm pointing at the plugs you have to undo. There are 2 plugs there. You only need to unplug the bottom one. To do that, there is a release tab on the back of it. It wouldn't come out easy until I wedged a screwdriver in the front to coax it slightly.



The USA Spec unit is pretty fool proof. The plugs only go one way. It should be pretty self explanatory how it goes, but if you get stuck this is how to plugs work. From the USA Spec unit there's a male and female end. The male goes into the SAT and the plug you pulled out goes into the female end. Below is a picture of it.


The rest of the connections are pretty straightfoward. I just shoved all the wires back into the trunk. Here's a pic of the ipod connected to the car (just testing it). Can't make it out in the pic, but it says Honda on top of the screen.


I didn't want the ipod flapping about since there is a fair amount of space back there, so I just used this holder I found laying around. I remember paying about $5 for it. I think it's JDM. I like this one cause it it has a bottom ledge and the space is a perfect fit for the dock connector. The sides are adjustable. I put on some industrial double sided tape on the back and taped it to the wall on the trunk.


Here's it mounted. You can't see it in the pic, but the ipod is supported from the bottom. All the wires are just loose. I used the little wire ties that it came with to keep it relatively neat.


Put the carpet back and I forgot to mention in the beginning. I don't know why there is an access panel there, but I'm happy there is. I can open this up and pull out the ipod so I can load more songs or pull out the USA Spec unit so I can change the dip switches.


Now you're done. As if nothing happened

jkwon

Very important!!! I forgot to say, don't do what I did and install it wearing short sleeves. My arms are very itchy now. There must be some fiber glass type insulation in there. WEAR LONG SLEEVES

ReverendOlaf

Does the RL ride smooth enough not to cause skips with the iPod?

I know it caches, but it seems to be riding directly on the body, which might give it trouble.

jkwon

Skips? It's an ipod not a CD. I've run with it, dropped it and ski with it, I've never heard of an ipod skipping unless there's a problem with the hard drive. It's pretty secure and even if it falls off, it's not going very far.

jkwon

Now that I'm looking at the pics again, it seems that if you have dexterous (is that a word?) fingers, you can install everything through that access panel and not take down the carpet. If I knew what it looked like before, I probably would have tried that first.

pepperish

Thank you very much! I just got mine yesterday and installed it using your instructions! Pictures really helped. It is sooo simple!

jkwon

Hey, glad I could help out. To those who haven't purchased it yet, I bought mine from pacificstereo.com but for some reason they have it listed at $169.95. I bought through a portal called neweggmall.com from pacific at $119.95 free shipping. I purchased my BMW unit from there as well and haven't had any problems. Enjoy

http://www.neweggmall.com/Product/20...0/product.html

Chas2

Nice job. I asked csmeance to put in the Garage for all to easily find.

mdrosenkrans

Thanks Jkwon - been looking at getting the PA15-ACUXL from all the good reviews on the forums here and this will easily save me a $100+ doing the install myself, looks pretty easy we'll see how it goes!

du0ngtl

iTrader: (1)

hey does the usa spec supply enough wire to run it to the center console?

jkwon

Yes there should be enough space depending on how you route the wires. I do have a suggestion though and this is experience from my unit in my bmw. Get an extension, doesn't matter if it's short or long, because the cable that comes with the USA Spec is kind of stiff especially when it's cold out. Some of those dock connector extensions are really flexible like the ipod/iphone cable.

BTW, wear gloves and long sleeves. My hands are still itchy, maybe I'm allergic.

ReverendOlaf

It reaches with plenty to spare. Sadly the thickness of the plug means that an iPod connected to it will not fit in the upper compartment (with the split doors), but it will fit in the larger lower one. The unit likely is best placed under the seat or in the front of the console (near the footwell, which is where I placed it).

tlmaster1

i just did it!!! installing usa-spec took less then an hour. thanks to your instrustions. it works great!!! i also brought it from neweggmall.com that is the best price... i love acurazine

jjrl05

Thanks for taking the time and sharing with us.

jkwon

No problem at all guys. I noticed something a little strange when using this device. I was listening to a playlist and tried to get to a particular artist so I just kept hitting next until I could find it. This is the only part of the unit I don't really like. I wished I could use the dial to choose the first letter like the navi when searching for a name of a city. After hitting next several times it just froze and I couldn't do anything. The only way to unfreeze it is to unplug the ipod then plug it back in. Anyone else experience this?

baboya96

installed mine. All works great except for 'Tune' buttons. When in playlist, this sorta skips tracks and not go one track after another. But if I use CH +/- on the steering wheel, it works fine. Something I can change on the tune setting?

manyoo99

I just bought a 2006 RL (Canadian model) with no XM buttons. I have tried to search for the XM module in the trunk, but there seems to be none.

Can anyone with a 2005 or 2006 RL verify whether the XM module is installed in the Canadian RL's

manyoo99

Well no one replied to me and I learnt this the hard way.

The Canadian 2006 RL's do NOT have the XM module in the trunk. The PA15-ACU XL will NOT work with the factory radio. I'm still researching but the HON2 or HON3 interface might work.

Note that this does not apply to the US 2006 RL's which have the XM module in the trunk.

jerztl

I got mine yesterday its great... finally i can connect my ipod or my iphone. I installed it in 30 mins. connected everything ran the wires through the trunk, took the bottom part of back seat out ran it underneath the carpet to the console...Done

fatty

How do you take the bottom part of the back seat off?

oo7spy

The Garage Sticky has a manuals section that includes an interior trim manual that will tell you how to take off EVERY part of your RL. If it is as simple as a 2nd gen Legend, then you just pull up on the front, releasing two clips, and then pull towards the front of the car. However, I haven't done this yet on my RL (waiting to install my subs and amp).

jkwon, my guess is the access panel is to replace taillight bulbs, but again I haven't done this yet.

HondaV10

Does anyone have a new source for getting the PA15-ACU XL for $119? neweggmall no longer finds it.

To jkwon and everyone else that leaves an iPod in the car:

Does the music continue where you left off when you get back in your car? Or does the iPod just pick another song and plays it?

Thanks in advance!
--Conrad

mattjordan

My Ipod begins where it left off when I shut the car down.

HondaV10

Perfect, thank you. It's going to help me decide whether or not to bring the cable up to the cabin (to hook up to my iPhone as well), or leave it in the trunk for iPod use only.

--Conrad

MikePA

First, thanks for the pics and explanation.

Second, what's the best path to run the cable into the passenger compartment and into the center console? While I don't need to see my iPod with this solution, I am looking for a more convenient place to locate it since I load new podcasts on the device almost daily. Right now I have the cable coming through one of the semicircular cutouts in the little access panel with enough slack to allow the iPod to lay on the trunk floor.

With it in the trunk, it's opening the trunk every morning to connect the iPod and opening it every evening to take it in the house to load new podcasts.

Any ideas?

23109VC

If you install this and opt to just leave the in the trunk, plugged in....does the iPod charge while plugged in.??

I have an iPod classic 80gb that I don't use bc I got an iPhone, but I can store TONS of music on my classic....I could sync my library, then pit the iPod into the trunk, and it would stay charged?

Also, I have a 2006... Which specific iPod adaptor is needed for my car? I want to be able to see song track info in my nab screen and control the iPod from steering wheel.

Thx

jford62

Just installed in my wife's 2006 (Std) yesterday. Correct USA Spec is Pa15acuxl. Charges while in use and for 1/2 hour after ignition is off. Song info and steering wheel controls work great.

I have left it in the trunk for now, but if anyone can suggest a way to get the wire to the console without ripping up the entire interior I would prefer to keep the ipod there.

23109VC

Just bought this...plan to install tomorrow! Wat is the deal with the dipswitches? Not sure I understand what changes if they are flipped! For now, I'll leave them alone.

I'm going to do the trunk install...... Like the OP did.

MikePA

No need to change the DIP switches.

oo7spy

Your best bet is under the back seat and then under the carpet into the console. Otherwise you would have to run all the way around the door trim and in from behind the radio, but that would be a lot of work.

23109VC

Was it aed to do it that way? Right ow it's all in the trunk...but I'd like to route it to the center console.

Do you go under the carpet that covers the transmission/ driveshaft hump or more along the side of that ? Any pics of the route you used?

oo7spy

I'm not aware of what aed means, and I actually have not run anything to the console. I removed my back seat and door trim (DIY Amp Wire) and it doesn't seem like going over/next to the hump would be all that easy. When I took the door trim off, I noticed the route of all the wires for the driver seat electronics and thought this may be a good route. i.e. through the back door trim, B-column, and then under the driver seat. I imagine you would have to remove the seat though.

All that being said, this is entirely speculation. Just some ideas I got when running my amp wire. There are people in this post who claim they have gone under the carpet, but I don't know where.

tasdisr

If installed as the original poster did and leaving the ipod in the trunk are you still able to use the steering wheel controls?

oo7spy

I believe so. The whole point of this mod is to completely integrate the iPod into the car's systems, i.e. screen shows titles/artists, wheel controls change songs, ect.

tasdisr

Thanks, that is what I thought but figured it did not hurt to ask

PVD24

Does the ipod shut off, or is it always on in the trunk... do I have to manually shut it off? also, can I plug in an auxiliary cord in the arm rest and have my iphone plugged in there as well?

-Jessica

oo7spy

I can't say if it will shut off (I don't have one) but it should stop playing, and since this charges the iPod you shouldn't have to worry about shutting it off.

The reason I don't have one is b/c I use the 35 mm Aux jack to plug my iPhone into. If I understand this unit right, you use it throughout the XM interface, so Aux should work at the same time also.

PVD24

Now can you have all three... What if I want my ipod in the trunk.. that Aux mm unit for my iphone and still want to use my XM? is that doable?

oo7spy

I don't know the answer to that one, and no one else seems to answer questions on this thread. It may be helpful to call USA spec's tech support. Maybe they can answer the XM/iPod combination. I'm not entirely sure it interfaces throughout the XM, but that's how most of our hack-in equipment works.

oo7spy

PVD, I tried to reply to your PM, but it said your inbox was too full. Maybe because of your lack of posts?

acura-legend.com is another forum that may have some info, but this site is your best bet. Usually people are all over things here but haven't been as of late. Maybe Spring has pulled them away from their computers?