Our kids are 6, 4, and 14 months!

I'm glad you had mentioned Carlos by name as I was much more open-minded to his help.

No worries about the switchies, you're supposed to be the customer not the customer service rep!

Great idea sending them the radio, I would have much preferred that option.

Lastly, is your screen as clear as it was before you modded the radio? Mine seems just a touch fuzzy and I'm wondering if it could be because the bottom of my LCD is cracked or if the new ribbon cables have somehow muddled the signal. I think I'd be willing to accept the fuzziness in exchange for the camera, but I'm hoping I don't have to settle for it.

 

Yeah, my screen is a touch more pixelated (for lack of a better word), the angled line of the arrow icon is the most noticable. Video images appear just fine, but the interface is kind of fuzzy. Tested a movie with my ipod and it looked pretty good. Rear camera looks good. Everything works well but there is that slight resolution loss. I can live with it because it doesn't make that much of a difference in use. Now, if the NAV system was accurate to within inches rather than a few meters of actual location, it might be problematic.

 

So I got my "new" $500 replacement radio today... just 48 hours after I ordered it and shipping was only $13.99!

I pulled my scarred, lockpicked head unit out and put the new one and was delighted to see it powered up just fine. Once I started playing with the functions though it said "No NAV disc detected." Doh! I forget to pull the CD's & NAV DVD out of my original radio.

Disconnected the new one and reconnected the old one so I could power it up and eject the discs.

When it came on though my screen was red. Red? Yes, red. The radio played though and I could eject the CD's using the hard buttons, so I got those 6 out.

Red? Hmmm. Looked at the Lockpick ribbon cord and saw that where it exited the back of the radio just above a plug the ribbon cord had torn from rubbing against the plug. Maybe if this thing had been able to be installed just once that wouldn't have happened, but sometimes the more things go wrong, the more things go wrong.

No amount of hitting invisible buttons on the touch screen would release the NAV DVD and I really want my Navigation to work as the family beach trip is less than 72 hours away at this point.

Removed the radio, took the face off, stipped out the Lockpick ribbon cord, manually released and removed the NAV DVD (phew!) and reinstalled the stock ribbon cord to my broken LCD screen.

I'm going to send Coastal an e-mail tomorrow to see what they suggest, but I think I'm at the end of my rope at this point. Re-reading their website it clearly says you don't need to hack into your radio "voiding the warranty" and one clearly needs to hack into the radio to install the ribbon cord. Furthermore, they describe the process as "easy" and that really seems to be a bit off target.

Oh, my "new" radio has about 85% functionality, but I was told it may need programmed at the dealership to be 100%. The big stuff all seems to work, but my rear entertainment has two-channel headphones and the head unit can identify the headphones but isn't recognizing Channel A & Channel B. Also the lighting is out of synch (no pun intended on my pre-synch radio) as the display doesn't dim when the lights come on and the hard buttons aren't backlit with the dash lights. Finally, when you start the vehicle it now says Ford instead of THX.

Programming the radio should be $100 I'm told... so I've got $600+ into repairing the damage stemming from my attempted lock-pick conversion.

This operation has clearly worked better for at least two other people here, but don't tread lightly into these murky waters.

 

Good news... local L-M dealership programmed my new radio for just $46 this morning. It worked with out being programmed, but little features like the rear headphones only had one channel instead of A & B, and the lighting was goofed up, and it said "Ford" with a big blue oval instead of the THX logo when it lit up. Anyhow, everything is back to it was before I started this nightmare.

Except I'm $550 poorer.

I emailed Coastal yesterday around Noon to see if they had any solutions besides me returning the product but I haven't heard any response just yet.

I'll keep the camera and use it with an separate aftermarket monitor, but the Lockpick really didn't work out for me as they described it. Until I return it, I guess I'm $229 poorer too!

 

Yeah, Coastal really doesn't describe how difficult the actual ribbon cable install is. I am sorry it didn't work out for you and hope you enjoy your vacation as now it seems doubly earned!

 

Have you thought about just putting the new LCD panel onto the old radio with the old ribbon cable? That might return backlight funcionality and original radio programming to you NAV.

 

I don't want to take apart the replacement radio I just got.

It works.

But if I can acquire a replacement LCD screen I'll do just what you said.

Got the replacement "programmed" at the local L-M dealership and it works good as, ahh, old!

Thanks for the ideas.

 

Wow, after reading this thread, I am not as excited about the lockpick and am rethinking installing one in my 07 expy limited EL. If the wires were way too short in the regular length trucks, they will truely be a problem in mine. From eCostal's site, the install really does seam like a piece of cake. I was planning on adding the backup camera, and then figuring a way to go a little rogue and to splice into the rear DVD system with a video feed and run it to one of the video inputs on the lockpick so that I could watch the movie with the kids while mom runs in the store or whatever (wouldn't recommend trying to watch while driving as this is illegal in most states and highly dangerous, but if the passenger were to gain access to entertainment, that would be acceptible). Any way, after this thread, I'm not sure I want to risk the LCD to try and get backup video...

 

Just did a wireless Peak camera on 2000 excursion and here is what I know;

It may be easier to start at the rear and run wires to front to power monitor rather than try to locate reverse wire and then run wires to monitor> But here is what I did:
Found reverse wire behind passenger kick panel >>> black with pink
Then had to run from there under carpet and up the side post to dash where i mounted the monitor.(dont forget u need a ground also)
I then tapped the camera into the factory backup lights
Another option is to use the 7 pin from tow pgk

good luck

 

Epilogue:

Well, even after I returned my Lockpick to Coastal I remained $229 poorer (on top of the $550 to replace my radio) because Coastal disregarded my patient prods to process my refund.

For the first time in my life I called Visa and learned how to process a vendor dispute. Visa got my money back.

I would advise anybody considering a purchase from Coastal to clicky around some on the Prius forums. Coastal has been supplying aftermarket stuff to Toyota drivers for several years and I learned my difficult experience isn't unsual with their lack-of-customer-service department.

Buyer Beware!

 

Sorry to hear about your luck. Your post has been very informative and swayed my decision to get an aftermarket navigation to replace the Ford factory nav.

Good luck GP

 

That is the second lockpick I have heard going back. Co-worker got one for a Chevy Traverse. Worked, but made the radio have a static noise while switching stations, etc. Took it out, problem gone.