How to install an aftermarket head unit and maintain factory camera, mic, USB and SWC

carl_2112 · Aug 13, 2017

Goal: install a new head unit and maintain the factory backup camera, Bluetooth microphone, steering wheel controls and USB port without cutting apart the factory wiring harness in a 2014 Forte5.

Note: other years/models may have alternate pin layouts in connectors or different instructions for removing/installing the radio, etc. Be sure to look up your exact car’s information.

Background: I finally got tired of the constant Bluetooth problems in my 2014 Forte5 Ex (UVO non-nav head unit). About half the time, the car and phone claim they are connected to each other, but the head unit says there is no media available, and I have to disconnect/reconnect Bluetooth to get it to work. Sometimes the car’s Bluetooth doesn’t even work, and I have to turn the car off completely and restart it to get Bluetooth to appear. Annoying.

I recently purchased a Sony XAV-AX100 for my 300zx twin turbo that I’ve been restoring, but it won’t be road-worthy for a while yet, so I decided to put it in my Forte5. I chose this head unit for its Android Auto capabilities, and I like the physical knob and buttons along the left edge (bottom edge buttons may get in the way of the stick in my Z).

Items you will need:

New double DIN head unit with camera, microphone, remote (for steering wheel controls) and USB inputs
Metra 95-7356B Double DIN Installation Dash Kit
3 Metra 70-7304 Wiring Harnesses (yes 3 of them!)
Axxess AX-CAM6V 12 Volt DC to 6 Volt DC Step-Down
A steering wheel control module (any that will work for our cars and your head unit)
3.5mm mono audio cable (for microphone)
Composite video cable (the yellow RCA one)
A donor standard USB cable
Soldering iron
Super tiny flat screwdriver
Wire strippers
Electrical tape or shrink tube
Blue tape and marker for labeling wires
Philips screwdriver
Plastic panel removal tools (not required, but makes removing the dash pieces easier)
Kia Forte factory wiring harness diagrams and pin assignments (print these out)

1) Remove factory radio
Disconnect the negative terminal from the car’s battery.
Follow the instructions here to remove the factory radio

2) Set up the Metra wiring harness modules
The Metra 70-7304 wiring harness has two modules that plug right into the two factory wiring harness modules for the head unit. Basically all we need to do is connect all the wires from the aftermarket head unit, steering wheel control module, composite video cable, 3.5mm audio cable and 12V to 6V converter to the wires on the Metra wiring harness modules.

Unfortunately the Metra wiring harness module for Connector B doesn’t have all the pins/wires we need. There are 7 pins missing (6, 7, 10, 18, 19, 22 and 23). This is why you need three sets of these Metra harnesses. Two sets will be donors to extract these 7 pins and wires from. 6 of the missing pins are the small ones, and 1 of these Metra sets only has 5 small pins between the two modules, so one donor will only have 1 pin removed from it. Kind of a waste, but this is much better than cutting apart your factory wiring harness, and it makes the new head unit truly plug-n-play.

Extracting the pins is pretty easy if you have a super tiny flat screwdriver. Look down into the pins of one of the Metra harness modules. You’ll see a small rectangular opening under each pin. You just need to poke the screwdriver into that rectangular opening and wiggle it up/down while gently pulling on the wire from the back, and it’ll pop right out. Putting the pins/wires into the module we’ll use is easy; just slide the pin in from the back until it clicks into place. Make sure you place it in the correct up/down orientation or it won’t lock into place.

Look at the Kia radio connector diagrams and locate the positions for the 7 missing pins. Extract 7 pins from the donor modules and insert them into the good module in the correct locations.

3) Prepare the USB cable
I never used the USB port on my factory radio, so I decided to just use the factory USB cable and cut off the end where it plugs into the factory head unit and then splice in half a standard USB cable that can plug into the aftermarket head unit. I know, I said no cutting of the factory wiring harnesses, but the USB cable is a completely separate standard USB cable with clip-in connectors on each end. I found a Metra kit that looked like it might work to plug into the back of the AUX/USB module in the center console, but after removing my entire center console, I discovered that the AUX and USB connectors are two separate plugs in my car, not the combined plug in the Metra kit. I also removed the entire USB cable from the car since I had everything out at this point, but you should be able to modify the factory USB cable from the dash opening without removing the cable or center console. If you follow the cable down to the right, there is one plastic clip holding it in place. Pull that out to get more slack on the cable.

Cut off the end of the factory USB cable in the dash opening. Take your standard USB cable you had lying around the house and cut off one end of it. You can make it as long or short as you want, but you probably don’t need more than 1 or 2 feet. On both cables, remove a few inches of the outer cable case to expose the 4 wires inside each cable. You’ll see they are color coded to the USB standard.

However, I discovered after trying two different donor USB cables that Kia has the white and green wires reversed, at least compared to the two cables I tried. White and green are for data -/+. I also found conflicting USB wiring diagrams that showed opposite data polarities, and I also found posts about how companies don’t often adhere to any standard at all.

Strip off a bit of each wire from each cable. I connected the wires as follows:

red (power) to red (power)
black (ground) to black (ground)
white (data) to green (data)
green (data) to white (data)

Your donor USB cable may possibly match the Kia wiring and need white->white and green->green instead, so I suggest not soldering these wires until you test the USB cable. Once you confirm it’s working correctly, then solder all the connections and cover them with shrink tube or electrical tape. I also then wrapped the entire exposed area with electrical tape to protect the internal wires.

Note: the first donor USB cable I used only sort of worked. I could plug a USB thumb drive into the factory USB port and play music from it, but if I plugged my phone into the port, it would only charge, and the head unit and phone didn’t recognize each other for the Android Auto stuff. I had to remove the first donor cable and splice in a second one (that I fully tested using my phone and laptop first), and that worked fine then. When I plug my phone into the factory USB port, the Android Auto app starts on the phone and head unit.

Note: I did not do any wiring for the factory AUX port in the center console as my head unit does not have an AUX input. If your head unit has an AUX input that you want to use, then you’ll need to look at the Kia wiring diagram to determine which pins are needed for this and then add those pins to the Metra harness module and splice in a donor 3.5mm stereo audio cable to those wires.

4) Prepare the camera’s video cable
Take the yellow composite video cable you had to buy since you don’t have any lying around the house anymore, and cut off one end. Again, this cable doesn’t have to be terribly long. Remove a few inches of the outer casing. There will be two wires inside. The center wire (mine was inside a yellow casing) is the camera video input (pin 6), and the other bare wire is the camera video ground (pin 18). Label the two wires with blue tape for easy reference later.

5) Prepare the Bluetooth microphone cable
Take the 3.5mm mono audio cable and cut off one end. Remove a few inches of the outer casing. Like the video cable, there are two wires inside. The center wire is +, and the other bare wire is -. The + wire is pin 10, and the - wire is pin 22.

6) Prepare the steering wheel control module
The PAC SWI-RC module I got comes with a rather large set of instructions and diagrams for tons of cars. However, if you go to their site (Steering Wheel Control Interface Wiring – PAC ) and plug in your car’s information, it will give you very specific installation instructions. For our cars, only 4 wires are used. Two black wires are ground, red is +12V accessory and the white wire is the signal wire that goes to pin 4 on the Metra harness. The rest of the wires are not used. Be sure to read the complete instructions on setting the radio select rotary switch and programming it.

If you have a different steering control module just follow the directions for it.

Note: After programming this steering wheel control module, I had every steering wheel function working accept for volume up. I tried multiple times with no success. I then did some searching and eventually ended up at the PAC website where I found a small note about the SWI-RC not being compatible with my Sony XAV-AX100 head unit. Doh! The note said I need to use either the SWI-CP2 or SWI-CP5. I ordered the SWI-CP5 and swapped it out. The SWI-CP5 has a much nicer programming interface. You plug your phone, tablet or PC into it, select your car and stereo, and it programs the module for you. Now I have all the steering wheel controls working. So make sure whichever steering wheel control module you choose is compatible with the head unit you get!

7) Connect all the wires
This is the fun part. Take your time and double check each pair of wires before connecting them. I assume all wires have been stripped and labeled as needed.

Basically, one at a time, connect each wire from the aftermarket head unit, steering wheel control module, 3.5mm microphone cable and camera video cable (more details to follow) to the corresponding wire on the Metra harness modules. I twisted wires together and then soldered them for a solid connection. Wrap each connected wire pair with shrink tube or electrical tape.

There are a few places where you will connect more than 2 wires together. For example, the red +12V accessory wires from the aftermarket head unit and steering wheel control both connect to the corresponding wire in the Metra harness (pin 11). And there will be a number of ground wires you will want to connect all together so everything shares a common ground.

8) Backup camera connection details
The backup camera in our cars needs a 6V source, so we need to use a 12V to 6V converter.

The black wire on the converter is ground and should be connected to all the other ground wires.

The blue/white wire on the converter needs to be connected to the 12V reverse signal wire (pin 19 in the Metra harness). My new head unit also needs a signal from pin 19 to know when to display the camera when the car is in reverse, so I had both wires connected going to the pin 19 wire in the harness.

The blue/red wire on the converter goes to pin 7 (camera battery +). This is what supplies the camera with 6V.

Pin 23 from the Metra harness is the ground for the camera, so it needs to be connected to all the other ground wires.

The yellow composite video wires connect to pins 6 (camera video input) and 18 (camera video ground).

Note: with the camera wired like this, it will only get power when you are in reverse. I discovered my head unit has a Camera button on the home screen that will show the backup camera at any time, plus the head unit has a set of configurable red/yellow/blue lines that will also show the camera input when you make adjustments. So I rewired my camera to always have power. I removed the blue/white wire on the converter from the pin 19 connection and then soldered it into the other wires going to pin 11 which is the +12V accessory line. Now I have camera power all the time and can display it anytime on the head unit.

9) Bluetooth microphone connection details
This is easy. Just connect the two leads from the microphone cable to pins 10 (Mic +) and 22 (Mic -).

Note: Tapping into the factory microphone is easy, but in my case, the factory mic’s impedance was too high for my head unit, and my test caller reported my voice was very faint. I tested the new mic plugged directly into the head unit as well, and my caller said my voice sounded good and clear with it. I measured the impedance of the factory mic through my new wiring at 7000 ohms, and the impedance of the mic that came with the head unit was only 5850 ohms. So before you go this route, measure the impedance of the mic that comes with your head unit and see if it’s close to the impedance of the factory mic. If it’s close, it may work well, otherwise you may be stuck using the mic that comes with the head unit. I also attempted to splice the aftermarket mic into the factory wiring in the headliner, but the impedance measured at the 3.5mm connector that plugs into the head unit was still too high and resulted in a faint volume, too. It’s also possible my wiring/soldering was the cause of the increased impedance and low voice volume. I may do more debugging when it’s not 100 degrees here in Texas. I ended up ordering a new low impedance mic to use for now. I mounted it right on the steering column pointing up at me. I may eventually route that into the factory location in the headliner for a clean install if I can’t solve the issue using the factory mic wires.

10) Install wires in the dash
Steps 2 through 9 (except possibly 3) can all be done inside your home in comfort. At this point you will have 2 fully configured Metra harness modules with a bunch of wires connected to them, along with the steering control module, 12V to 6V converter, video cable and mic cable. Feel free to make it look as pretty as you want with zip ties.

Take all this stuff outside to the car. Plug in the two Metra harness modules into the factory connectors. Take it easy when you plug the modules together to make sure all the tiny pins are going into their respective holes, or you could bend or push out a pin. You will now have the aftermarket head unit connector, steering wheel module, video cable, mic cable, USB cable and factory antenna cable available for easy access to plug into the head unit.

My new head unit also has a long wire that needs to be connected to the parking brake switch. I had to remove the center console to gain access to the wire that goes to the switch.

11) Partially install the new head unit
Follow the instructions in your head unit to get it fully connected (main connector, USB cable, microphone, camera, steering wheel remote cable, antenna, etc).

Don’t fully install the head unit yet. You will first need to program the steering wheel control module, so leave that sticking out of the dash.

12) Program steering wheel controls
Reconnect the negative battery terminal.
Follow the instructions for programming your steering wheel control module. Place the module behind the head unit when done.

13) Test everything
Turn on the head unit and test everything to make sure you have everything connected right. Test the backup camera, USB port in the center console, make a phone call and test the microphone, test FM radio, test all the steering wheel controls, make sure the 4 speakers are wired correctly, etc.

14) Finish up
Now that you have verified everything is working correctly, complete the head unit installation by securing it in place with screws, install the new dash kit and replace the trim piece below the dash.

15) Final notes
This may look pretty daunting, but none of this is difficult. Just break it down step by step, make sure you understand the pin layouts in the two wiring harness modules and take your time.

Enjoy your new head unit!

Home screen:

Bluetooth streaming music:

Factory backup camera in reverse:

Android Auto Google maps:

Android Auto Google music:

nouse4aname · Aug 13, 2017

Sweet! Shared to the 2nd Gen Forte Club.

Guatiao · Aug 14, 2017

Thanks for such an excellent post, I knew somehow it was finally possible to swap the head units for basically any other! And bonus points for testing it with Rush!

carl_2112 · Aug 14, 2017

Thanks!

I've seen various random posts about doing parts of this, but never a single good post that covers it all.

And I'm going to solve my factory mic issue at some point, too. I'm pretty sure that should have just worked, but I bet I have an issue with my splice into the Metra harness. The mic wires are super tiny.

I always test with Rush.

carl_2112 · Aug 14, 2017

I'm still using the speaker-level outputs of my head unit into an AudioControl DQ-61 for fine tuning. At some point I may run RCA cables and either remove the DQ-61 or replace it with a DQDX or DM-608.

With the new head unit in place, the sound of the system is drastically different than the factory head unit, of course. So I spent a couple hours and completely re-tuned the audio.

I reset all input/output gains on all components to zero. I reset all EQ levels on the DQ-61 to flat. I turned the DQ-61's AccuBass circuitry off.

From there I determined the optimal input and output gains on the DQ-61 and both amps. There is no signal noise in the system at all. I then went on to fine tune it further with the DQ-61's 3 sets of EQ controls (front, rear and sub). The system sounds really good now, at any volume, definitely better than before.

However, when I was adjusting the front vs. rear channels, I realized there is a huge difference in sound quality between the Hertz component (front) and coax (rear) speakers, so I am going to replace the rear coax speakers with another set of the component speakers for a completely consistent sound from front to rear. Sitting in front, the rears are only really for fill, but I often have people in the rear seats, so I figure I should make sure the audio is great from all seats.

carl_2112 · Aug 15, 2017

I realize I didn't post more of an overview of the dash with the new head unit and dash kit. The dash kit has good fit, but it's a different finish than the other black portion above it. The new kit has more of a matte finish, but it still looks good.

The new head unit also allows for custom backgrounds, which explains the Earth image I have on it.

And the funky thing on the vent to the right is a magnetic cell phone holder, which I love.

nouse4aname · Aug 15, 2017

Yeah it's not bad. I'm considering one of the Android units that come with the molded faceplate that in pictures anyway looks like it has more of an OEM look and has OEM looking dials/buttons.
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesal...olesale?catId=0&initiative_id=AS_20170815125804&SearchText=2013+forte+head+unit

carl_2112 · Aug 16, 2017

I looked at a number of different android-based head units, but I couldn't find one that I was sure enough would be a good choice. Lots of iffy reviews, older versions of android, etc. I generally like Alpine and Pioneer for standard grade car audio, but I really don't like any of the double DIN options they have out now. I finally discovered this Sony unit, saw it in person, really like the clean look and simple layout, and the reviews I read were all really positive. I'll be getting a 2nd one for my Z when the time comes. The Android Auto stuff is pretty cool, too: voice control for navigation, sending texts, making calls, etc.

azndoodle · Jan 12, 2018

Thanks @carl_2112!! I can't wait to attempt it on my 2014 Forte5. I have the non-nav unit and I can't wait to upgrade it to android auto. Waiting to do this after the 5 year mark.

azndoodle · Jan 12, 2018

I was really hoping that the non-nav unit could be hacked or modded, I guess only thing is to replace it with aftermarket.

carl_2112 · Jan 12, 2018

Definitely go with an aftermarket head unit! You'll be glad you did. The sound quality improved so much once I swapped mine. I also removed the AudioControl unit I installed to improve the factory head unit, and now I just run straight RCA cables from the head unit to the amps in back.

mobileterminaluser · Jan 24, 2018

Great post.

I bought a Kenwood DDX773BH Doubled Din aftermarket stereo for my 2010 Kia Forte Koup SX 2.4L 6MT Theta 2 from a pawn shop. The Kenwood came with the Crux interface & wire for a 2016-17 Toyota Corolla.

I ordered the Crux SWRHK-65S interface for my Forte & Kenwood DDX773BH. easy to wire up.

I want to be able to use the steering controls. The crux doesn't control any of them at all. The Kenwood harnesswires are hooked in to the Crux interface all except a blue with yellow stripe wire that says "remote cont"

The Crux interface has a pink wire with white stripe. No tag nothing, just the pink with white wire.

I downloaded the Kenwood DDX773BH user & connection instructions & the Crux SWRHK-65S instructions. Neither indicate help for the steering controls.

I tried using search for wire diagram/s for a 2010 Model: A-250TDUSB Gen 1.5
Part #: 96150-1M270MWK with no luck. Will google.

read you post (great write up btw) & wanted to ask if i would need to buy another interface for the steering wheel controls?

Thank you for the time, response & info.

The system isn't allowing me to upload pics.

carl_2112 · Feb 5, 2018

Sorry about not responding to this sooner.

I'm not familiar with the Crux interfaces, but it sounds like you may need to find a different product.

The PAC SWI-RC is a good one and really cheap, but you need to make sure it's compatible with the head unit and your car. I initially had this one, and it all worked except for volume up, then I read that it's not compatible with my Sony head unit. So I replaced that with the PAC SWI-CP5, and it all works perfectly.

Good luck!

dots · Mar 5, 2018

Some good info in this thread. Thanks to those who have contributed.

Just a note to those looking to go aftermarket. I didn't need to use any third party steering wheel control module. I just wired my head unit's steering wheel lead to the original lead that went to the original head unit. I have a generic $155 Android head unit I bought off ebay (7" screen, wifi, GPS, bluetooth, USB, microSD, backup cam). The settings allow you to program the steering wheel commands to specific head unit commands (volume, seek, menu, source, etc).

I confirmed I had the right lead by using a multimeter and detecting ohm changes when pushing different steering wheel buttons. Works like OEM now.

Not sure if some of the name-brand head units will detect steering wheel controls as well, but if you save some money and get a generic Android-based deck, you'll save the hassle/cost of a PAC SWI module.

PS- like the OP, I was shocked the Metra wiring harness doesn't include all the OEM leads! What's up with that? Though no need to buy 3; you can just splice in to any original leads IMO.

mywax · Mar 11, 2018

That's a great price. Can you share a link to the model you bought? Are you happy with the way it's performing?Thanks!

carl_2112 · Mar 6, 2018

That's cool that your head unit has a built-in steering wheel control interface. The Sony unit I installed does not have a programmable interface, which is why I needed the PAC module to interface between the head unit and the car.

And yes, you can just splice into the factory wires, but I really like the simple plug-n-play solution I get from doing the extra work to add pins to the Metra harness. It makes for a cleaner install and easier to upgrade again later if I want to.

Ggggggggg · Jan 2, 2019

Anyone know the name of the small pins? Want to buy a job lot from Alibaba. Would be able to post them out for cost to anyone that wants to do this. Seems insane we are buying 3x harnesses just for these pins, must be able to source them from somewhere.

carl_2112 · Jan 3, 2019

I thought about getting a generic set of pins (search amazon for examples), but the Metra kits are cheap, they already have the wires attached, and they are an exact fit, which is why I went that direction.

van6119 · Mar 15, 2019

Its very help full thanks alot

Emolin · Aug 9, 2019

Regarding the backup camera installation... did you have to cut and splice the factory camera connection with the proprietary connection or are you wiring it some different way?

carl_2112 · Aug 10, 2019

I did not cut or splice the factory wires. All of the wiring was done using the Metra wiring harnesses. These two harnesses just plug into the factory wiring harnesses, which then connects all the new wires into the car's system.

The gory details are all outlined above if you go back and read the sections on the backup camera, namely 4, 7, 8 and 10.

If you have any specific questions please ask away.

mobileterminaluser · Aug 18, 2019

The I datalink is if you want to use or be able to use & view on the aftermarket stereo display the HVAC, camera/s, on board scanner, Waze, apps & other features.

I installed an older double din kenwood ddx773bh stereo with Crux steering wheel & radio interface SWHRK 65S (2007 to 2014 Kia & Hyundai). My kenwood DDX773BH has the Maestro rr module & datalink. On the website it shows screenshots of the RR & idatalink.

Also if your buying a new aftermarket stereo it might just need the items your asking about.

You can go to your local bestbuy or automobile sound system store.

Hope this helps.

mobileterminaluser · Aug 18, 2019

You should just need the steering wheel & stereo interface if you're not needing the idatalink. I just bought the steering wheel & stereo interface. I have my steering wheel controls. Vol up/down, mute, call, end call/hang up, next/previous & mode (inputs:BT,DVD,camera,android apps, satellite radio, FM/AM.

I've lost the use of OEM microphone, USB & AUX & satellite (I don't use at all). I did have to buy a 3.5mm external microphone. Works great.

If need to I can always revert back to OEM/Factory stereo & faceplate. I'll upload some pics of my aftermarket stereo to see if that helps.

Anthony

TJT · Aug 26, 2019

mobileterminaluser said:
You should just need the steering wheel & stereo interface if you're not needing the idatalink. I just bought the steering wheel & stereo interface. I have my steering wheel controls. Vol up/down, mute, call, end call/hang up, next/previous & mode (inputs:BT,DVD,camera,android apps, satellite radio, FM/AM.

I've lost the use of OEM microphone, USB & AUX & satellite (I don't use at all). I did have to buy a 3.5mm external microphone. Works great.

If need to I can always revert back to OEM/Factory stereo & faceplate. I'll upload some pics of my aftermarket stereo to see if that helps.

Anthony

Hey, thanks for the info!

mobileterminaluser · Aug 29, 2019

No problem. Glad the info helped.

drumist · Sep 9, 2019

Thanks for putting together such a detailed guide! I recently finished an aftermarket head unit install in my Kia Forte 2014 sedan, and thanks to this guide, it went very smoothly. I've done multiple head unit installs before, but never with a backup camera, steering wheel controls, or built-in microphone, so your guide was absolutely great in explaining how to make sure all of these work with the new unit.

Here are a few suggestions/comments for anyone else doing an install:

I decided to skip the factory USB & AUX ports. Instead I ran the aftermarket head unit's USB cable toward the passenger side and it comes out under the glove box. No alterations necessary.

Even if your head unit comes with a parking brake wire, some brands will let you just ground the wire (so the head unit basically thinks your parking brake is engaged all the time). I verified that my head unit works fine this way, so I didn't have to run a wire to my parking brake. Do some research on your particular head unit to see if this will work before trying this.

I used the factory microphone and the quality is fine for my needs. Android Assistant has no problem understanding me. I very rarely make phone calls in my car, but when I tested it, it was at least clear enough that you could hold a conversation.

I used the iDatalink Maestro ADS-MSW steering wheel control and it works with all the buttons in our car.

carl_2112 · Sep 9, 2019

Thanks! I'm glad my write-up helped you out!

I really like having the factory USB connection, so I can just plug into the port in the center console.

MichiganSX · Jun 8, 2020

Thanks for posting this up, helped a ton getting everything wired up.

I did run into a problem, unfortunately. Somehow in the process of removing the old radio and installing the new, it appears I've shorted my backup camera. I say this because when we couldn't get it working with the new head unit, we put the old one back in to check and it wouldn't switch to the camera when I'm reverse. Do you know if there's a fuse for the camera that could be replaced? Or am I SOL and need to get a new camera?

I need to rip the into back out because left too much (read ALL) of the wire on the harnesses, so it's too cramped in there and the head unit is not functioning quite right (it was working when I first put it all in).

Thanks again for all the good info.

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk

MichiganSX · Jun 8, 2020

MichiganSX said:
I did run into a problem, unfortunately. Somehow in the process of removing the old radio and installing the new, it appears I've shorted my backup camera. I say this because when we couldn't get it working with the new head unit, we put the old one back in to check and it wouldn't switch to the camera when I'm reverse. Do you know if there's a fuse for the camera that could be replaced? Or am I SOL and need to get a new camera?

Ignore this. Turns out my 2016 is some sorta freak running what is thought to be a 2017+ radio. I actually have a dedicated harness for the camera (we didn't reconnect it when we were testing if the old head unit worked).

The harness on the bottom left of the unit in the photo is the camera harness. If you have this, you'll need to buy this harness (Axxess AX-HYKIACAM2-6V Backup Camera Harness Retain your factory backup camera in (or add an aftermarket camera to) select 2013-up Hyundai and Kia vehicles at Crutchfield) to make the camera work. I did verify that if you tell crutchfield you have a 2017 Forte that they'll recommend this harness. Mine's on the way and should be here next week (put the old radio back in for now).

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk

Isosceles · Jul 11, 2020

Hey!! Thanks for this post and for re-adding the pictures! I just bought a 2014 Forte and I’m about to do a radio swap. My Sony came with a Sirus XM tuner so I’m curious if there’s a way to tap into the factory antenna to keep the satellite radio functionality that anyone might know of? Again thanks for the post!

carl_2112 · Jul 13, 2020

Yeah, I didn't realize the pictures were all missing until I remembered the server I had temporarily placed them on went away. I had already copied them to a new server, but I couldn't edit my posts because of a forum bug. I just saw the bug had been fixed and was able to update all the image links in several of my posts.

Isn't the Sirius antenna just plugged into a single port on the factory head unit? I don't remember since I never used mine and didn't care about it with the install I did. Does the new head unit have the same Sirius input port? Seems to me like that should be a simple plug-n-play.

carl_2112 · Jul 17, 2020

That's the exact head unit I had and replaced with the Sony XAV-AX100. It sounds to me like the installers just don't want to deal with making a customization like I did and would rather sell you a new camera and the labor to install it.

If any are willing, send them the link to this thread and have them look at these steps in particular:

4) Prepare the camera’s video cable
8) Backup camera connection details

It's really not hard at all. You will need a 12V to 6V converter though since the factory camera runs on 6V. You can see which one I used, and step 8 shows how it gets wired.

dberry19k · Jul 17, 2020

carl_2112 said:
That's the exact head unit I had and replaced with the Sony XAV-AX100. It sounds to me like the installers just don't want to deal with making a customization like I did and would rather sell you a new camera and the labor to install it.

If any are willing, send them the link to this thread and have them look at these steps in particular:

4) Prepare the camera’s video cable

8) Backup camera connection details

It's really not hard at all. You will need a 12V to 6V converter though since the factory camera runs on 6V. You can see which one I used, and step 8 shows how it gets wired.

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it. I thought they were trying to pull one over on me. I will pull the head unit and look at the back. I know mine has sirius XM capability.

UPDATE: I found an installer who will make it all work. I appreciate all of the input.

Saul_4te5 · Jul 26, 2020

Hey everyone. I put an aftermarket head unit in my 2014 Forte5 Ex. But my camera won't work and also my reverse lights have stopped working. Do you think I blew a fuse? Does anyone know which fuse it would be for the reverse lights? Thanks for any advice.

carl_2112 · Jul 28, 2020

Did you follow what I did or do something else? Did you install the 12V -> 6V converter for the camera correctly?

How to install an aftermarket head unit and maintain factory camera, mic, USB and SWC

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