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DIY: The Ultimate Guide to Installing Your Pioneer F700BT.

68K views 210 replies 73 participants last post by  AznKirby 
#1 · (Edited)
The Ultimate Guide to Installing Your Pioneer F700BT​

First off I would to thank Locotony and Harut82 for answering all of my questions prior to my install. :thumbsup:

Secondly, don't blame me if your car blows up. :rolleyes:

If you have any questions on the install, don't be afraid to send me a PM. :)

If the pictures are broken or don't show up, PM me please.

Tools needed:

8mm wrench
10mm wrench
Phillips screwdriver
Tiny screwdriver to pry one of the covers off.

Not necessary for the install, but highly recommended:

Heat shrink tubing
Crimping tool
Towel/rag
Ratchet extensions
Zip ties
Dremel
Flexible ratchet extension
Patience, time, and hands of steel.

I found these following links VERY helpful during the install:

Pioneer F700BT install manual/owner's manual.
Car Audio FAQ

One more thing before I start, this install was harder than what I had expected. I thought I was going to finish in a few hours, it took me nine. This was my first install ever and I was taking my time making sure not to break anything. Overall, I'm glad on how it turned out! :)

On to the install!



First, I would suggest to disconnect the negative battery terminal with a 10mm wrench. I put a T-shirt over the terminal to make sure nothing touches it.





Take whatever you want to use to pry open the cover that is above the cup holder/penny tray. I used a tiny screwdriver.





Disconnect the 12V (cigarette? Can't think of the name right now) port.





Disconnected.





This part was a little difficult because I didn't have a flexible ratchet extension. What you can do if you don't have one is use a (3" or 6") extension to unscrew the bolts that hold the headunit in place. If all else fails use a 8mm wrench to loosen the bolts then unscrew them with your hand, this is what I did.







Both of the bolts removed.





Now here comes the part that is the biggest PITA. I really couldn't figure out the best way to remove the Bose headunit. What I did was try to squeeze my fingers into the tape deck and then push from the back. The headunit is hard to remove, so don't be afraid to use some force.







After 45 minutes of struggling...







Disconnect the hazard switch.





Headunit removed!





When you're about to remove the headunit, don't forget to disconnect the antenna and wire harness also.





You are going to have to take the headunit off of the frame, use a phillips screwdriver for this.





On the side where the hazard switch is, you can either remove the hazard switch or use an 8mm wrench to remove the top bolt.

 
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16
#2 · (Edited)
Frame removed.






I bought the American International dash kit, so I needed to cut the frame to make it a double din size.







Next get your "grinding?" tip to smooth off the sides.













If you haven't removed the hazard switch from the old headunit, do so now.







Test fit.





Now bolt up the frame to the 700BT, then put the hazard switch onto the new dash kit.



 
#3 · (Edited)
I figured I would run the wires for the GPS antenna at this point. I found out that it is a lot easier if you remove the rear view mirror.





I ran the wires down the A pillar and underneath the steering wheel.













Now, since I didn't feel like doing the bypass for the Pioneer unit, I had to tap into the handbrake wire. To do this, you have to remove the center console. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures for this. There are two bolts in the rear of the console and two bolts on the front of the console.





The green and red wire coming from the other wires is the handbrake signal wire. You have to take some of the wire loom off.







I used this hole as my grounding point.

 
#4 · (Edited)
Now for the part I was dreading...wiring. All you have do is match the wires from the Pioneer wire harness to the Metra harness. The solid orange wire is not used on the Metra harness. DO NOT forget to connect the blue/white wire from the Metra harness to the sold blue wire on the Pioneer harness.





Connect the white jack from the Metra harness to the white jack on the front speaker jacks on the Pioneer harness.
Connect the grey jack from the Metra harness to the red jack on the front speaker jacks on the Pioneer harness.
Connect the green jack on the Metra harness to the white jack on the rear speaker jacks on the Pioneer harness.
Connect the purple jack on the Metra harness to the red jack on the rear speaker jacks on the Pioneer harness.







At this point you can plug the car battery up and see if everything works on the Pioneer unit!

NOTE: If you are going to play a CD, make sure you go into the AV settings and change "Antenna" to "Power".





I cleaned everything up and used zip ties.





Everything worked for me, so I bolted the frame back on.







Everything back in place.







DONE!

 
#5 · (Edited)
Reserved for FAQ's and such.


Feel free to +rep. :)



---

UPDATE: December 5, 2009 - Before I bought this unit I did some research on the Metra 70-1725 amp integration harness. A lot of people said that this harness makes noise. Since the weather down here in Houston has been getting colder, I noticed that when it is hot outside there is pretty much no noise that comes from the radio. If it is cold outside, you can hear the alternator whine, and it's pretty loud. It's not really that annoying when the radio is on because you can't really hear it.

Conclusion: If you live in colder climates you might want to consider the Bose bypass.

UPDATE: April 2, 2010 - I forgot to post pictures of the Hellaflush headunit. Pictures were taken with my iPhone.



 
#10 ·
It looks like it from that angle, but when you are looking at it from the seats, you don't see a gap. I'm going to have to take the unit back out when I get my iPod cable.
 
#14 ·
EDIT: When I get my iPod cable, I'm going to see if I can make the headunit look a little bit more flush. Will post results.
 
#16 ·
It's nice. I give it a 8.5/10 because of the fact that it kind of lags when you hit any buttons or touch the screen, but other than that, I like it! :)
 
#27 ·
I paid $300. Bought it from a member on the boards. :D

good job man:thumbsup: whos bike is that in the back?yours?
Na, It's my dad's...even though he never rides it LOL.

You forgot a step.
Dont park your shit on the street or you'll get it jacked before you can say damn this is a nice headunit.
Had mine for 2 days.:(
Wow man I'm sorry. I park my car in the garage at home and at school. :)

Nice, you beat me to it, my unit is coming in tomorrow and I was gonna do one of these. I see you got the amp integration harness, does it make a popping noise whenever you turn on the unit or anything??
There is a very high pitch sound when the radio is off, but when it's on, even at low volumes, you can't even hear it. I thought it was going to be worse than what other people describe it.

nice writeup :thumbsup:
:bow:

good job on the install, i have the same unit too. go to avic411. com it will tell you how to bypass the ebrake, its really easy.
I was going to do the bypass, but meh... :)

wow great diy!
:bow:
 
#21 ·
You forgot a step.
Dont park your shit on the street or you'll get it jacked before you can say damn this is a nice headunit.
Had mine for 2 days.:(
 
#32 ·
if you are going to use the rsx bose amp then you will always get that popping noise. best way of cutting that out is to hard wire the speaker to the deck it self. with the 700bt you will have enough power to power all speakers. also dam you beat me i had install this a while back but never got the time to load my pic and start this so props to you nice. love mine.
 
#29 ·
EDIT: I just tried an SD card.

Thoughts:

It does take a little bit of time until you will be able to see the songs that are on the SD card. I'm actually going to buy a 16GB SD card instead of the iPod connection cable because it'll be the same price and it's a lot easier to handle. Plus my iPod is only 8GB, so you do the math. :)
 
#37 ·
nice writeup.

but in all seriousness...... paying future shop $100 to install this was the best $100 ever spent. not that its too much work its just really tedious and annoying. after they installed it i just took it out, bypassed it and changed the double din to the american international one or w/e it is called.
 
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