Upgrade JRV215 to JRV9000R head unit

[hoppers4]

My Jensen RV215 bit the dust and this looked like the easiest replacement. I'm not a Jensen fan but this looked like the easiest way to go. Personally I'd rather have a better head unit and one with Android Auto.

The replacement was no walk in the park. Found a thread on this forum to get a better feel for the project and it sounded doable. After figuring out how to get the front of the dashboard off (just pull on it) it was a tight squeeze getting the 215 out. Made me nervous flexing the dashboard far enough to get it out. The main power/speaker plug had to be replaced in it's entirety. A matter of using two drawings showing old and new plug configuration. A prepinned plug came with the 9000 so I butt spliced this new plug onto the existing wiring. Another prewired harness was included for all the AV inputs/outputs. The 9000 has other coaxes and wires hanging out for camera/trigger connection.

Biggest problem encountered was that the power came up MIA. I suspect something happened to the Ford diode harness behind the head unit but I really didn't feel like dissecting it to replace a fried diode. I picked up power from dash power port so now my head unit power is provided by the chassis battery. Not ideal if you run the head unit a lot while you're parked. We don't, so it was no big deal for us. I'll also leave a battery tender hooked while on shore power.

I've read threads where other folks have gone a better route with the head unit but I really wanted to jump through as few hoops as possible. A separate camera on the dash wouldn't didn't sound too exciting so I put a standalone Android Auto up there to replace my Garmin and the crappy nav unit that Jensen provides.

BTW, this project isn't for the faint of heart as it requires quite a bit of rootin around in the wiring mess behind the dash. Fun, fun, fun.

[AzGreyGhost]

How is the JRV9000 working out for you? Looking at doing the same replacement.

[hoppers4]

Originally Posted by AzGreyGhost

How is the JRV9000 working out for you? Looking at doing the same replacement.

It's typical Jensen unit. I'm not thrilled with it but it's good enough for what I need. I poked around the GPS for a bit and determined that's it's no better than the 215. My preference turned out to be the Garmin 760. I mentioned in the previous post that I put together a standalone Android Auto but that didn't work all that great either. The display isn't as good as the Garmin and it's difficult to position it properly.

One of the complaints with the 9000 is the display brightness and it can indeed be a problem in direct sunlight. Radio reception is acceptable. Touchscreen sensitivity is good. Streaming music from my Android phone works quite will. While I had it out I also hooked up the mic that came it (Jayco doesn't bother to hook them up).

There's better head units out there but it requires some additional components and wiring that I didn't feel like messing with. Just make sure you have the wiring diagrams for both head units main plugs as it will require cutting off the 215's plug and wiring in the new one using the wire descriptions.

Bottom line is that despite it's shortcomings I would go with 9000 again if I had to do it over.

[pconroy]

Originally Posted by hoppers4

There's better head units out there but it requires some additional components and wiring that I didn't feel like messing with. Just make sure you have the wiring diagrams for both head units main plugs as it will require cutting off the 215's plug and wiring in the new one using the wire descriptions.

Thanks for sharing that.


Dorking with a wiring harness is something I didn't mind when I was 25 and could contort the body under that dash of my Opel.


Now? I think I'll pass on futzing with the wiring.

[hoppers4]

Originally Posted by pconroy

Now? I think I'll pass on futzing with the wiring.

I had quite a lot of trepidation before I committed to the job as Murphy is always close by. The part I figured would be the hardest was getting it out of the dash. And I wasn't wrong. I didn't have to crawl under the dash but had to pull that end of the dash out. I had to hope the dash wouldn't break in half when I yarfed on it. If you're adept at wiring and splicing wires (not under the dash) then you'd find that to be the easy part.

[AzGreyGhost]

Thanks Don for your honest assessment on the 9000. There are pros and cons for going with the Jensen or going with an "upgrade". Right now I'm leaning towards an upgrade, like the Kenwood DMX906S. Looks like it will do the 3 cameras, (with adapters), and should be a major improvement over all, for about the same $$. The wire cutting and splicing is at least easy to get to through the dash, without laying upside down under it. Just have to use a lot of patience, and triple checking, to make sure I do it right.

[hoppers4]

Originally Posted by AzGreyGhost

There are pros and cons for going with the Jensen or going with an "upgrade". Right now I'm leaning towards an upgrade, like the Kenwood DMX906S. Looks like it will do the 3 cameras, (with adapters), and should be a major improvement over all, for about the same $$.

Wise choice Ghost. My preference would also have been a Kenwood or Pioneer but I didn't feel like messing around with the extraneous stuff required for the cameras.

One more thing. Disconnect the chassis battery and turn off the 12VDC house power. I didn't bother with the chassis battery and ended up wiping out the diode pack that selects house or chassis. I had to do a bit of power rewiring so now it's only powered from the house. I couldn't locate a replacement for the Ford supplied diode pack.

Have fun with your project!