Lost my Temp. reading with replacement stereo.

[KLUTZ]

Hi all. We have a fairly basic except cruise 2008.5 Mazda3 which just became my "New" ride after we ( "Wife" ) bought a new 09 Mazda6 GT last week. First thing I had to do was replace the stock crap stereo and paper thin speakers with a Sony deck and Infinity speakers in the doors. 100% improvement that was. Anyway. I had it installed by the shop where I got it and knew I was going to loose the controls on the steering wheel, unless I wanted to spend another couple hundred.. No... And I figured I would loose the information regarding the stereo on the small screen above the dash, but I didn't expect to loose the Temp. reading as well. Is there something they disconnected that I could reconnect to recover the Temp. readout?

Thanks

Paul

[S.F.W.]

not sure about the temp reading. But getting back your steering wheel controls should cost $100 at most. All you need is the PAC SWI-PS ($50 ebay), and you could have your shop install it, which should take 15 minutes.

[cwp_sedan]

Did they disconnect the LCD entirely?

If not, did they disconnect the radio while the LCD was still plugged in? I think that makes the difference. I may be wrong though.

[TheMAN]

AFAIK, any time you install an aftermarket system with a crappy (everything sold here) kit, the LCD display is gone... you need to spend big bucks on a JDM kit to keep everything

[cwp_sedan]

AFAIK, any time you install an aftermarket system with a crappy (everything sold here) kit, the LCD display is gone... you need to spend big bucks on a JDM kit to keep everything

Not true, but you are mostly correct.

Usually the item that comes extra in the Japan kits are the brackets to hold the LCD screen. This is the only thing different. The Metra and Scoche kits don't usually come with them but I think certain kits might. The wiring is still available to connect to the LCD "IF" the LCD is not removed. I think the OP has kept the LCD in place and is just wondering why the Temp did not stay.

[TheMAN]

the kits in japan also come with a controller box to make the LCD work

[KLUTZ]

Thanks.
No, they removed the entire LED panel with the stereo, so they didn't have a chance to re-connect the Temp. reading light. They told me the part was 70 bucks and it would take 1.5 to 2 hours to install the wiring to keep the steering wheel control because there were "dozens" of wires that had to be spliced and such @ 60.00 per hour. So, Future Shop was not quite honest with me?
Is there a link to an ebay listing for this part that someone could post please?

Thanks

[Iceman_F1]

Thanks.
No, they removed the entire LED panel with the stereo, so they didn't have a chance to re-connect the Temp. reading light. They told me the part was 70 bucks and it would take 1.5 to 2 hours to install the wiring to keep the steering wheel control because there were "dozens" of wires that had to be spliced and such @ 60.00 per hour. So, Future Shop was not quite honest with me?
Is there a link to an ebay listing for this part that someone could post please?

Thanks

They were a bit honest. But slightly off. If the unit is the same as mine, it DOES come with lots of wires. But at most, you would only use 3. Red for power, black for ground and I believe white for the actual controls. For the most part, I assume you would have used a wire harness for the stereo so it would be plug & play and easier to take out down the road. As such, tapping the power and ground would be easy to get to on that unit. The only ones you would have to "splice" are on the other end. At least that's how my friend did mine. We stripped a bit of the wire matching the pin of what the PAC unit said and connected it to that. We also needed to tap into the ground right next to it (pin 9 and 10 if I remember right) otherwise it wouldn't work. All said and done, it took my friend under 1 hour to wire the entire thing and do our tests.

All the other wires on the unit were there for other cars and shouldn't be needed. Once hooked up, works great. Only thing that takes a bit getting used to is there is a bit of delay between button pushes but you get used to it.

[S.F.W.]

Thanks.
No, they removed the entire LED panel with the stereo, so they didn't have a chance to re-connect the Temp. reading light. They told me the part was 70 bucks and it would take 1.5 to 2 hours to install the wiring to keep the steering wheel control because there were "dozens" of wires that had to be spliced and such @ 60.00 per hour. So, Future Shop was not quite honest with me?
Is there a link to an ebay listing for this part that someone could post please?

Thanks
http://cgi.ebay.ca/PAC-SWI-PS-Steering-Adapter-AVIC-F90BT-AVIC-N4-Z1-Z2-Z3_W0QQitemZ350230702546QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_Defa ultDomain_0?hash=item518b6069d2&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Rather than going to FS for install, you should contact one of our sponsors, Audio Heaven, Selective sound, I'm sure they would be more reasonable for install.

[TheMAN]

agreed
the big box stores have so many cars that go through there, they don't have time to care about your car's install, or charge a good price for that matter

[Dave_The_BMXER]

I think with 2008.5 you can separate the LCD and radio. However anytime you want to change what displays on the radio you have to put the stock one back in.

[KLUTZ]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Very helpful for sure. The reason I had F.S. install the Stereo and the front speakers, (I put the rear ones in myself when I got home.. 30 minutes) was because they had a walk in sale in Barrie, 30 to 50% off everything, and I happened to be killing time. I was going to replace the crap and this happened to be a perfect time. They were able to get me in while I waited. I wish I had done it myself after seeing how easy it is. But. I really have noticed that I miss the wheel controls so I think I will follow up on the kit listed on Ebay. Maybe I will get a few chances to drive the 6 with the 10 speaker Bose system and enjoy that too.

Thanks again.