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  1. #1
    Frank
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    Aftermarket audio head unit installation - Saab 9-5

    These instructions are for a 2005 SAAB 9-5 with the AS3 Prestige audio. Different years and different Saab models may not be the same so do your own research and make sure you have all information for your particular car. Instructions are a guide, they are not complete step-by-step instructions. Some steps and other information may be missing.

    Check this thread for more information about the http://saabworld.net/showthread.php?t=25402

    These installation instructions should apply to model years 1998 - 2005. Saab changed to new dash layout and audio system for the 2006 - 2009 model years.

    Most of these instructions are the same for the AVIC-F900BT, AVIC-F90BT and other navigation or other stereos (single or double-din). Other units may use extra wires for additional equipment like the Vehicle Speed Sensor wire. The bypass/hack may also be different for these units so do your own research.

    My thanks to the friendly forum members stipud, Mattlach, masteryong and others for their expertise and support.

    For more info about the AVIC line, make sure to check out www.avic411.com

    It is not difficult to do the installation yourself. It does require some expertise and confidence with tapping into wires, soldering, programming the steering wheel controls adapter, taking some of the dash apart and so on. It is difficult to say how long it will take for the average installer. It took me quite a few evenings in figuring out how to hook everything up and taking pictures. With all these instructions, you should be able to do this in one day, depending on your skill level and the available tools and parts.

    Important notes:

    • This tutorial describes on how to install the PAC SWI-PS steering wheel controls adapter. This worked fine on my car with manual transmission but there are some issues in using this adapter and the paddle shifters with an automatic transmission. In a Saab 9-5 with automatic transmission, it is recommended to use the PAC SWI-RC. Find more information in this thread here: link
    • Replacing the Kenwood OEM Navigation from Saab with an aftermarket head unit requires different instructions. Please check out these posts: link


    And last but not least... I am not a professional car audio installer. Use this information at your own risk and use common sense. Some information may be incorrect or incomplete. Good luck!

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    Last edited by nordwulf; 18 July 2013 at 19:48. Reason: Changed thread title for better description of thread content

  2. #2
    Frank
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    Parts needed

    Items used (not supplied with the AVIC-F700BT):

    DIN radio removal tools

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    Vehicle wire harness: Metra 70-1784 or similar ($10) and RCA cable with 4 male ends or 4 RCA male connectors ($10)

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    Or Vehicle wire harness: Metra 70-1786 ($20). This one already has the 4 RCA male connectors

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    Antenna Adapter: Metra 40-VW12 or similar ($5)

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    Steering wheel buttons interface: PAC SWI-PS (optional) ($50) or PAC SWI-RC

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    CD-IU230V iPod cable ($50)

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    Clarion 2DBKT Universal double-DIN mounting kit ($20)

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    Last edited by nordwulf; 02 August 2010 at 13:31.

  3. #3
    Frank
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    Radio removal

    Use a couple of DIN removal tools to pull out the existing head unit.

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    Undo the antenna cable and wiring harness.

    Some of the cage tabs need to be bent back to allow the cage to slide out. It can be a bit difficult but it will come out eventually.

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  4. #4
    Frank
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    Amplifier pre-outs

    The Pioneer AVIC-F700BT and many other units have pre-amp outputs. The wires in the harness for the Saab 9-5 go straight to the amplifier in the car so you need to use these in this setup. Other sound systems and vehicles may have to use the built-in amplifies so you would use the other wires in the head unit harness.

    If you have the Metra 70-1784 without the RCA male connectors: Cut the RCA cable in half and solder the ends to the Metra wire harness using the diagram below. It may be a good idea to label the wires so you can easily identify Front and Rear when you plug them into the head unit harness.

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    Back of Metra wire harness where the wires come out (colors may vary when using a different harness).

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    Power supply (ignition): 2 (we’re not going to use this wire)
    No connection: 3
    Ground: 4
    Remote On control for amplifier: 7
    Power supply (constant): 8

    Front Red RCA pole: 14
    Front Red RCA shield: 10

    Front White RCA pole: 15
    Front White RCA shield: 11

    Rear Red RCA pole: 13
    Rear Red RCA shield: 9

    Rear White RCA pole: 16
    Rear White RCA shield: 12

    The wire harness comes with the 2 extra wires. Take the blue/white wire and place it in position #7. This is the wire for turning on the car amplifier.

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  5. #5
    Frank
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    PAC SWI-PS - Steering wheel controls adapter

    Cut the orange, yellow, green and blue wires. These are not needed for a Saab 9-5 because we are only using the white wire.

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    Cut the purple loop wire.

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    The white wire needs to be connected to the blue wire going to the SID. With the radio out, push on the back of the SID and it will easily pop out. Undo the connector from the SID so you will have a bit more room to work with.

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    Use a wire splice connector and connect the white wire to the blue wire.

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    This is all that is needed according to the instructions supplied with the unit. However... the instructions are incomplete. When trying to program the unit for the Saab 9-5, nothing happened and obviously something wasn’t right. I emailed PAC tech support and they sent me an email back with the following instructions.

    Starting with a 1k resistor and working your way up to 1.5k,2k,2.5k etc. until the unit allows you to enter programming.
    I have seen up to 6k needed in this Saab application
    The resistor goes from the second purple (next to the black wire) to the white wire (interface wire)

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    I started with the 1k resistor (brown-black-red) and this was all that was needed to be able to program the PAC SWI-PS.

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  6. #6
    Frank
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    Bypass/hack

    These units have safety features so you normally will not be able to program the navigation unit or change certain settings while the car is moving. The proper procedure is to stop the car and pull the hand brake. There is a known bypass to disable this annoying feature so you can program the unit when the car is moving. Thanks to the avic411 forum, it is very easy to do.

    Take the yellow/black wire from the top row (1st pin) out of the head unit wire harness. It should come out easy when you pull on it but you may have the lift the tab on the connector a bit. The yellow/black wire is the Mute wire but we are not using that wire for anything else.

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    Insert the yellow/black wire in between the two black wires (4th pin) on the bottom row. You may have to lift the tab on the connector with a small pointy object like a needle.

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    Ground the yellow/black and the green wire (from the black head unit connector) with the other ground wires on the harness.

    The green wire would normally be connected to the hand brake so the unit knows when your car is parked.

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  7. #7
    Frank
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    The wires

    These are the wires you end up with.

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    1 - Acc wire to headlight switch
    2 - Illum wire to head light switch
    3 - Harness for the PAC SWI-PS
    4 - Metra harness
    5 - Head unit harness
    6 - Wire going to the SID
    7 - Bypass wire - connected to the black ground wires
    8 - Handbrake wire - connected to the black ground wires
    9 - Amp power cable

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    The AVIC-F700BT also has a wire for conencting to a car reverse wire. I tried using the unit without this wire connected and it works fine without it.

  8. #8
    Frank
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    More wiring

    We need to tap into two wires going to the headlight switch.

    Yellow/Blue wire for illumination wire on the head unit

    This wire goes to the headlight relay so it will have +12V when you turn the headlight switch to the On position (assuming your DRL’s have been disabled).
    This wire needs to be connected to the orange Illum wire on the head unit. The unit needs to know when to dim the display so if the wire has +12V, the unit switches to night mode.

    Green wire for the Acc wire on the head unit

    There are 4 positions for the ignition key:

    LOCK
    OFF
    ON
    START

    The red wire in the Metra harness is supposed to be connected to the ACC wire on the harness. However, this wire is only powered when the ignition is in the ON position. This means your engine needs to be running in order to be able to use the head unit. You can turn the ignition to the ON position without having the engine running but this bad for the ignition and other engine parts. What we need is a wire that is powered when the ignition is in the OFF position.

    That’s where the green wire from the headlight switch comes in. It has +12V when the key is in the OFF, ON and START position and 0V when in the LOCK position. So the OFF position in the Saab 9-5 becomes the ACC position found on many other vehicles.

    Procedure:

    Take out the fuse panel cover on the left side and push out the headlight switch from behind.

    Slide out the red part on the harness and remove the head light switch.

    Use wire splice connectors to tap into the two wires

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    Route the wires under the dash. The panel is secured with only 3 screws so it is easy to do.

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  9. #9
    Frank
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    There are several places where you can put the navigation antenna. This is just one solution but it was easy to do, the antenna is in a great spot for picking up signal and you hardly notice it at all.

    Take out the center speaker grille. Use a screwdriver and gently lift it out. Undo the two screws that secure the speaker.

    Lift out the cover plate with the temperature sensor and alarm light

    Take the end of the antenna wire with the green connector and slide it under the edge of the dash (red arrow)

    Use some metal wire, slide in from the center speaker opening ( blue arrow) all the way to an opening in the space below the cover plate (green arrow). Twist the end of the metal wire around the nav antenna cable and pull towards the center speaker opening. From here, you can route the antena wire down to the head unit.

    The AVIC-F700BT comes with a small sheet of magnetic material with adhesive on one side. Cut out a piece smaller than the nav antenna and stick on the front cover plate. This will hold the nav antenna in place. Put the speaker, grille and cover plate back in their place and you’re done.

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    The end result.

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  10. #10
    Frank
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    Other items

    There are several places where you can put your iPod. The best spot for me is in the glove box.

    Remove the glove box from the dash (there are 6 screws that hold it in place) and drill a hole on the left side. The hole needs to be large enough for the USB connector.

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    I placed the microphone at the top of the A-pillar on the driver’s side and routed the cable under the door rubbers and dash.

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    When you mount the double-din cage flush to the instrument panel, there will be a large gap ( about 1/2 inch - 1 cm) between the bezel and the dashboard. I found this picture of a different head unit which shows the gap I am referring to. Definitely not a good looking install.

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    I found a couple of plastics strips in my garage that were just the right size for my solution. I taped these with electrical tape to the cage on all four sides. These strips will prevent the cage from sliding in all the way and make it stick out just enough to illiminate the gap when the bezel is in place.

    Bend out the cage tabs on the top and bottom to secure the cage in the dash. The tabs on the sides can not be used when using these kind of strips but the four on toop and bottom seem to hold the unit fine.

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