Vivaro radio conversion help

Delvis

Delvis

Delvis

Caporegime
Joined
7 Nov 2004
Posts
30,197
Location
Buckinghamshire
Hi all,
So i've wanted to change the radio on my Vivaro (2010) for a while and I took the plunge this weekend.
I went for an Xtrons unit (https://xtrons.co.uk/opel-vauxhall-holden-android-12-quad-core-2gb-ram-32gb-rom-psf72vxa-b) which as far as I'm aware is mean to 'come with everything needed' so the correct wiring harness etc.
My problem is it's apparently not a quick unplug and plug in the new one job, the pins don't line up and looks like I either need another converter, or I need to get fancy and move the pins about.

Can anyone assist? I'm relatively good with things like this once I have the information, but I'm struggling to get the info at the moment :(

EDIT: If I can find a wiring diagram for the existing radio I might be alright.
 
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At a guess you'll need an adapter loom to go from the standard Vauxhall wiring to an ISO plug, which will then connect to the new radio wiring - search Vivaro ISO adapter and see if that looks to match the connectors you have
 
nicRob said:
At a guess you'll need an adapter loom to go from the standard Vauxhall wiring to an ISO plug, which will then connect to the new radio wiring - search Vivaro ISO adapter and see if that looks to match the connectors you have
Click to expand...
This is what I don't get, the radio comes with an iso wiring harness, it should already just work.

Think i've found the van wiring anyway: https://www.tehnomagazin.com/Auto-radio-car-connector/RENAULT-Car-Radio-Wiring-Connector.htm
(see the part 'VDO Tunerlist, VDO Updatelis')

Nothing matches up though quite frankly. Whole point of using them was so it was easy, may as well have got a better branded one and go to bloody halfords or something
 
Case in point:
jjPTZ0g.jpg

(Close it like a book)
The pins done match up, and they're orientated wrong. :(
I can find other converters online, but then it won't have the included CAN bus decoder on it.
 
Delvis said:
This is what I don't get, the radio comes with an iso wiring harness, it should already just work.

Think i've found the van wiring anyway: https://www.tehnomagazin.com/Auto-radio-car-connector/RENAULT-Car-Radio-Wiring-Connector.htm
(see the part 'VDO Tunerlist, VDO Updatelis')

Nothing matches up though quite frankly. Whole point of using them was so it was easy, may as well have got a better branded one and go to bloody halfords or something
Click to expand...

A lot of the Mondeo crowd went Xtron when they released for the Mk3/Mk4 and found the same issue. Xtrons claiming plug and play with "factory fit" dimensions and quickly found that additional hardware and even modifying the radio mounts needed to be done.

Not sure how Xtron are still in business tbh
 
Delvis said:
Case in point:
jjPTZ0g.jpg

(Close it like a book)
The pins done match up, and they're orientated wrong. :(
I can find other converters online, but then it won't have the included CAN bus decoder on it.
Click to expand...
standard clamshell . had same plug on my mondeo wiring when i had it ,2004 ghiax. should be quick visit to halfors or probably way cheaper from the net. if i remember rightly had to use a aerial adaptor to:)

any consolation just checked the old double din i took out of the daughters previous zaphira 2008. that is a chinese unit with the same clamshell so her vauhall wiring plugged in and there is a white plug from the stereo wiring that plugs into a seperate box for steering wheel controls (factory) and yes i had to make up a adaptor for the aerial connector.

again on a seperate note i noticed that after we fitted the stereo everytime we scanned the car for fault codes it always threw up no comms to stereo on can bus (not factory stereo ) so bear this in mind if you need faults read .
 
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Sent the thing back now.
Purchased something to connect to the cars connections to get it powered and the unit worked fine, however due to the shape of the head unit it won't actually fit in the dash anyway, despite been labelled as Vauxhall.

So I'll be looking to change it for a more standard sized one and hopefully find one that fits more conventionally...The following site seems pretty good at actually filtering down and showing you what you need:

Vauxhall Vivaro 2nd gen phase 3 Stereo Upgrades & Car Audio Cables For Radio Fitting - InCarTec

Vauxhall Stereo Upgrade & Stereo Replacement - Choose your brand of stereo Alpine, Clarion, JVC, Pioneer, Kenwood, Sony or other aftermarket stereos
incartec.co.uk
 
One more question I think, if I'm tapping into my reverse cable loom do we think I need an inline fuze?
 
I assume you’re on about tapping into reverse light power to power a reverse camera? If so then a fuse is probably not needed - I know of plenty of people who have done it that way and had no issues. Reverse camera current draw is very low, like 0.3a max.

But I personally would stick an inline fuse on it - you can’t be too safe. I was going to when I added a reverse camera in a previous car but instead I just ran a power cable alongside the video cable I was routing to the front which was right by the fuse box anyway and then used a fuse tap to give it its own fuse. I did it this way because it was no real extra effort.
 
Phemo said:
I assume you’re on about tapping into reverse light power to power a reverse camera? If so then a fuse is probably not needed - I know of plenty of people who have done it that way and had no issues. Reverse camera current draw is very low, like 0.3a max.

But I personally would stick an inline fuse on it - you can’t be too safe. I was going to when I added a reverse camera in a previous car but instead I just ran a power cable alongside the video cable I was routing to the front which was right by the fuse box anyway and then used a fuse tap to give it its own fuse. I did it this way because it was no real extra effort.
Click to expand...

Mine is run to the front as well. I was going to splice off the reverse reverse light power that comes from the Fuze box.

So basically I'm in two minds
 
Well I've wired it all up and the camera doesn't power, so that's fun. Reverse lights work....hhhahaha
 
sounds silly but did you wire it up to the fusebox? surely you need the wire going from the switch to the reverse lights? otherwise on permanatly?
i may have misread so apologies if i have.
on the daughters chinese unit i think they had to play with the setting on the unit but not sure as her ex did that at there house.
 
There's a couple of ways for the camera to be activated - you can use the +12v feed from the reverse lights to the head unit to act as a trigger for when to switch to the video feed or it can be activated via CAN bus instead. Depends on what kind of wiring harness you're using.

I remember trying to add a camera to my old BMW E90 - the reverse light feed didn't power the camera for some reason. I don't know why, it just didn't work, so as a temporary bodge I ended up running a +12v feed direct from the battery (since it was in the boot) to a relay then used the +12v from the reverse light to act as a relay for it. That did work, but as I mentioned in a previous post, I just ended up just running a dedicated +12v feed from a fuse tap in the front fuse box instead. CAN activated the video feed on that so all that mattered was that the camera was powered up.
 
gc123 said:
sounds silly but did you wire it up to the fusebox? surely you need the wire going from the switch to the reverse lights? otherwise on permanatly?
i may have misread so apologies if i have.
on the daughters chinese unit i think they had to play with the setting on the unit but not sure as her ex did that at there house.
Click to expand...

There's a cable that goes back to the reverse light, this comes from the fuse box. I've essentially split that cable and connected the camera power AND the 'reverse gear indicator' cable that comes from the radio. I had to do that at the front as the camera I have runs both the power and video to the front, rather than tapping off the actual reverse light at the back.

Phemo said:
There's a couple of ways for the camera to be activated - you can use the +12v feed from the reverse lights to the head unit to act as a trigger for when to switch to the video feed or it can be activated via CAN bus instead. Depends on what kind of wiring harness you're using.

I remember trying to add a camera to my old BMW E90 - the reverse light feed didn't power the camera for some reason. I don't know why, it just didn't work, so as a temporary bodge I ended up running a +12v feed direct from the battery (since it was in the boot) to a relay then used the +12v from the reverse light to act as a relay for it. That did work, but as I mentioned in a previous post, I just ended up just running a dedicated +12v feed from a fuse tap in the front fuse box instead. CAN activated the video feed on that so all that mattered was that the camera was powered up.
Click to expand...

So as above, the radio (Pioneer sph250) has a cable coming out of it to detect when reverse is used, I've connect that and the camera power to the reverse light cable that goes from the front - I did this by checking the cable when it was in reverse and it got +12v down it.


However after testing, it's only working when I hit the breaks. No idea, I'm going to need to check everything again.
 
not sure but from what you say the head unit has a seperate wire to pick up reverse , so as a experiment try connecting the camera to 12v and the wire from the stereo to the reverse wire. again apologies if im repeating what you have done its very hard to see over the net.
also is there a earth wire at the camera end you need to connect (had this when i fitted a camera to a interior mirror )
www.pioneer.com.au

How to set up my reverse camera? - Pioneer

Firstly you need to confirm if you are using a Pioneer reverse camera (RCAMAVIC or RCAM2) or a factory reverse camera via an aftermarket interface. Ensure the unit is switched to “Source Off”, then select the gear/setting icon on screen to access the units menu. Next select “Camera Settings”...
www.pioneer.com.au www.pioneer.com.au

dont know if this helps at all maybe not.
 
So I'm thinking the wire I'm looking at is the reverse wire but the camera itself needs a 12v live from elsewhere.

I'd rather not come straight off the battery, is there another one up the front that's the easiest?

Edit: Yes the camera has an earth but that's earthed.
 
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Yup that's how I've done it before - powered the camera from a fuse tap from the fuse box, then just used a spliced wire from the reverse light to the head unit to act as the trigger wire for the head unit to auto swap to the camera.

Depends on the car of course but the last car I did it in had a whole bunch of switched ignition fuse slots that weren't populated, so I just slotted a fuse tap into there and that was my power source sorted.
 
Phemo said:
Yup that's how I've done it before - powered the camera from a fuse tap from the fuse box, then just used a spliced wire from the reverse light to the head unit to act as the trigger wire for the head unit to auto swap to the camera.

Depends on the car of course but the last car I did it in had a whole bunch of switched ignition fuse slots that weren't populated, so I just slotted a fuse tap into there and that was my power source sorted.
Click to expand...

Hmm okay, thanks.

The whole things just proving to be an annoyance. The wire I found does go up when I put it in reverse but apparently not enough, it then goes up more if I break (no idea)

So I may have the wrong wire, god knows at this point
 
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