These instructions refer to the 3rd Generation body style GS Series...that is model year 2006 and later GS vehicles. (3rd gen does not refer to navigation system generation)
Disclaimer:
Before I begin, a word of caution. If you injure yourself or others because you were trying to dial a phone number while driving or input in to the NAV screen, I am not to be held responsible. You should never be watching DVDs while driving. These procedures are for educational purposes and are meant to be used by the passenger.
It is recommended that you read this page in its entirity before starting, there are multiple sections for multiple purposes.
Here are the links to the main sections:
Taking the dash apart
Base GS
GS with Nav +/- Mark Levinson System
Taking the Dash Apart
You will need a small flat head screw driver, a philips head screw driver, a 10mm socket and a towel to protect the navigation unit.
First, remove the plastic trim underneath the nav( just right above the ashtray) by pry it out with a small flat head screw driver.
Hint: Tape the screw driver with Scotch tape to protect the finish of the trim.
Second, put the shifter into "D" position. DO NOT START THE CAR. Just press the start button twice( foot of brake pedal at this time) and put the shifter to " D" or you can remove the shift lock tab and press the button, so you can move the shifter to " D"
Unscrew the shifter and pry up on the center console.
Third, remove the Philips head screw on each side of the side cover and the pry out.
Gently remove both covers.
After that you will see 4 10mm bolts( 2 on each side). Remove those bolts from the nav screen bracket and remove the nav unit.
If you look under the nav unit you will find a piece of metal bracket on each side to grab onto and pull it out. Do not pry on the side of the Nav unit or try to remove the AC vent.
One more.
Oh, the AC vent is part of the dash. If you attempt to remove it... you will have yourself a new dash.
Lets start with what you have and what your options are:
Base GS – no Nav or Mark Levinson (ML)
all you can do is a wire modification to allow for the dial pad to be effective while in motion. In addition to BT bypass removal this also allows access all the folders and file listing on MP3 CDs (07+ gs, 06 did not play MP3 cds). Radio station "MSG" button is still not accessible. If you have NAV….you need to see below for your options. If you have no NAV but have ML (which is a rare combo) you can add the parking wire mod seen in GS with NAV and ML option and it will allow DVD video in motion.
Here is the mod, On K46, pin # 14 is purple. It is the VSS wire coming in from the BCM to the monitor. Leave a couple of inches on the plug and cut it. You are done. In the picture below you will see the purple VSS wire cut. ONLY CUT THE PURPLE VSS WIRE.
You can cut this wire and tape it or whatever you wish.....but that is all that is needed. Now when you hit the phone button on the steering wheel, a dial pad comes up when in motion as if you are parked (instead of one touch).
ONLY purple wire at the far left in the pic is cut, leave the other wires untouched.......
GS with Navwith or without ML:
2006 wiring details
2007+ wiring details
You have several options for what you want to get done
Option 1 - BT bypass only- Wire cutting dial pad option. You want dial out keypad only and dont care to a lot about navigation input while in motion.....or dont want to install a switch anywhere.... You can cut the purple wire and directly re-route to the nav purely for the purpose of allowing the dial pad, and then they can use a hybrid dvd if needed for nav input.
***************ACTUAL WIRE CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS
There are three white plugs going into the monitor. We will not touch the middle one.
On the far left, closest to driver's side, is 26-pin plug K46.
On the far right, closest to passenger side, is 32-pin plug h1.
On K46, pin # 14 is purple. It is the VSS wire coming in from the BCM to the monitor. Leave a couple of inches on the plug and cut it.
On K46, pin # 23 is yellow. It is the Parking Brake wire that tells the monitor if the parking brake is engaged. Leave a couple of inches on the plug and cut it.
On h1, pin # 13 is pink. It is the VSS wire that leads out to the navigation unit. Leave a couple of inches on the plug and cut it.
The monitor side of the purple wire will be left disconnected. Tape it up or preferably crimp it w/a 3M cap.
The wire loom side of the yellow wire will be left disconnected. Tape it up or preferably crimp it w/a 3M cap.
The monitor side of the pink wire will be left disconnected. Tape it up or preferably crimp it w/a 3M cap.
Use a ring terminal and an 18 awg wire to connect the monitor side of the yellow wire to chassis ground. There's plenty of grounding locations available along the side, where the monitor mounts. Screw or bolt it in securely w/o interfering w/mounting area.
Use butt connectors or tape and solder an 18 awg wire to connect the wire loom side of the purple wire to the wire loom side of the pink wire. You are effectively re-routing the VSS signal directly into the navigation.
Reinstall the monitor and you are finished
Top down view of back of nav
Please note difference between his 06 diagrams and 07+???. on the 07+ h1 plug is not on the passenger side. It is a totally different plug and it is the center of the three plugs on the display unit. Also the wire that is to be cut is on Pin #16 of the h1 plug, which was white with silver spots on the wire.
Comment: If you are cutting wires already, you should consider installing a switch so that you do not need to make hybrid DVD (see below)
Option 2 - Hybrid DVD for navigation input while in motion- No wire cutting hack ??? involves the creation of a hybrid DVD. No warranty issues. How a hybrid DVD works... the 06 gs (gen 4) and 07+ gs (gen 5) have DVDs with map data. Along with map data, there is some firmware upgrades year to year. Ver 5.1 allowed a screen tapping procedure to allow a bypass to enable address entry while driving.
Here is the sequence
Navigation Override
Map versions 6.1 and 7.1 seem to have left this screen tapping procedure out. So people make hybrid DVDs where the tapping sequence is left in and new map versions are added. See this link on how to do this.
CLICK HERE FOR THE INSTRUCTIONS to create a Hybrid Navigation disk
Pros: no wire hack Cons: You have to do again once the car has been turned off if you want to enable it. Most people do a wire mod. Wire mod allows the driver to input addresses while vehicle is in motion.
Option 3 - Wire modification for navigation input while in motion - Allows dial pad as well as navigation screen entry, addresses while driving, POI icon selection...etc.
Wire mod for the 06 and 07+ vehicles are similar. The 06 to 07 had a single wire color change and move from one harness to another. Understanding the following is important to make sense of the switch location. Here is how the system works???. the purple wire is a VSS signal which feeds the radio / display unit and tells the radio and Bluetooth the car is moving. The signal then is passed internally to the pink wire on 06 gs (white with silver dots 07+ gs) to the passenger side harness which is taking the VSS signal away from the radio and to the nav unit (nav unit is not in the radio)....... Diff between 06 and 07???. on the 07+ h1 plug is not on the passenger side. It is a totally different plug and it is the center of the three plugs on the display unit. Also the wire that is to be cut is on Pin #16 of the h1 plug, which was white with silver spots on the wire.
So if you cut the purple wire, keypad for dialing is enabled, you can input addresses but your nav system loses its VSS (Nav thinks car is stopped, allows address entry, but makes map scrolling choppy and screws up turn by turn guidance). So on a car with NAV, you cant simply cut the purple VSS wire, you have to re-route the VSS signal to the nav unit. You need to add a switch so you can temporarily disrupt the signal to nav unit so you can enter an address and re-complete the circuit by flipping the switch back.
Note: When using the switch to enable the keypad, Within 2-3 minutes, key pad disables again as the sat signal overrides the lack of VSS, you can flip the switch back and forth to allow another few minutes of keypad entry. I find that the keypad is usually active long enough w/o having to flip switch on and off again, to input address entry.
DVD override: If you have done the wire modification for nav, you have already taken the speed signal away from the cd / dvd changer. All you need to do additionally to allow DVD video in motion is to trick the dvd changer to think that the parking brake is applied. All you need to do is to ground the yellow parking brake wire. You cut the yellow wire in pics and attach a grounding connector (and wire extension) to the side that goes to the radio display and ground it to chassis. This way, car thinks it is not moving and the parking brake is applied (no dash lights come on) and lets your family watch DVD while car is in motion.
For 06 GS....HERE IS THE WIRE MOD FOR NAV
you cut the pink wire (passenger side harness) and purple wire (driver side harness) then you use a switch to connect the purple wire coming from the deep side of the dash (not radio) to the pink (going away from the radio (to the nav). then this switch is on all the time except to input addresses, what that does is it allows the purple VSS signal to go to the nav See diagrams and pics
For 07+ GS???.HERE IS THE WIRE MOD FOR NAV
You cut the white with silver dots wire (middle harness) and purple wire (driver side harness) then you use a switch to connect the purple wire coming from the deep side of the dash (not radio) to the white with silver spots (going away from the radio (to the nav). Then this switch is on all the time except to input addresses, what that does is it allows the purple VSS signal to go to the nav See diagrams and pics (Click on the picture below for a full size image)
Here is the switch I used, came from a 3.5inch external HDD enclosure I had
DVD override: If you have done the wire modification for nav, you have already taken the speed signal away from the cd / dvd changer. All you need to do additionally to allow DVD video in motion is to trick the dvd changer to think that the parking brake is applied. All you need to do is to ground the yellow parking brake wire. You cut the yellow wire in pics and attach a grounding connector (and wire extension) to the side that goes to the radio display and ground it to chassis. This way, car thinks it is not moving and the parking brake is applied (no dash lights come on) and lets your family watch DVD while car is in motion.
