Where is there a place to wire my kenwood navi unit to the Vehicle speed Sensor Wire? I am posting here because its different from the previous generations...
Thanks,

I don't think anyone has done this yet but there are a few that might have wiring diagrams that might be able to help.

If you have the rockford package with speed sensitive volume, there may be a wire. I think perhaps sky blue in the radio harness.

If you don't (like me), you have to get the speed signal generator. That's what I did for my kenwood navi. It's a breeze to install but runs $200. The navi won't work right without it, but it does its job perfectly.

I think even with the SSVC, the wire is not usable, and you'll still need the speed pulse generator. I think the wire (lt. blue?) is still a multiplexed signal. You may find some info on it in the Stereo/Communications section of the forum. There was a pretty big thread about it a while back. HTH

I spent months researching this and looking all over the internet...and the answer is that you won't be able to get any VSS signal from your X. Its far too computerized now and forces the installation of a "Speed Pulse Generator" (i.e., artificial speed sensor you install as a kit) to use this input. My Pioneer had the same issue but I have been using it without one for months now as it functions fine without (it uses the satellite signal and an internal gyroscope to determine movement, direction, speed, etc...) In an ideal world it would be easy, but on these rigs it just isn't anymore...

Harness M24 pin 9 is the wire with the vehicl speed pulse, It is sky blue.

What module is Harness M24.. where is it? ECM, Cruise Control module, what location are you refering to. Also, I read a thread about the wipers being speed sensitive, haven't notice myself, but its there a wire there to tap into?

Have you hooked up a navi using this wire?

I just found this link... http://www.rostra.com/techsupport-main.asp ... This is where they get the VSS for an aftermarket cruise control. If anyone has done this let me know whether or not it works. I am going to take it to the shop tommorrow or thursday to check it out.

There is no speed signal wire for the Next Gen'ers.

The speed is sent via all of the wheel speed sensors used for the ABS. The computer then takes this information via the CAN wires and registers a speed at the gauge.

You'll have to use the simulator to hook up anything that needs a speed signal.

And for the record, Pin 9 on M24 (the Combo Meter connector) is the fuel level sensor wire (1 of 2) and is Brown (not Sky Blue).

Tapping into that wire will send your fuel gauge haywire!

Anyone know where to get a good speed sensor generator? what type of generator is the best? eg. magnetic or linear....

I'm kind of surprised you need a wire to detect speed. I have GPS Naviation software on my Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC (Dubs as phone too), and it calculates my speed based on how far I travel / over time (seconds, not minutes). Its pretty close too.

When I'm on the highway its dead on.

Whoops! me bad. I looked at the wrong side of the harness in the S/M. The correct connector (on the back of the radio ) is M43 pin 9. It is te sky blue wire. And yes it is an input signal to the head unit. Vehicle speed is not sent to the head unit over CAN. I design amplifiers for a supplier to Nissan and I have designed around this function in several applications. See page AV-15 and AV-18 in the S/M.

I installed a Pioneer AVIC-N2 using the Sky Blue wire in the radio harness for the VSS. It works perfectly.

Wow.. this seems to be a yes you can, no you can't topic and I don't know what to do... I know that it costs about $200 for an aftermarket pulse generator. I would love to not have to buy one of these. That radio harness, are you talking about the Rockford setup or is the harness the same on all the stock systems? I wish I had the time to do all this but I have a friend at a car audio store to do this stuff for me. I will have him look at the harness and post back if this works. GPS is working for me right now but it doesn't tell me when to turn and it looks like I am driving through peoples' lawns. Anyways, keep posting if you know more... Thanks

I can say this is true for the Rockford system, and I'll have to go out on a limb and speculate that both the S and SE have the same wire harness. I own an SE, and have used my SE as a "guinea pig" for a new amplifier that I am working on.

If the system is the same as the 350Z, G35, Altime and Maxima ... then it is the Light Blue/White wire. I tapped this for my Pioneer D1 in my Z and it works perfect.

I will be adding an AVIC-Z1 to my Xterra .. so I hope the installation is just as simple.

Jim

I personally haven't tried it on a new generation X, so I can't say for sure if the wire at the deck would work or not. Most vehicles that have a speed sensitive volume control at the radio will have a wire that you can use for VSS behind the deck. Then again, most vehicles will have one at the cruise control module too, but that may not be true of the new generation X's either. I've had to go to the tranny on some vehicles. Most of the guys here have posted that the wire behind the deck is not usable and that the signal is sent via CAN link (multiplexed). That doesn't surprise me since GM's and VW's (come to mind) have multiplexed signals at the radio that control when the radio turns on (so, no switched power at the radio if you were looking for that there). I say try it and see what happens. It's an input wire anyway, so you won't cause any damage if it doesn't work. Worst case, it doesn't work and you have to get the SPG anyway, but at least the rest of the install will be done and ready to go once you get it.

I posted that the supposed 'blue' wire on M24 wasn't blue, and that there was not an actual speed sensor on the vehicle. The radio connector is much easier to get to, and I don't know I'd start splicing wires at the Unified Meter (Instrument Cluster).

I just compared the wiring diagrams for the vehicle, and there is some differences between the 'Premium Sound' and 'Base Sound' systems.

On the Premium unit, the #9 pin, which is a Sky Blue wire (connector M43, small white connector at the back of the radio), is the Vehicle Speed Signal wire from the Instrument Cluster (actually #6 wire on M24, and yes, the wire is still Sky Blue).

But on the Base unit, the wire is not shown. Someone will have to pull there base unit and see if the Sky Blue wire is their or not, as it's not there at all on the wiring diagrams for either the Base model or the Instrument Cluster.

Appears that the wire is specifically generated by the Unified Meter for the radio.

Splice away my friends.

I suppose my only question is wether there are different types of speed signals? Or is it the same thing throughout cars (i.e., is a conventional speed pulse signal [pre-05 X] the same thing as a speed signal being sent from the instrument cluster to the radio as discussed here)? My VSS wire for my nav is not attached to anything currently but if there is VSS input that works then I'm all over it!

No, the VSS pulse is not the same in all cars. My suspicion is that the Navi unit will learn/calibrate by comparing it's calculated speed by GPS to the VSS pulse. The reason for this is that if you were in, let's just say a 5 mile tunnel, the Navi will need to have some means of distance measurement.

I'm sure that it's the same as previous, as the
stereo's are backwards compatible (works in older vehicles that don't have the new electronics).

If it were mine, I'd hook it up and see. I'm 99% positive it'd be the same signal. Especially since it's being specifically generated for the radio.

Good point. If the Navi system can indeed learn/calibrate that would be sweet!

I guess I will find out for sure tommorrow cause the shop is going to search out the VSS. I had the base model stereo and they said that there was not a sky blue wire back there. If they can't find it I guess I will just install the Alpine magnetic VSS and be done with it.

Very cool, Cycle. That is good info to know. I wonder,on the basic radios that do not have the VSS wire in the small plug, if the wire is still at the instrument cluster and goes to nothing, or if the pin is empty where the wire would normally be that goes to the RF radio? Then I wonder if that pin is still capable of producing a VSS signal on trucks with the basic radio even though there is no wire there. Because if it didn't, the clusters must be slightly different internally. I would think they would use the same cluster but just eliminate the wire that goes to the deck. And that the pin is still capable of producing the VSS signal. HMMM?

Japanese auto makers don't like to have multiple wire harness for different model vehicles.

But they do have different Instrument Clusters/Unified Meters for different trim models.

I believe the Premium sound also comes with the upgraded cluster, so it'd probably have that stuff for the radio, and the upgraded cluster probably comes with the different harness.

On the older vehicles, the Bose sound system had it's own harness that was unique to the Bose equipped vehicles due to the internal amps in each speaker. So I could see the difference happening quite easily.

Oh, yeah, that's right. I fogot that there is a trip computer in some of the trucks... so that makes sense. Do the trucks with the RF stereo also have the trip computers, as far as the OR, or is the trip computer only on the SE's?

I'd bet that the instrument clusters are the same. The software that they are loaded with ahs different features enabled. From a financial perspective, you don't reinvent the wheel. As for the connectors on the amplifier, I might have a wee bit of knowledge of Bose amplifier.

So, based on your logic, if I get a steering wheel with audio controls and install on my X that didn't have it, it should work?

I would suspect that a sub harness in something like a steering column would be different. The main harness will most likely be the same. My logic refers to the instrument cluster itself. Each cluster will cost many hundreds of thousands (maybe even millions) of dollar to develop. Then more $$$ to qualify and validate (especially because it's a safety critical system). I design amplifiers and we write the same checks. It's much more cost effective and efficient to commonize hardware and just change software.

The instrment clusters are not the same. It's been discussed in another thread.

And no, if you put an audio control steering wheel on your X, it won't make the radio work. The radio has a seperate input for the steering wheel controls to work. If your radio didn't have it, it won't work. You'd have to switch the radio, the Air Bag clock spring (which has the extra wiring in the it) behind the steering wheel as well as the steering wheel.

Installed the Alpine speed pulse generator. Cost an extra $200 but it's done and the Kenwood Navi works great .