1997 Ford Taurus LX Install, follow along kiddies... - Page 3

2k1Toaster · 05-31-2007, 09:52 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by monkeyracer

ok, something i noticed about my car after installing remote start:
I have two accessory wires. I wired the remote start into the main one, leaving out the second one (need relays, etc.)
What this means is that I can wire the carputer to the main accesory wire, and the deck and screen to the secondary one. When I start the car, the computer starts to turn on, but will not display anything or play any music (I'll have RR default to pause on resume) and when I get in the car and put my key in, the CD Deck and the screen will turn on, and I just press play. As soon as I get out and turn off the car, everything will start to turn off.

This all started because I was being lazy and didn't want to wire two relays to join the two accessory wires. It turned out to be a good thing.

I'll need more range though, the package states up to 500+ feet. I get usually about 100. Any suggestions?

Also, I don't like the remote too much, can I program a different style one to this? Meaning any DEI remote start remote remote?

Well for the range, make the antenna visible. I have mine sitting ontop of my dash but inbetween the windshield and the bar that holds the driver door, so you can barely see it, but it works well.

Also, if you went with Audiovox, get the carlink system. Anywhere your car can see a satellite, it can receive commands from a telephone.

monkeyracer · 05-31-2007, 10:34 PM

The "antenna" on my unit is a four inch wire sticking out of the brain. I got the DEI Ready Remote.

I was thinking of running a wire from that to the headliner edge where it meets the windshield. Maybe that will help.

monkeyracer · 06-05-2007, 06:36 PM

I found out how much the OPUS atx case is: $500 plus shipping. Too much. I think i'll just do the amp case instead. I have a 9.6" x 9.6" atx mobo, so most "760w" amps (the ils - if lightning strikes rating) will be big enough.
I'll use thermal paste to thermally connect the amp's heat sink to the processor. Any suggestions on this? (I'll be using Arctic Silver 5)

monkeyracer · 06-22-2007, 10:02 PM

haven't been doing much with this lately, going to vegas really makes the wallet smaller.

I picked up some Oatey Brand ABS cement, and a couple sheets of ABS. I traced my existing faceplate, cut out the abs, and plastic soldered the flat piece I just cut to the frame from the existing piece.

I'm going to test with legos first to see how to mess with the ABS cement. I picked up a couple small squeeze bottles, (target called them 'apothecaries') for a buck per, and will use those to apply the cement in a more civilized manner.

I'll post pics a little later tonight... If I even get around to it...

monkeyracer · 06-29-2007, 02:33 PM

ok, no pics of the oatey stuff, got carried away with it, and didn't want the camera to get any abs on it. One note: this stuff has powerful fumes, so use caution!
It came out well, I heat welded in four places to "tack" it together, then used the oatey cement around the full length of the perimeter. It's now chemically bonded as one piece. Now I just need to sand the edges to be smooth, and fill in the low spots at the "Tack" points.
Next, when I get my screen, i'll cut out the hole, and oatey it up. the dvd drive, usb hub, and SD reader will have to wait until the screen is in, since that is the most important part.

The fun stuff:
I just ordered a GlobalSat BU-353 USB GPS receiver to use with IG3.
Here's the details:
http://www.globalsat.com.tw/eng/prod...l_00000044.htm
Buy it at the mp3car.com store:
http://store.mp3car.com/BU_353_Weath..._p/gps-002.htm

I also ordered my stowaway folding full size keyboard. It's a fellowes (but also branded as targus, toshiba, igo, etc.) and I got it on ebay, MSRP $100, i paid $25 with shipping. (Brand new)
here's the website on this:
http://www.thinkoutside.com/products...b_product.html
This will fit very well in my center console (where I'll mount a usb port to plug it in...) and I will use along with my wireless mouse when i need it.

I'm also awaiting the arrival of my GX270 SFF case. Should be here early this week.

The screen was also going to be ordered, but my A/C is out, and that is the higher priority right now. I'm going to go get that done right now.
While I'm waiting for my car, I'll head over to the nearby electronics stores and look at USB hubs.

That's all for now.

monkeyracer · 06-29-2007, 07:03 PM

more goodies:

I got this:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=family

For my hub, I needed something flexible, since my aircard takes up a lot of room, I wanted to space the ports out a little further than most hubs allow. I was going to buy a normal hub, hack it and fabricate the ports in the right area. This way, I won't have to do that. It comes with a double cable (one for data, and some power and the other for additional power only.) This way, I won't have to find a way to power the hub. (Before anyone jumps in and says that the two 5v ports won't be enough, I'll only be using two or three at most at any one time. The folding usb keyboard and wireless mouse are minimal draws, so the main issue will be the aircard. This is plenty of power for it, regardless of the fact that it has it's own battery as well.)
If I ever do have four things plugged in, the last would be a printer and it has it's own power supply as well (probably a modified sine wave inverter) or a usb to playstation controller for video games (which will draw power, but I won't be connected to the internet.)

Also, I picked up some speaker terminals, so that I can make a Terminal for the PSU on the case rather than having wires go everywhere.
This
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...tId=2103795&cp
And this:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...tId=2103226&cp

The first one will be for power and ground, probably 8 or 10 guage wire straight from battery (fused) (rather than shared with the amp through a d-block, ground will be common though.)
The second one will be for Remote (on/off) input, 12V output to monitor (12-14 guage wire) and the two remote outputs (only one will be used for the amplifier, but if I get a 4ch amp for the rest of the speakers, I will use the second one.) Based on the Opus 250 wiring diagrams.
I will probably have to find a way to label them though, maybe a simple label maker??? or I can just use this pic, And print it, tape it to the case:

The reason I'm doing it this way is so that the whole system can be removed and taken inside for software updates, data transfer, etc. And I want to be able to do It fairly quickly.

Question about powering the monitor:
The monitor will come with a cigarette adapter, I think, so I would just need to cut the cig adapter off, and wire the 12+ to the output, and the ground to a secure ground. Correct? In theory, this way the monitor comes on and goes off with the computer.
I may also just wire it to the acc on the car so that it only comes on when the key is in the ignition, but this is not a big concern.
Anyone have input on this?

More to come soon.

monkeyracer · 06-30-2007, 12:36 AM

a/c works, woo hoo! well worth it. all it needed was to be recharged. yay summer won't suck as much!

monkeyracer · 07-03-2007, 07:08 PM

This post has become more of a journal, than a forum post, anyways, just got my keyboard and gps receiver, mATX case, and Sierra 595U coming soon too. (just put the order in today.)

A few things about the keyboard:

Overall, I really like this keyboard, it allows me to fold it up to a small form factor, yet it retains the full size key spacing which was important to me. I purchased a floppy rolling keyboard for my old Sprint Samsung i330 (worked on the i500 too...) a long time ago and the keys were really hard to feel if I pressed them right, so I couldn't accurately type anything more than about 15-20 words per minute. Due to that, I quickly shied away from any of the flexible, rollable, etc, keyboards, and I wanted a rigid keyboard.

A customer of mine bought the iGo bluetooth folding keyboard for his Treo and Mac, and came in to show it off. I was impressed, but didn't really want to spend THAT much on a keyboard. (I'd have been fine buying a small standard desktop keyboard.) And I wanted a wired one, his worked fine, but it did have it's issues. (of course this is mostly because the treo's bluetooth sucks!)
Got on ebay, and looked for folding keyboard. Found this one.

Just got it yesterday, and started to play around with it. At first, it didn't recognize the keyboard, so I was a little worried I got scammed. Changed to a usb port on the back, and it worked just fine. For some reason, my laptop wont recognize it on the side ports, only the two back ones. The side ports work fine for everything else though. Wierd.

Later, i'll post a real review of this great keyboard that seems to have disappeared from everywhere, but is a great asset to the Mobile Computing World, especially Car Computers. (probably look for it in the review section.)

It's pretty small when it's closed, about the size of a 3.5" hard drive. It has a short (2') USB cord, so I will have to use an extension. The connector has the led's that show num lock and caps lock status. When I close it though it has a strange click that almost seems like it's breaking something. It's a little hard to close because all the keys are being pressed, and was not easy to do with one hand or in one motion with both hands.

My only other gripe with this is the keyboard is four sections, and sections 1 and two lock into place, and three and four lock together, but not section two to section three, so the keyboard is still able to fold in half at any random moment. This doesn't cause a huge issue though, it just allows the keyboard to move more than I prefer, to combat this, I'll probably just make a flat board to put under it with a place on the right for my wireless mouse. (That will fold in different spots and be rigid on it's own.)

Haven't got the USB GPS reciever installed yet (laptop at home, me at work) but I'll get to try it out later tonight. Got the actual computer that is going into the car back from my brother yesterday as well. (He had borrowed it for a while until he got his new PC, and just barely got his important files off, and was ready to give it back.) So more progress will be made in the next few weeks.

I love this hobby, anything that consumes this much of my time/energy/effort is worth doing.

Things still needed:

CAR2PC-PIO interface. (allows my existing deck to view winamp as a disc changer, so i'll be able to go to the next song on the remote, and control volume, etc...)(Not an immediate priority though)

PSU - Going with the OPUS 250, it seems to be the best bet, it's enough power for my setup...

Screen - Shopping still, but the Dynamix 816 8" widescreen still seems compelling, unless I can find something better, this is what I'm aiming for.

Cables - Power, Ground, Monitor Extension, Monitor Power Extension (for the OPUS 12v out), USB extensions, misc other cables.

OBDii module - way down the road, maybe sooner, if I find a good value.

too much fun...

monkeyracer · 07-07-2007, 07:04 PM

I got some coffee this morning, actually the new java chillers from sonic drive in. They over-filled it, and when I went to grab it out of the cup holder, it squeezed out the top. Ok, fine, just spilled a little. Then I turn around a round-a-bout and the damn cup goes flying into my passenger seat, spilling some of the frozen coffee all over the place, the console, the seat, my USB extension cable for the GPS, damn.

This isn't the first time though. I want to make it the last time this happens.
For those that own this car, they know the cup holder is great for the standard 32 oz cups, but anything smaller requires a little care around corners.

What do I plan to do about it?

Well, I am going to cut a hole in the bottom of the cup holder the size of a standard 12 oz can or 21 oz cup, whichever is larger. This will still leave a shelf for the 32 oz cups, but allow the smaller drinks to sink lower and thusly not have a tendency to tip over. This cup holder folds back into the console to hide, and I definitely want to retain this feature. If what I'm trying doesn't work, then I will look at fabricating a new one. The current one has to go!

Also, I got my Dell GX150 SFF case today, leaving work in a few minutes to go and put the mobo in it. Gotta stop by and get some standoffs though. I think I'll get the 20mm ones, but I'll see what they have. (Tap and die kit too...)

monkeyracer · 07-08-2007, 11:03 AM

ok, case came in the mail, I put in the mobo, and one hdd, i missed two of the holes, and need to redrill and tap them in later. I also need to make a i/o plate for it and cut a hole in the top to vent the cpu fan. It's a tight fit all around, but it fits! The only issue I have right now is the bottom of the standoffs stick out too far to put the plastic back over the frame. I'll have to cut them down to get it to work. That will be later though.

I didn't get the cupholder cut like I wanted to though. That will happen soon. I just wont get drinks smaller than 32 oz.

I am currently considering a new design for the dash that makes the piece one piece out of a large piece of ABS instead of using the existing holes. This way I can fit an even larger screen in there, and have better placement for the CD player and DVD drive. But this obviously will be more work...

monkeyracer · 07-16-2007, 01:17 AM

Productive weekend this weekend; I was building a box for my younger brother, for his subs. Finished that, looks awesome, check out that thread here:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/work...ter-later.html

After that was done, I looked at my box and realized it is way too small! It was only about 1 cu ft per side, and it needs to be 1.25. we had some leftover MDF and carpet from his install, so I decided to redo mine. I also decided to redo my wiring, since the rats nest that was my old situation was getting ridiculous. The aftermarket wire harness for the deck was not ziptied, taped or anything to keep it together and tidy. I went the entire length of the wire, and taped with a continuous piece all the way. Also, I ran the wire to pre-wire for my four channel amp that will come in the next few months. Here's a pic of the wires after I cleaned them up. This is without any computer wires, which will add some usbs, power to monitor, vga, etc. It still looks pretty scary, almost like the dash threw up... but this is a lot better than before, now, I can actually tell what is what in there:

Notice the taped wire on the floor by the pedals? And the $200 monster cable that I've had for a few years...

For the box, I needed to add about .25 cu ft to each side. I didn't really have much room to extend further into the trunk towards the rear, and the sides weren't looking too promising either. There was a little space to go into the trunk towards the front, but there was a crossbar in the way. I decided to extend into this space since I had around 5 - 6 more inches of room, but less height (11 inches, instead of 14 at the face of the box.) So I just made an almost new box. The only panels I kept were the face and top. I had just barely enough MDF left for this. Also, I used to be a big believer in wiring the sub directly to the amp, and not through any connectors or anything, but when I was making my brother's box, he bought some speaker terminal cups, and they look so much cleaner than the way I had it before; the wires were fed through a hole in the box, and sealed with silicon sealant. The reason I didn't want to go with terminal cups was that the terminals have a different electrical property and the full amount of power isn't transmitted to the subs. Well, I was probably losing some sound anyway from the bad seal around the wire, so I'm going to use the terminal cups too. I can actually seal them off in the box, and it will make uninstalling that much easier.
If you are building a competition system, you probably already know that you would want to wire directly to the amp. I'm not building this kind of system. I probably won't be able to hear the difference between the two of them anyway, since it's a negligible amount of loss.

Here's the Cad diagram of what I did:

Real pics will be uploaded after carpet is completed.

monkeyracer · 07-16-2007, 12:28 PM

One other thing I did to clean up the wiring was relocate my satellite antennas, the XM was on the roof, and the GPS was on the dash. I didn't really like either place for them, so I put them on the rear deck.

Note-
The wiring from before was terrible, it was all over the place, there were cables everywhere! Under the back seat was where the excess wire from the amp was hidden, but it was a mess. Now the wires run through the cable channels that ford built. I used to have wires stick out and fall down near the gas pedal, sometimes they'd even get caught on my foot! Not good while driving. Now they are bundled together, and actually run under the carpet in a different place. The Homelink system wires were a mess too, I used the wrong gauge wire, and didn't really connect them reliably.

Looking back, I don't know what I was thinking when I did this all, the box was too small, the wires... It's quicker to take your time to do it right the first time, then to have to redo a sloppy job over and over...

There's not too much room left though for cable for the puter, I may have to get the 2 AWG wire out and get some d-blocks when I have everything put in (4ch amp, computer) but that cable is huge, 3/4" diameter! We'll see!

monkeyracer · 07-21-2007, 02:39 PM

the car is still leaking fluid, brought it in to get checked, not the oil like I thought, tranny fluid was leaking. $129 plus tax, and hopefully it's fixed. I'm sitting in the service waiting area right now.

monkeyracer · 07-21-2007, 07:52 PM

update: went home, went inside, 2 hours later, came back out to a puddle of transmission fluid!

so I brought it back to the shop, jacked it up, and found a huge crack in the transaxle casing.

The crack is about 6 inches long, and I really don't know what caused this. My theory is that the car is 140000 miles old, and the heating then cooling, then heating, then cooling, etc weakened the casing, and then when they filled the hot trans with cold fluid, it just cracked. Not sure when it cracked though, if it was while it was there, or driving. Also may have had something to do with excessive pressure. Really don't know much about transaxles though.

So, I just left it at the shop, I'll be waiting till monday to call the extended warranty place and have them tell me what I need to do to fix it. oh, and being under 25 makes it hard to get a rental...

Edit: Called the warranty place, any transmission shop or dealer can do the work, but I need a car to get to work for the next couple days... grrr...

monkeyracer · 07-26-2007, 03:01 PM

okay, I was getting pretty tired of the way my homelink panel/console was looking, so I took it down, and sanded the area near the buttons down, and wrapped it in vinyl that matches my interior. The glue is curing now, when it's done, I'll post pics. If anyone wants to know what process I took to make this, let me know.

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