Installing a Sirius Satellite Radio in
a 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid
The information on this page explains how I installed a Sirius satellite radio receiver in a
2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid with the navigation option. With little modification these
instructions should also allow for installation of an XM satellite radio, and should also
work for other models of Toyota Highlanders with the navigation option. I was able to obtain
useful
information from the forums at Toyota Nation and HiHyChat.com, so if you
have any questions about your car (related to this installation or not)
I suggest you post them there.
Originally published November 26, 2005. Last updated June 24, 2006.
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Background
Toyota currently doesn't offer integrated satellite radio in the
Highlander, however the Highlander is based on the Camry chassis and
Toyota is offering satellite radio in that model. If you have a
Highlander with the Navigation option then with only a minor
modification to the wiring harness for your radio you can add a Camry
satellite option to your Highlander very easily. Note that this
requires some delicate wiring work so I suggest you read through this
information carefully before deciding whether or not to undertake this
task. Once installed, the satellite radio is fully integrated
with your existing radio controls. Repeatedly pressing the AM
radio button will cycle between 3 pages of satellite presets, and the
buttons on the steering wheel will also work as expected.
What to purchase
At the very minimum you will need to purchase a Sirius radio and wiring
harness from Toyota for a Camry. The radio is part # PTS31-00052
(an older version was apparently PTS31-00050), and the wiring harness
(referred to as a "fit kit") is part # PTS31-00051. The radio
costs approx. $180 and the fit kit is approx. $90. You can
purchase the radio and fit kit directly from your Toyota dealer, and
you can also find them for sale from places that resell Toyota parts
and accessories. Just do a search for one of the part numbers on
Google and you should be able to locate some.
The fit kit includes an antenna that mounts to the inside of a window,
which reportedly doesn't have very good reception at times. A
better option is to also purchase an external antenna that you can
mount on the roof, such as the Terk
SIRMINI, which is a magnetic mount antenna that you can buy for $35
at many electronics stores that carry car audio equipment. The
Terk antenna needs a slight modification for it to work with the Toyota
Sirius radio - more on this below.
Tools
The most important tool you'll need is a 10mm socket wrench with an
extension that's 6" or longer. Depending on where you decide to
install the radio and how to run the wires you may want/need other
tools as well.
Getting started
Before you actually get started here are some pictures of what you
should have so that you can familiarize yourself with it all.
Click on the images to see larger ones:
The Sirius radio receiver, from both sides so you can see the wiring
harness plug and antenna plug. Those are the only two wires that
attach to the radio:
On the bottom of the radio is a barcode with your Sirius serial number
(the SIN). The radio should have also come with a sticker
containing that number. Make sure you keep a copy of that number
since you need it to activate the radio. If you forget to write
down the SIN or lose that sticker then you'll need to pull the radio
out again in order to get the number to activate the radio.
The wire that connects the receiver to your radio/navigation system and
an optional mounting bracket:
The window-mount antenna and double-sided tape that comes with the
fit-kit. You won't actually use this if you decide to use the
Terk SIRMINI or another antenna more suited for the Highlander.
The Terk SIRMINI optional antenna. It includes a plastic strip
& adhesive strip for laying the wire on the roof of your car and an
alcohol wipe to use before installation:
Really Getting Started
IMPORTANT: Before starting any
work on your car be sure to disconnect your battery. Failure to
do this could result in damage to electrical equipment if you are not
extremely careful!
The first thing you will want to do is determine where you want to
physically locate the radio. Here are three good locations you
can choose from:
- Underneath the front passenger seat. This would require
cutting the carpet underneath the seat if you want to ensure the radio
doesn't move around.
- Forward of the center console near the drivers right foot.
There is a void here that is easy to access from either side by
removing two plastic tabs and sliding the panel forward.
- Underneath the center console, directly underneath the cup
holder. There is a void here that is easy to access and is a
perfect location for the radio. This is the location I chose and
all the pictures and information that follows is based on using this as
the location of your radio.
Picking the location will dictate how you run the antenna and wiring
harness to the radio. Choosing to install the radio under the
center console provided a location that didn't need any fancy mounting
of the radio nor any difficult running of wires.
Removing the Radio/navigation Unit
Removing the radio/navigation unit is fairly easy. There is a
single piece of molding that encircles the entire unit, with 8 friction
clips holding it in place. See the image in the middle of this page for their locations. Simply
pulling the bottom of the trim with consistant pressure should be
enough to release the bottom, then gently work your way around both
sides to the top.
The radio/nav unit with the trim removed:
Using a 10mm socket wrench, remove the 6 bolts that hold the unit in
place. Gently lift the unit up over the gear shift lever and
unplug all the cables so that you can remove it. All the plugs on
the back are different shapes & sizes so you don't need to worry
too much about what goes where - it'll be obvious when the time comes
to re-install it.
The dash with the radio/nav removed:
The back of the radio/nav unit:
Sockets R22 and R23 are the two in the upper right. R22 is where
the Sirius radio will connect to the radio. If you have a wiring
harness that contains both a male and female plug for R22
(see the update below) then it's just a simple matter of plugging that
cable in between R22 and the cable that was originally plugged into R22.
If you have a cable that only has a single R22 plug on it then you will need
to move the two wires from pins 9 and 10 on R22 to pins 9 and 10 on R23
in order to free up R22 for the Sirius cable. Moving the wires between the
two plugs, if you need to do it, is probably the most difficult part of
the entire project.
If you have really good eyes (and possibly a magnifying glass) you will be
able to locate a 1 in a small circle near pin 1 on each plug.
If you want to be absolutely certian that you are
moving the wires to the correct positions simply use a multimeter to
verify the pins in the sockets.
First you need to carefully remove
the wires and the sockets crimped on their ends from R22. To do
this you first pry the retaining clip up from the center of the plug.
using the tip of a knife blade or a small screwdriver. You can
only pry it up a little bit, about 1/8 of an inch. You then need
to use a very small metal pin and push it in the tiny hole above each
socket hole. This will push down a tiny barb on the crimped
socket so that you can gently pull it out. I can't stress how
careful you have to be not to damage the barb or you won't be able to
properly insert it into R23 so that it will stay there. If you
are unable to remove the socket then you can try cutting it out since
you won't need the R22 plug any more. If you choose this method,
however, you MUST be very careful not to damage the wires or the
sockets crimped onto the end.
Once you have successfully removed the two wires from R22 you'll need
to install them into R23. Once again pry up the retining clip on
top of R23 like you did with R22. Slide the ends of the wires
into their respective locations as far as you can then push the
retaining clip back into place.
Update (2006/04/05) : I have been told that Toyota has kits that contains
a 'Y' harness that you can use instead of having to manually perform this rewiring.
So far I've only learned that Toyota part # PT546-07051 corresponds to an XM
radio kit for the Toyota Avalon that includes this Y adapter. So if you
are installing an XM radio you probably want to order this item from the dealer.
If anybody knows of the correct part # for a Sirius kit that includes a 'Y'
harness please let me know so I can post it here.
Update: (2006/06/16) : I just got an e-mail (thanks Keith!) indicating
that you can get a Sirius wiring harness from
here that will work without needing to make any wiring changes. The
Toyota part number is PTS31-07050. Here's a picture of the harness:
Installing the Sirius
Wiring Harness
As I mentioned above, I decided to place the Sirius receiver in the
void underneath the center console. Slide the driver and/or
passenger seat back as far as you can and position yourself so that
you're looking through the open area underneath the center
console. There is an angled piece of plastic that runs horizontal
and then upwards towards the rear of the car. You can simply pry
this up and pull it out with your bare hands. This will open up
the void underneath the center console.
The center console hiding place with its cover in the foreground:
And looking back into the void:
Forward of this is a panel with a 12-volt accessory outlet in it.
You'll also want to pull this out:
(viewed from the other direction)
Take the wiring harness and feed the R22 plug up underneath where the
accessory outlet is located. If you have a small enough arm
you'll be able to reach down through the opening in the dash and pull
the wire up. You only need to feed up enough to reach the
radio. The rest can be stowed in the center console along with
the receiver.
Installing the Antenna
If you are installing the Terk SIRMINI antenna you will first need to
remove the plastic housing around the antenna connector. With the
plastic housing on the antenna won't properly connect to the Sirius
receiver. I simply used a pair of wire cutters to start snipping
the plastic until enough was removed that the rest just broke away.
The Terk antenna connector as it is when you buy it:
The connector after removing the plastic housing:
Mount the antenna on the roof of the car following the instructions
that came with it. I chose the rear of the car right in the
middle. After installing the antenna I ran the wire down the side
of the rear hatchback. The wire itself fit nicely underneath the
outside of the doors gasket:
Once I got the wire down to the rear light assembly I fed it through to
the inside of the car. To do this I had to loosen the three 10mm
bolts holding the light assembly in place. Just open the panel
inside the back of the car and you'll spot the bolts:
From there I removed the jack and the tray that the jack sits in so
that I could start running the wire forward. There is a bolt
you'll need to unscrew and a couple plastic fastners that you can pop
out with a screwdriver to remove the jack tray:
The jack tray:
And what it looks like after it's been removed:
From the forward part of this opening you can start feeding the wire
under the third-row seats:
From here I'll leave it up to you to run it up to the receiver. I
didn't find it all that difficult to push it underneath the passenger
side doorway trim in order to hide it. Once it's up near the
front seat just run it under the floor mat to the center console, then
underneath the bottom lip of the console.
Now that you've got both the antenna and the wiring harness routed to
the center console it's just a matter of plugging them both into the
Sirius receiver then putting it inside the center console. I
didn't bother to physically attach the receiver since the extra wire of
the wiring harness filled the space up enough that it couldn't really
slide around. Push the plastic cover over the receivers hiding
place, replace the accessory outlet, and you'll never know the receiver is
there.
Now it's time to replace the radio/navigation unit. Simply plug
everything back in as it was before, but now plug R22 from the Sirius
into the appropriate socket. As I mentioned above, it should be
painfully obvious where everything plugs in since all the plugs &
sockets are different shapes and sizes. Bolt the unit back into
place, replace the trim, and you're done! Once you've activated
your radio with Sirius you should be able to start using it.
Press the Audio button to display the radio controls then press the AM
button multiple times. You should see the display cycle among AM,
SAT1, SAT2, and SAT3. From those pages you can program in your
favorite Sirius channels.
