How to conect Ipod/mp3 directly to factory system 2001QX4 (bose 6disc head unit)

A forum for the legendary Nissan Pathfinder and Infiniti QX4.
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rwardell
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2010 8:29 am
Car: 2001 QX4

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this is a cheap and some what easy way to connect a 3.5mm standard head phone jack to the factory Bose head unit in an infiniti QX4 in place of the cd player allowing you to connect what ever external audio source you prefer.

ok so to start off down load the factory service manuals for both the body and trim as well as the electronics system (http://(http://forums.nicoclub...w-tos). these will give you instructions on where to pry to remove the trim around the head unit as well as all the wiring diagrams for the head unit itself.

tools/supplies required: small Flathead screw driver covered in cloth (denim works well) or plastic no-mar pry tools to remove trim, Phillips head screwdriver #2 to remove screws securing trim/head unit, small screwdriver to help remove electrical connectors, knife/box cutter to remove shrink tape from harness, wire cutters, wire stripper (optional), butt connectors/electrical tape, 4-6ft 3.5mm-3.5mm audio cable(head phone jack on both ends) drill(optional)

step 1: set the parking brake and using a key/screw driver depress the shift lock button and pull it back to 1st to give yourself some room to work with, cover the center console with a blanket or protective material to prevent scratching of the trim.step 2: remove trim. follow the FSM instruction to remove trim by removing the vents above the head unit, then the rest of the trimstep 3: remove head unit by un-screwing the four screws at top and bottomstep 4: cut and peel back the shrink wrap on the wiring harness that connects the disc changer to the head unit its the smaller top left plug if u r looking at the back of the unitstep 5: cut the blue and green wires about 1.5-2" away from the connector (less if need be) and strip the insulation from 1/4" the striped wires are the neg and can be wired together. step 6: cut one of the ends of of the stereo cable and strip wires. (neg will be the un insulated RT will be red LT will be black in most cases)step 7: connect the red wire of the audio cable to the solid green harness wire, connect the black wire to the solid blue wire and connect the ground to both striped wires. step 8: secure connections to harness and tape exposed wires. route audio cable down and out of the console or drill a hole in the cup holder and rout the cable through the whole.step 9: re install head unit and trimstep 10: set ipod volume to max, stereo volume to min and connect to head phone jack, push cd button and play on ipod, adjust system volume and your set! happy listening!

post mod observations: the good- works great to connect external source w/o interference of fm transmitter/modulator. the bad- max volume is not as loud as fm max volume due to low input power from ipod, must be a cd in the changer for input to work, cd changer no longer works since we cut the wires.

overall i prefer having my ipod connection over the cd player any day but for some this may be a deal breaker, the only solution i have thought of is to use a tap splice to connect the headphone cable rather then cutting the wires and just driving around with the cd player paused when u wanted to listen to your i pod. as far as the volume goes if its not loud enough then spend the money on a pre-amp or a new system all together. the thing to keep in mind is that this is a second best option for some one who dose not want to spend the time or money to completely swap the system

let me know what you think!


Modified by r.wardell2 at 4:26 PM 3/11/2010


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abadlovesong
Posts: 87
Joined: Sun Nov 15, 2009 4:57 pm
Car: 2001 Pathfinder LE
Location: torrance, ca

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dude... excellent idea and write up. And welcome to the forums. You're off to a good start.

GoldenR50
Posts: 30
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 5:33 pm
Car: 2000 Nissan Pathfinder LE Sahara Beige

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Hey just wondering if the wiring is the same for the 2000 Pathfinder w/ Bose system (single disc head unit)? I want to do this mod for my car. Apparently the wiring is the same for the model with 6 disc changer and the single disc changer so as the single cd version is not equipped with a changer, then I suppose functionality is not affected either...I'll try it out this weekend and let you guys know.

techytripletdad
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jun 04, 2010 11:36 am
Car: 2001 QX4

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Will this work if you have the ERR2 error on your CD changer?

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iPath
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Joined: Fri Apr 30, 2010 1:20 am
Car: 04 SE

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Do you recommend someone with nearly no technical skill attempting this? haha I don't want to screw up my good stereo!

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rwardell
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Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2010 8:29 am
Car: 2001 QX4

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ok, so as far as it working for the single disc unit, i'm not sure. it works with the six disc version because the cd player and the actual bose unit are two independent components, the cd player essentially is just an AUX input as far as the bose AM/FM head unit is concerned that's why you can hijack the outputs from the CD player for the ipod. if you pull out the whole radio assembly and it is two separate pieces mounted to the same frame as pictured, (w/wires connecting the two) then it is just a matter of finding the outputs (cut the insulation back and touch the bare wires to the jack on a set of head phones and if u hear music you found them. could ruin the head phones so use a junk pair).

and for the error messaged cd player i would venture to say yes but in all honesty im not sure. you have to have a cd in the player and playing(or paused) for the bose unit to listen to the AUX input. it has to think its hearing a cd. you could try it and if it dose not work then u are no worse off then you were with a broken cd player.

this mod is some what labor intensive and vary delicate. if you try to open the dash up wrong or you cut the wrong wires it could cause permanent damage to the sound system or dash trim. if you feel like this is within your technical ability then i would just be cautious and if you feel like its going to break then stop.

good luck! :dblthumb:

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sc2nr
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Great write up... you stated above that the volume level was lower then the Radio (FM) level. Do you know if it is louder then FM transmitter volume, cause I'm using that and it's not that great at all.

Also for those of you that are willing to spend the cash there is a couple of options for you as well. But like I said this is a great write up and is cheaper then these other options, I just wanted to put it out there...

http://www.scosche.com/products/sfID1/1 ... ductID/417 - Universal FM Modulator for iPod & MP3s and Auxiliary Input Devices

http://www.scosche.com/products/sfID1/1 ... ductID/525 -
AXNN
2003-up Nissan/Infiniti

OR old faithful.... http://www.scosche.com/products/sfID1/2 ... uctID/1169

Great write up again!

Nick
Last edited by sc2nr on Fri Jun 11, 2010 5:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

GoldenR50
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Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 5:33 pm
Car: 2000 Nissan Pathfinder LE Sahara Beige

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Yea, so the single cd model doesn't have it the actual harness that hooks up to the cd changer but it has the cd changer output on the headunit because its a different model bose head unit called the P11 which is used in the infiniti G20, many people have used this successfully.

http://www.oemautosound.com/pc-209-96-a ... -2004.aspx

I don't see the need to spend $65 and then some time to re-wire the head unit while I can just use a cassette adapter right now and if I feel the need to enjoy a real aux in...i'll rewire the whole car with a new aftermarket head unit

here's a link to the cheap mp3 cassette adapter i'm using right now, this is for cars with the cassette player head unit P11 (pre-01 pathfinder, maxima and 96-98 QX4 i believe, could be mistaken)

http://www.buyincoins.com/car-audio-cas ... -1365.html

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iPath
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Car: 04 SE

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up to 04 have cassette players, surprisingly

moneym915
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miamiheat3332
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Car: 2002 Nissan Pathfinder SE - 2006 BMW X5 4.8is - 2001 Audi A4 1.8T Quattro Sport

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i have subs in my car, and the stock bose system, and the whole system plays best when i use the cassette to input wire and hook up my mp3 player is when it plays the best. at loud volumes too obviously. this is my solution until i put in either my car pc or just a 7inch touchscreen with a solid state disk or just play off usb stick or sd card.

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rwardell
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Car: 2001 QX4

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ok so i understand that this may not be the easiest or the cheapest way to get your music from your ipod to your system but the whole idea of this is that i did not have the money to do a complete rewire and system swap, and i wanted better sound then can be achieved through the casset adapter or the FM transmitter or modulator (both result in loss of the high trebles and low bass's as well as general mudding due to the low sample rate) the best answer for me was to open u my already useless head unit and see if i could make something work. i had plenty of time to work with and enjoy the tinkering aspect of it. the results were better then the aforementioned options due to the higher sample rate capability of the cd changer and the volume is more then acceptable it is just lower then the max volume for fm. i'm not saying this is the best way or the way you should do it, im just sharing the method i discovered purely by trial and error. :dblthumb:

Ammi
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Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2010 8:09 pm

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darn I just did this mod and my radio won't turn on now

Carlsbad
Posts: 45
Joined: Mon May 06, 2013 8:11 pm
Car: Infiniti QX4 2003

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Ability to adapt an MP3 player, phone, bluetooth, XM radio etc to the OEM unit is what drove me to replace my head unit and I am very glad I did. See my post under "replacing the head unit" and consider that option too. (not that I am against this option but I a very happy with the new sound). --Jerry

xlj1000
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2013 8:16 am
Car: 2001 Pathfinder

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Just want to point out that for my pathfinder 2001, there is a 5 pin round din on the back of head unit that you can connect line in signal. You can buy from ebay an adaptor/cable(http://www.ebay.com/itm/DIN-male-Plug-C ... 5659b922e2). To activate it, you will also need to install a push switch to supply a 12v to one of the pin.

http://carstereohelp.net/wireharness_Nissan3.htm

I bought a cheap Bluetooth handfree kit and connect to it, it works great
Last edited by xlj1000 on Thu Sep 12, 2013 9:01 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Chuck Tribolet
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xlj1000: do you have Bose or nonBose? Do you have the six CD changer?

xlj1000
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I have the bose unit with 6 CD changer.

Shizelkadizal
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Car: 2002 Infinii QX4

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If I rewrite the 6 cd changer to the back of my 02 qx4 Bose, with a 3.5, will the sound be better than an FM modulator that plugs into the antenna? I would like sound quality. I tried a wireless FM modulator, and the sound is poor, like the radio. The sound coming from the CD changer is awesome, and I'd like that sound, even if the volume is reduced. Is there someone who can answer that for me before I rewire my system, only to rewire it back :-) thanks!!

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Towncivilian
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Yes, sound quality should be significantly improved over an FM transmitter.

Welcome to NICO!

Shizelkadizal
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First of all, thank you for the welcome. Secondly, how much better will it be...CD quality possibly? Thanks!!

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Towncivilian
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It should be very close if not the same as CD quality, yes.

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Chuck Tribolet
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I'm not too sure about CD quality from MP3s. MP3 has serious trouble with sharp transitions. The most
glaring I see is Jan and Dean's "Surf City", which starts off "TWO Girls for every Boy". On MP3 it's "OO irls for every oy".

On the other hand, a lot of CDs are highly dynamically compressed. There's one album that I had on both
vinyl and CD, and the MP3s I ripped from vinyl sound a lot better than the ones I ripped from the digital data
on the CD.

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Towncivilian
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It ultimately depends on the encoder used for MP3s, Chuck. Any modern encoder at a high enough bitrate (for most people, 192kbps CBR) 'should' be transparent to lossless audio. I agree though that vinyl and cassette are generally much better in terms of dynamic range than today's awfully mastered CD and digital releases.

Basically, a 3.5mm aux input should not impact the sound of the audio unlike an FM transmitter. The speakers, then the source material then determine how good things sound.

Shizelkadizal
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Car: 2002 Infinii QX4

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Thank you guys. One last question; I have a 2002. The wiring should be the same as the 2001? And I'm hooking the two striped wires (blue and green striped) to the 3.5 Ground, and the solid blue to the 3.5 black and solid green to the 3.5 Red? Thanks again. I can't wait to get this hooked up!!! I will use the wire splitters so I can use my CD player when I need to, and put an empty CD in so I can listen to my IPOD. I LOVE this site!!!

Shizelkadizal
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Car: 2002 Infinii QX4

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Also, and I may be getting a little too technical, but hooking the two negative wires to the ground wire, but not cutting them; will that have any affect on the CD changer, or anything else? Just making sure, but if no one can answer that, then I'll just have to take my chances. Thanks again!!

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atraudes
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Thank you rwardell! Good writeup, and you inspired me to get off my butt and finally post my Aux tutorial as well

howto-add-aux-input-to-infiniti-qx4-others-t582860.html

I had been wondering if tapping into the CD lines like you did was possible during my research.

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rwardell
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Car: 2001 QX4

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@atraudes, thanks, im about to do your aux mod tomorow. after almost 4 years of reliable service i have an err2 message when i select cd and my aux mod no longer works. wish i would have known about that 8pin din's use a long time ago!

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rwardell
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Car: 2001 QX4

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Atraudes aux mod is definitely the superior option , if you are receiving the err2 MSG on the cd player this mod will not work. atraudes mod using the 8pin connector will work regardless of cd player functionality.

8 pin mod
howto-add-aux-input-to-infiniti-qx4-others-t582860.html

njcubs4
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Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2014 6:50 am
Car: 2004 Nissan pathfinder

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Bringing back to life a semi-dead thread. Has anyone had any luck(for those of us with the DVD player in trunk and DVD in roof of rear seating ares-pathfinder LE models) splicing into this wire at rear of vehicle that connects to the DVD to the head unit for an aux cable? The vehicle is equipped with a powered switch on center dash near seat heat switches. I think the DVD player has your rca plugs too(red/white/yellow) which I'm guessing is a input and not an output to run a gaming system or other external system on? Maybe making a rca cable to 3.5mm head phone jack would also work. Have not yet tried it myself, just a few thoughts on the matter if someone has the DVD player in rear and doesn't want to rip the dash apart.

thomas.clark
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Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2014 5:49 pm
Car: 2001 Pathfinder LE RWD

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Many thanks to rwardell & Atraudes for posting these write-ups. Just inherited a 2001 Pathfinder, and also inherited it's err2 Bose 6-disc changer. Didn't want to swap in an aftermarket unit, as they don't appeal to me aesthetically, and was very much hoping someone had dared go boldly before me into these mods.

::beers all around::


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