zeppelin77

Here's another success story of a non-navi to navi conversion (2006 6MT). Conversion actually took place a couple months ago, but I've been working out some kinks.

First and foremost, I want to thank JPTL04 for all his help. Actually, it was all him. He did the whole conversion ... I only provided the parts. Thanks Jaime! Seriously, after looking at the manuals the last few days I have a much, much greater appreciation of the level of difficulty. Total class act!

Secondly, anyone wishing to convert his car should know that it is a huge undertaking. Huge. That's why I hired the services of jptl04. I may have been able to do it myself, but it would've been at least 40+ hours of work (including all the research, wiring, dismantling, etc.). I understand most of the electrical, but I'm a chicken when it come to taking apart my car.

I'm doing this write-up to help out any future ziners who want to convert their car. Fellow ziners are welcomed to offer any insight or comments that I may have neglected.

This is not meant to be a guide to perform a conversion. It may turn into one, but I don't have nearly the knowledge to give a step by step guide.

This will be organized into several sections:

I. Prep work

1. Diagram of navigation
2. List of required parts
3. Where to buy parts
4. The wire harness dliemma
5. Cost
6. Manuals
7. Tips

II. Installation/Testing install

1. Time required
2. Tips
3. Removal of parts
4. Testing

III. Pitfalls/Problems

1. Flicker/pink screen
2. HFL problem
3. Differences in 04/05/06 and AT/MT

IV. Photos

1. Before

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zeppelin77

I. Prep Work

1. Diagram.

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zeppelin77

II. Installation/Testing Install.
I won't be much help here, but I'll do my best. This is where the service manual is your bible.

1. Time required.

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zeppelin77

III. Pitfall/Problems

1. Display flickers & reddish tint.

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zeppelin77

IV. Photos

1. Before

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ajdigerati

Out of curiosity, how much did you pay for the parts from the Salvage TL?

zeppelin77

$1000 for Navi DVD drive, DVD bracket, Navi DVD disc, display, sub-display, gps antenna, XM antenna, radio unit and air vents that attaches to the sub-display.

jptl04

iTrader: (1)

damn Ben!!! no wonder it took you so long to post this! good job, very detailed.

about the hfl showing up red in diagnostics. i think you're right it must have something to do with the mixed 04-06 hardware. but it works fine right?
that hfl thing was a headache, glad it work out in the end.

jayv

Awesome write up... JP also helped me big time when i did mine.. always answering questions for me... Congrats

RTLNOOBIE

congrats!!!. now i need to find myself some salvage TL for parts too. i need to replace my stock radio clock to a nevi radio clock.

ArieS1204

Ouch!

ttribe

I alread have the Navi in my car, but I just had to post my compliments on your install and your write-up: both very well done.

Geekeng

Need connectors for your custom wire harness? Or how about a complete wire harness kit? Check out my site (geekeng.com) -- you'll find what you need.

mmade22

First off, great job on the detailed write up. A lot of great info here and I am very greatful for it. I am helping out a well known guy on here Accuratine (Eric). He has a 04 auto with nav and wants to swap the nav unit to his new 05 6mt without nav.

All of the parts have come out of the old and we inspected the wire harness of both cars. I see that we can cut the harness for the nav unit side of everything and make a custom harness. I will find the diagram from the manual on those.

My question is, the upper display harness is different up top where it displays the temp and radio etc. The hazard switch and airbag light is different as well. Did you find what wires where what and solder it into the existing harness of the car?

Since Eric has no interior parts in either car, the install is easy. It's the harness that seems to be an issue. We swapped the non nav over into the auto tl and all was well as the radio is a plug and play thank god.

zeppelin77

Only the upper display is different. Hazard light and air bag lights are the same.
I believe there is one connector that comes out of the upper display and connects to the main display unit.
If you follow the wiring diagrams it should be pretty straightforward where each pin needs to go.

mmade22

Thanks man, I am looking into getting a manual now. Again, great write up and its people like you who make this site what it is!!!

jerseydog66

Thanks for the great write up. I'm gearing up to do my conversion. I have an non-navi 05 MT, and I bought the main display, rom drive, sub-display, antenna, and floor harness from an 04. I bought the steering wheel buttons and some screws from Delray. The main display and sub-display did not come with connectors so I'm trying to find a dash harness from an 04 so I can build my own custom harness. I have been studying the ETM for days. As of now I have 2 questions:

1. Is it possible to add the gray wire for the navi HFL buttons to each side of the existing cable reel harness connectors in the steering wheel?

2. I did not get the VIN from the car that the navi equipment came from. Is it possible to get the 4 digit NAVI pin from a dealer with just the serial number from the rom drive?

zeppelin77

Please remember I didn't actually do the conversion. I just bought the parts and had someone install it and watched. I'll try to answer your questions though.
1. Yes, I believe you can use the existing cable reel. I saw jptl04 solder a wire up to the steering column.
2. When I asked for the navi code from the dealership, they didn't bat an eye. I just provided the serial number and they did NOT even ask for the VIN or a receipt. But it really depends on your dealership. Maybe you'll get lucky.

jerseydog66

Thanks a lot for the info. I appreciate it.

penglish

I'm interested in building my own navi conversion harness to get the hard part out of the way first. Anyone have any useful diagrams?

781mach1

i will have some extra pig tails from my navigation conversion in like a week if anyone wants to make their own harness. I just didn't feel like having one of my sotters coming undone and something not working.

penglish

if you have an extra 22 pin connector, could i possibly purchase it from you?

jerseydog66

I'd be interested in purchasing your pigtails. What connectors are they from?

Tripnbeats

dude....NICE write up man!!!!..glad everything went right for u with it.

781mach1

I have the pig tails from the back of the nav screen and from the nav computer.

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

^If he doesn't want them I do.

jerseydog66

I need the ones for the display screen. I just sent you a PM.

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Oh snap I only need the ones for the drive. I'll pm him as well.

penglish

actually I need the display and dvd pigtails.
pm me!

TLNY04

just wondering if anyone has made custom wire harnesses for this because i have a navigation but no harnesses let me know and i will pay you for them

zeppelin77

check www.geekeng.com ... never dealt with him, but he seems legit.

TLNY04

nice find but is that 500 dollars for all 3 harnesses or the 2?

zeppelin77

Sounds like all 3 because he mentions a complete kit w/ voice commands, which is the roof harness.
You can also PM jptl04. I know he had one for sale in the black market and it was less than $500.

penglish

I purchased connectors from geekeng
they told me that they do not have any wire harness kits
only downside is it's $20 flat shipping no matter how many connectors you buy.

JohnDylan6

I want to purchase the connectors or the harness, but the website isn't working right now.

Anyways, I have a question, I have a '06 TL, and the person before me who owned the car did the conversion to it and it worked when I bought the car. I had no idea it was converted, so when I started having problems with my navigation (which after reading these forums came to the conclusion the drive either need to be cleaned or I needed a new upgraded orange disc.) I took it to Acura thinking it was under warranty and they couldn't touch it they said.

well, I had a friend (big mistake) look at it and he ended up taking the wires out of the back of the drive in the trunk area. They were hot glued in place he said. Well, now I don't know which wire goes where, is there anybody who can help me with this problem?

I looked on ebay and I would have to buy the whole kit ($1800) to get a wiring harness. How many wiring harnesses are there and where do they connect? I need to know that also, if I can buy the harness and replace it, it will work. My stereo doesn't even work, and it's driving me crazy, lol.

Could someone please help me out and tell me what my options are?

Thank you.

I

zeppelin77

Please confirm. It sounds like the guy before you connected the bare wires to the navi drive and did NOT use connectors. The connectors come in green, black and grey. Since you are having trouble reconnecting things, it sounds like the dude didn't use connectors because it's basically plug and play.
Hopefully, the guy before you had enough sense to label all the wires, otherwise you are shooting in the dark as to what goes to what. You'd have to take apart the car to get to the other end of those wires. A lot of work. You can email that geekeng guy directly about the connectors from his website. He comes to the boards occasionally. Or go on ebay and look for the wire harnesses. Also try contacting Martin (ebay username is: acurahondatech). Several board members have purchased from him and can vouch. He usually sells the entire conversion kit, but I'm sure he can sell you the wire harnesses by themselves. There are 3 harnesses altogether (roof, floor and instrument).
Good luck.

Alexsphoto

Nice write up, I have been reading up on the navi conversion and decided to start conversion on my car.
I have purchased most of the parts but I still need GPS antenna and Pigtail wires for the DVD unit in the trunk. So if someone has them Please let me know.
Where did you buy the wire and what was the gauge.
Also I have a spare Sub display for a Navi Acura TL

zeppelin77

I didn't do the conversion, but I did a similar project where I upgraded the navi and xm to 07-08 and I used 22AWG multi-conductor shielded cable. I bought it at my local electronics store (I had trouble finding anything useful at Fry's). This is what I bought: http://shop.willyselectronics.com/br...fm/4,2807.html
You have a lot of work if you don't have pigtails. You need to buy the connectors and the pins (http://www.geekeng.com or contact martin (ebay username: acurahondatech) and then put them all together.

Good luck.

penglish

so i'm 90% complete with building my conversion harness however I do not have enough connector pins to tap into my existing hfl connector
geekeng is in canada and has a pricey flat rate shipping charge
anyone have any suggestions on where to pick up some connector pins? (for the price they are worth) ha

zeppelin77

- Martin -- ebay user: acurahondatech
- salvage yard
- Acura/Honda dealer. Bring a sample. I know they come in a repair kit, but it includes tools and pins in various sizes. I don't know if you can buy them individually. Might be expensive. Make sure you get them as pigtails, so you don't have to crimp the wire to the pin.