Touring radio not wired for speed?! - LotusTalk

Ground Loop · 12-28-2004, 04:27 PM

The LA (touring) radio has a feature that can adjust the radio volume to match the speed of the car. I'd really like that feature, especially in open-top driving where the radio is too loud as you come off the highway and requires constant adjusting in polite company.

But.. it appears the 'speed sense' wire is not connected by the factory! The "auto-volume" feature doesn't do anything at all in my radio.

This would be the first factory radio that didn't come fully connected. Seems strange to have a useful feature and not wire it up.

Makes me wonder if it has the headlight switch connected so it can auto-select DIM mode.

etypeiii · 12-28-2004, 06:47 PM

Apparently, this pin (automatic sound) needs to be connected to a VSS (vehicle speed sensor) output on the host car. It will then adjust the volume based on speed. I suppose, since it was not implemented, the Elise doesn't have a auxilary VSS output to plug into.

But then, given the combination of Lotus and Blaupunkt (the installation instructions for the LA MP72 are abysmal), who knows?

DLY

Hollywood · 12-29-2004, 02:34 AM

wont work the the elise. no speed sensor.

James A · 12-29-2004, 01:46 PM

There must be a speed signal or we have a mechanical speedo. Is it mechanical?

Ground Loop · 12-29-2004, 02:16 PM

The entire dash is connected by one 'data bus', the CANBus from the ECU. There is no mechanical connection that I know of.

From the limited diagrams I've seen so far, I think even the odometer goes off the CANBus data. I've been able to swing the tach and spedo needles to zany locations by mistake, just by messing with the CANBus, so there really might not be any real "speed sensor" or simple pulse output available. Bummer.

I should get the service manuals, at least the electrical, before figuring out the hard way if the airbags are somehow CANBus connected too..

Arno · 12-30-2004, 01:46 AM

You'd need something like this:

http://www.soundlabsgroup.com.au/can..._interface.htm

Bye, Arno.

Ground Loop · 12-30-2004, 01:59 AM

What a cool gadget Arno! Thanks for the link.

I had no idea such a thing existed. There's a lot going on in that black box if it can decode speed/rpm on all those cars. There are so many ways to encode it on the CANBus..

Of course, it costs more than our Blau head unit, but hey.. if you need it.

usofrob · 12-30-2004, 02:06 AM

Well, there may be a way around this. It might be possible to get it between the CANBus and the speedometer. Or, you might be able to get your own CANBus module with some sort of speed output, and make it yourself. Then the question becomes, is it useful.

Wait a second, didn't someone install the Pioneer in car GPS Navigation system? It prefers a speed sensor to increase the accuracy. Hey, you!

What did you do?

Hollywood · 12-30-2004, 12:49 PM

that was me! I just use the gps. it pretty close with out a speed sensor. i was going to try and make one my self with magnets.

plesset · 12-31-2004, 02:49 PM

The car is wired to support Auto-Dimming when you turn the lights on.

pauhana99 · 12-31-2004, 11:01 PM

I just opened the box that came with the L.A. For some reason the dealer gave it to me. It had some bits and cables etc... I found one that looks like a microphone with a double sided sticky tape mount. Could this be a speed sensor? -or rather ambient noise sensor? Does anyone know the piece I am referring to? Should I take a pic?

andykeck · 12-31-2004, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by pauhana99
I just opened the box that came with the L.A. For some reason the dealer gave it to me. It had some bits and cables etc... I found one that looks like a microphone with a double sided sticky tape mount. Could this be a speed sensor? -or rather ambient noise sensor? Does anyone know the piece I am referring to? Should I take a pic?

It's for the automatic equalization function. It plays some test tones or sounds and adjusts the eq to suit the car.

pauhana99 · 01-02-2005, 10:23 PM

did the dealer perform this? Or should I. the blaupunkt really is terrible. Will this improve it? I have tried adjusting the base and treb etc... The sound is very tinny with no base no matter what I do.

andykeck · 01-03-2005, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by pauhana99
did the dealer perform this? Or should I. the blaupunkt really is terrible. Will this improve it? I have tried adjusting the base and treb etc... The sound is very tinny with no base no matter what I do.

The dealer almost certainly didn't do that step. You should do it. Even after the adjustment though, I think you'll find that the sound is very tinny with no bass.

MattG · 01-03-2005, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by pauhana99
did the dealer perform this? Or should I. the blaupunkt really is terrible. Will this improve it? I have tried adjusting the base and treb etc... The sound is very tinny with no base no matter what I do.

Typically, the dealers are not adjusting the EQ, and are not setting the tuner to the US settings (default is European, on the Los Angeles stereo at least). I recommend doing both.

James Heath · 04-01-2006, 12:11 AM

Has anyone got any further with hooking up speed sensing?

I've only justgot my 111r (UK spec) - was miffed to find that the head unit - DAB54 - had it but it wasn't wired up.

I've found the wiring diagrams for the car for mk2 2001 on & looking at them, they show a spliced wire coming from the speedo to the radio. the only problem is that the wiring diagrams I have will be for a K series engined car & I don't know how different the 'yota engine will be.

Anyway, I'm going to get my head under the dash today & see what I can find!

J

Evl · 04-01-2006, 05:02 AM

I've got the signals I need in the places I need, but am working on a counter/divider. Picked up the wrong one when I was at the local electronics store. I'll keep you posted if I can get it to work.

Ground Loop · 04-02-2006, 10:30 PM

You could probably tap one of the wheel speed sensors between the ABS and ECU and use that for speed input to the radio. Those do run down the center spine. I'm not sure if the radio is expecting a signal of that low frequency, though.

James Heath · 04-03-2006, 01:08 AM

Well - I took the dash unit to bits & found the wiring diagram I had, whilst mostly correct, must be for a K series engine car (don't think these were sold in the states) - mine does indeed use the CANbus.

Can anybody point me to where I could intercept the wiring between the ABS unit & ECU? a wiring diagram would be great - mine is clearly not quite right!

thanks,

James

charliex · 04-03-2006, 10:08 AM

12-28-2004, 04:27 PM	#1 (permalink)
Ground Loop Student Driver Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 2,191	Touring radio not wired for speed?! The LA (touring) radio has a feature that can adjust the radio volume to match the speed of the car. I'd really like that feature, especially in open-top driving where the radio is too loud as you come off the highway and requires constant adjusting in polite company. But.. it appears the 'speed sense' wire is not connected by the factory! The "auto-volume" feature doesn't do anything at all in my radio. This would be the first factory radio that didn't come fully connected. Seems strange to have a useful feature and not wire it up. Makes me wonder if it has the headlight switch connected so it can auto-select DIM mode.

12-29-2004, 02:34 AM	#3 (permalink)
Hollywood The Real Slim Shady Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Riverview, FL Posts: 799	wont work the the elise. no speed sensor. __________________ 2005 Lotus Elise Magnetic Blue/Touring/Black (orderd 1/10/04)(Received 10/21/04) #528 QuickSilver exhaust, Larini De-Cat Pipe, custom intake, Xtec HID, Avic-N1, Chase Cam, Polk Speakers f&r My pictures! Elise/Exige Owners Map

12-30-2004, 12:49 PM	#9 (permalink)
Hollywood The Real Slim Shady Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Riverview, FL Posts: 799	that was me! I just use the gps. it pretty close with out a speed sensor. i was going to try and make one my self with magnets. __________________ 2005 Lotus Elise Magnetic Blue/Touring/Black (orderd 1/10/04)(Received 10/21/04) #528 QuickSilver exhaust, Larini De-Cat Pipe, custom intake, Xtec HID, Avic-N1, Chase Cam, Polk Speakers f&r My pictures! Elise/Exige Owners Map

12-31-2004, 02:49 PM	#10 (permalink)
plesset Its too hot now! Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 213	The car is wired to support Auto-Dimming when you turn the lights on. __________________ 91 BLK NSX 05 BLK Range Rover 05 BRG Elise 03 Segway HT

12-31-2004, 11:01 PM	#11 (permalink)
pauhana99 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Honolulu Posts: 20	what is with the microphone for the L.A. stereo? I just opened the box that came with the L.A. For some reason the dealer gave it to me. It had some bits and cables etc... I found one that looks like a microphone with a double sided sticky tape mount. Could this be a speed sensor? -or rather ambient noise sensor? Does anyone know the piece I am referring to? Should I take a pic? __________________ Arctic Silver, Red, Touring,...converting to LSS.

12-28-2004, 06:47 PM	#2 (permalink)
etypeiii Registered User Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Bothell, WA Posts: 352	Apparently, this pin (automatic sound) needs to be connected to a VSS (vehicle speed sensor) output on the host car. It will then adjust the volume based on speed. I suppose, since it was not implemented, the Elise doesn't have a auxilary VSS output to plug into. But then, given the combination of Lotus and Blaupunkt (the installation instructions for the LA MP72 are abysmal), who knows? DLY

12-29-2004, 01:46 PM	#4 (permalink)
James A Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Houston Posts: 1,490 Images: 1	There must be a speed signal or we have a mechanical speedo. Is it mechanical?

12-29-2004, 02:16 PM	#5 (permalink)
Ground Loop Student Driver Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 2,191	The entire dash is connected by one 'data bus', the CANBus from the ECU. There is no mechanical connection that I know of. From the limited diagrams I've seen so far, I think even the odometer goes off the CANBus data. I've been able to swing the tach and spedo needles to zany locations by mistake, just by messing with the CANBus, so there really might not be any real "speed sensor" or simple pulse output available. Bummer. I should get the service manuals, at least the electrical, before figuring out the hard way if the airbags are somehow CANBus connected too..

12-30-2004, 01:46 AM	#6 (permalink)
Arno Nerd on wheels Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 1,044	You'd need something like this: http://www.soundlabsgroup.com.au/can..._interface.htm Bye, Arno.

12-30-2004, 01:59 AM	#7 (permalink)
Ground Loop Student Driver Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 2,191	What a cool gadget Arno! Thanks for the link. I had no idea such a thing existed. There's a lot going on in that black box if it can decode speed/rpm on all those cars. There are so many ways to encode it on the CANBus.. Of course, it costs more than our Blau head unit, but hey.. if you need it.

12-30-2004, 02:06 AM	#8 (permalink)
usofrob Almost out of warranty :) Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Melbourne, FL Posts: 687	Well, there may be a way around this. It might be possible to get it between the CANBus and the speedometer. Or, you might be able to get your own CANBus module with some sort of speed output, and make it yourself. Then the question becomes, is it useful. Wait a second, didn't someone install the Pioneer in car GPS Navigation system? It prefers a speed sensor to increase the accuracy. Hey, you! What did you do?

01-02-2005, 10:23 PM	#13 (permalink)
pauhana99 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Honolulu Posts: 20	should I use the auto eq func? did the dealer perform this? Or should I. the blaupunkt really is terrible. Will this improve it? I have tried adjusting the base and treb etc... The sound is very tinny with no base no matter what I do. __________________ Arctic Silver, Red, Touring,...converting to LSS.

04-01-2006, 12:11 AM	#16 (permalink)
James Heath Registered User Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 12	back on speed sensing Has anyone got any further with hooking up speed sensing? I've only justgot my 111r (UK spec) - was miffed to find that the head unit - DAB54 - had it but it wasn't wired up. I've found the wiring diagrams for the car for mk2 2001 on & looking at them, they show a spliced wire coming from the speedo to the radio. the only problem is that the wiring diagrams I have will be for a K series engined car & I don't know how different the 'yota engine will be. Anyway, I'm going to get my head under the dash today & see what I can find! J

04-01-2006, 05:02 AM	#17 (permalink)
Evl His Impatientness Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 1,723	I've got the signals I need in the places I need, but am working on a counter/divider. Picked up the wrong one when I was at the local electronics store. I'll keep you posted if I can get it to work. __________________ www.agentsofentropy.com

04-02-2006, 10:30 PM	#18 (permalink)
Ground Loop Student Driver Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 2,191	You could probably tap one of the wheel speed sensors between the ABS and ECU and use that for speed input to the radio. Those do run down the center spine. I'm not sure if the radio is expecting a signal of that low frequency, though.

04-03-2006, 10:08 AM	#20 (permalink)
charliex OSX Black hat Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Las Vegas , NV Posts: 9,935	. Attached Images __________________ Black Exige S - http://goth.am 265 Mule / Elan M100.ECU Tuning, http://www.elisetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39660 West Coast Lotus Meet - Las Vegas - November 6-9 2009 http://www.westcoastlotus.com/

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04-03-2006, 01:08 AM	#19 (permalink)
James Heath Registered User Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 12	rats - more advice needed Well - I took the dash unit to bits & found the wiring diagram I had, whilst mostly correct, must be for a K series engine car (don't think these were sold in the states) - mine does indeed use the CANbus. Can anybody point me to where I could intercept the wiring between the ABS unit & ECU? a wiring diagram would be great - mine is clearly not quite right! thanks, James