Metra 70-8113 No Audio

Hi fellow Tundra owners, apologies if this is covered elsewhere in the forum, please direct me if so. Recently picked up an ‘04 Tundra Limited, today worked on aftermarket stereo upgrade using the Metra 70-8113 to maintain OEM JBL amp. After much time researching online, I proceeded to wire everything up. For now, I opted to not incorporate the steering wheel controls, so I’m only using the main stereo Toyota stereo connector, leaving the steering wheels control connector disconnected. Went to test the head unit, and everything is working fine, except for the audio. Absolutely no audio, perhaps it’s the cheap head unit I bought, but figured I’d check here first to see if anyone has had luck with the Metra amp connector.

 

More info:
Aftermarket head unit (PLZ MP-926W) - if I come to find that the audio has nothing to do with the head unit, honest feedback that this head unit is really nice for the price!

Stereo and speakers are all JBL, no amp in the dash, haven’t checked yet to confirm there is a JBL amp behind the rear driver side seat, just assumed it’s there since everything else says JBL.

 

First off, do you have a double cab? That’s super important info. If not, you wouldn’t have the amp behind drivers seat. Amp location depends on year and cab type. The right hand connector with the red X looks like the amp harness.

A lot of info people need for amp location, correct harnesses etc is in the “Audio” section of this thread: https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

If you have the JBL system, you have an amp. You MUST use the amp bypass harness to install aftermarket in this case, or another adapter.

PLZ is garbage from a practicality and warranty perspective, but I’m happy to help you install it properly if that’s your preference.

 

Thanks for the quick response Shifty! I did read that thread, and yes mine is a double cab. Is there a reason why I can’t use the Metra 70-8113 which Metra made to interface with the factory JBL amp in Toyotas?

 

Every time the 70-8113 harness has been mentioned, I've seen nobody able to use that to keep audio. The last one I remember is this one: https://www.tundras.com/threads/amp-upgrade-questions.122782/#post-3146131

The thing is, everyone I've ever seen try it, they've posted once or twice and never returned.

I'd stick with what's known to work, honestly. I'll try to find anyone who's been able to make that harness work wiht JBL, but ... even in that last link I provided, they only list it as working with specific years and cab types. Double Cab isn't in the compatibility list. This is one of those things Crutchfield would've shared with you, but I realize not everyone is hip to how awesome and cost-saving Crutchfield is.

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Thanks for providing all this information Shifty, it’s really appreciated. I was originally going to order all through Crutchfield, shame I didn’t stick that route… I also missed the compatibility not specifically calling out the double cab, good catch. Looks like I’ll be getting the Bypass harness, any recommendations for additional upgrades I should pursue (other than throw my head unit in the trash )?

in the process I might dive into understanding why it won’t work for the double cab (i.e. tracing cables/connectors), I did notice that the Tundra female connector is missing one of the cable connections that the Metra connector has…

 

Bro, I won't tell you to throw your head unit in the trash. There are worse picks out there, and I don't want to beat you over the heat with a this-is-shit stick. You do what works for you, don't be butthurt about what others think about it (as long as it works for you and your budget!)

Note not every product is perfect. Metra had a big issue recently we helped track down with their amp bypass harness. More info. Mistakes happen.

But that said, if the factory harness w/red X thru it is in fact the harness to/from the JBL amp, then ... how would your head unit feed audio to the amp and/or speakers? That's what I'm ultimately getting at. If you confirm you have an OEM amp, as all JBL systems typically do, bypass is req'd.

There are wiring diagrams in the thread I linked above. I think it's on the 5th line of the 1st reply. You could verify the wire colors with that, I suppose. But you could also quite easily locate your amp, and compare the # of pins and wire colors to confirm. Probably more easily.

 

Haha sorry the throwing the head in the trash was a joke to your assessment of the brand

I’ll have to get at the amp regardless so I’ll see if I find anything but looking to bypass at this point.

again appreciate all the help, hope you have a good evening.

 

Oh and the connector with the red X, I’m under the impression that doesn’t go to the JBL amp at all, but will compare wiring diagrams to confirm. I assumed (you know what they say lol) it’s just for steering wheel controls.

 

If I recall correctly from my own install, the steering control was a 5 or 6 pin connector with only 4-6 wires related.

 

Actually, it's late. I may've been confusing the small grey speed sensor plug (2 wires, 5 horizontal pins, grey) with the steering controls. Steering control harness looks like it maybe white, maybe setup for 14 pins, and 6 wires in/out.

Did you buy an Axxess ASWC-1 unit with the separate adapter harness, so you can keep your steering wheel controls? If you've got one on-hand, see if it'll plug right up to that other harness. I see I indicated that other harness is in fact the steering controls in another post, or at least one similar to it (swear it had less wires). Closer pic of that harness may help.

But yeah, I think I got confused for a sec. You am should look something like this for JBL in DC, or better yet, like this when someone hasn't tampered with the harnesses trying to bypass manually, which is never a good idea. To pull from Bubba's old post, the top connector of the amp (S23 in that last pic) I believe is supplying input signal to the amp? I'd need to rip open the wiring diagram. Based on the wire colors, the larger connector (@S24 in that last pic) is supplying amplified signals out to the speakers, and it looks like power/ground on pins 1 and 10.

With that in mind...

This is why you need the bypass harness. Connector S24 is essentially the wiring out to all your speakers. Once you have the amp bypass harness, it plugs into the larger bottom connector (S24) like this, and you route the other end of the bypass harness up to your dash, and attach those speaker and power wires to the new aftermarket head unit. At that point, your new head unit is feeding speaker-level output direct to your speakers via the plug at the amp.

While I love the idea of the 70-8113 as a solution to pass low-level signals to the JBL amp, and just have it amplify, and keep everything as-normal, without sitting down and crunching pinouts, I'd need to figure out if/why/how it would or wouldn't work. But the fact Metra lists it as not compatible with your DC, any why 2006 isn't even listed ... I'm skeptical. Maybe their documentation is old, or ... maybe there's a reason? I can potentially dig on this more tomorrow.

 

Sorry for the delayed response… So ended up going with the bypass harness, found a clean way to route it under the passenger-side door floor trim, and up behind the glove box to the unit. Sound quality is really good but lacking the low-end, next step will probably be to add a decent sub, I’ll peruse the forum for sub install ideas. Again appreciate the help.

 

Totally, and holy shit you went all out to tuck it clean, I like it, good job. A lot of people snake to the center of the vehicle and run up the transmission hump. I do prefer wiring to the outside like you've done.

Only constructive criticism I'd offer up is, with that many wires, not bundling puts you at a higher risk of pinch/short on a single wire. Whether you use a thin plastic spiral wrap, cable sleeves, split loom, or my favorite, spiral tape-up with black electrical tape or Tesa or similar gaffer tape, doesn't matter. Keeps the wires bundled and prevents them from straying out where they may get pinched by - for example - a sill plate screw when you reinstall. Example of spiral wrap below, to give a visual if it's not clicking.

Anyway, subwise, you've got an array of options due to the cubbies. Several options/examples for DC trucks here. You can, of course, do whatever you want. These days, you can get pretty robust SFF amps that are easily tucked anywhere, Alpine has a cool one that bolts right to the back of their

$280 ilx-W650 7" double DIN touchscreen digital multimedia receiver with bluetooth, apple carplay and android auto

ilx-W650/W670 head units, MB Quart and others have similar 2x5" amps that are roughly an inch or so thick for 200-500 watts. I believe there was also a small, powered sub option as a Toyota add-on that drops right into the small cubby? I know I've seen pics of it, maybe it's in the thread I just linked.

Anyway, you've got some audio heads over here in 1st Gen forum. Holler.

PS- would be worthwhile to grab a few sheets of sound deadener (Noico, Kilmat, etc.) and any time you have panels off like the rear panel etc., take some time to deaden things. Like, take the black back wall cover panel off, deaden inside the rear wall of the cab and both sides of the black cover panel, toss some on the floor, etc. Makes a nice difference, especially on the bigger, thinner spans of sheetmetal.

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