How To: Add a Quick & Dirty Aux Input to Your Dodge Grand Caravan (Factory Stereo)

This is a quick and dirty way to add an aux input to your 2002 or later model Dodge Grand Caravan (with a factory stereo). This really is a quick and dirty method, that leaves you with not much control over the input, but is nevertheless effective, and can be done in under 20 minutes, for cheap or even completely free!

However,
If you can, I highly recommend you use one of these methods to add an aux input to your stereo instead:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=294TFX3b5-A
(requires a CD changer, but is an elegant solution)


OR
buy a PIE CHRY02-AUX, which usually runs for about $42-$70, and is a much more elegant way to do this (and doesn't require a CD changer):




(If you choose to use the CHRY02-AUX, I recommend still following the Youtube video above for instructions on how to mount an audio jack into your dash. Just run the wires from the audio jack to the RCA inputs on the CHRY02 instead.)












..both of which will give you higher audio quality, let you turn the volume louder, and let you use your stereo's normal controls for your speakers.

However I'm assuming you're here either because you don't have a cd changer, don't want to buy one, or don't want to spend the money to buy a special adapter for your stereo. Well you're in the right place! This can be done for the cost of a simple 3.5mm audio cable (a few bucks), or completely free if you've already got one laying around.

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Before we get started, let's quickly go over the pros and cons of this method:
PROS:
-cheap, can be done for a few bucks or even for free
-easy, can be done either using soldering or splicing, whichever you've got the skills and tools for
-quick, can be done in under 20 min
-effective, works immediately and doesn't require much work to complete

CONS:
-stereo is completely bypassed, so control over volume, fading, etc is not available (all other inputs - CD, Radio, etc - will still work normally)
-can only output to front speakers or rear speakers, or both with the downside that fading controls won't be functional any more for other inputs
-volume can only be controlled at the source (output is decently loud from my iPhone, but you'll be dissapointed if you like to listen *really* loud
-sound quality is pretty good (waay better than an FM transmitter or a cassette adapter), but starts to degrade at higher volume levels

Read them? Good! Don't care and ready to start? Alright! Let's go...


Step 1 - Remove Stereo

• Pull out the cup-holder. Remove the small plastic trim piece located directly above cupholder (just pull it).
• Remove the two screws located under the trim piece that hold the main stereo panel in place (some vehicles may have two screws that need to be removed from the top of the main panel as well).
• Remove the entire main stereo panel starting at the bottom by pulling until the clips release (some force is required).
• Remove the four screws holding the stereo unit in place.
• Remove all connecting cables from the back of the stereo, and remove the stereo itself.

What exactly are we doing here?
We are going to be tapping into the speaker outputs on the back of the stereo, either by soldering on to the corresponding pins on the stereo's main board, or by splicing into the corresponding wires in the car-side harness.


METHOD ONE - SOLDERING (if you plan to splice into the stereo connector in the dash instead, skip to method two)
Note: Soldering is a cleaner method than splicing, but requires you to open the stereo unit. Both methods take about the same amount of time in the end.

Click on any image to enlarge it.

Step 2 - Open Stereo

• Remove the two screws holding top metal plate in place (the part with the sticker on it).

• Remove the top metal plate (tip: pry from the back with a small standard screwdriver).

• Remove the four washer/screws (two on each side) that hold the front plastic faceplate in place.

• Remove the volume control knob (just pull).
• Remove the front faceplate by releasing the six clips with a small screwdriver (two clips each on top and bottom, and one on each side). Tip: do the two top and bottom clips on one side, then that side clip, then repeat on the other side.

• Remove the front faceplate carefully.
• Remove the four side screws holding the right side heat-sink on. (Note: these images were taken after I completed this, so just ignore the wire for now.)

• Remove the two top screws holding the right side heat-sink on.

• Remove the right-side heat sink.

Step 3 - Solder Aux Input Wire

• Get your 3.5mm audio cable, and cut one end off (if it is a 3.5mm to RCA cable, remove the RCA end).
• Strip the insulation off the resulting wires, and twist the exposed wires (not to each other).
• Use a multi-meter to check continuity to find out which wire is which:

There are three parts to the 3.5mm plug: the tip, the ring (the middle conductor), and the sleeve (the conductor at the base of the plug). The tip is Left Signal (or Left +), the ring is Right Signal (or Right +), and the sleeve is Ground (GND, Left and Right -). Test each of these with your exposed wires to find out which wire is which. Ideally you should use a two part cable (with two joined insulation pieces), which will leave you with two ground wires.

• Using the pinout diagram on the top plate, or the image below, solder each of the four wires to their respective pins (Tip: add a little fresh solder to each of the pins on the board first, so that they solder easier). Use the pinout diagram or the image below to solder to either the front or back speakers (your choice), or both. Remember that if you choose to solder to both, you will loose fading (front to back) control for all your other inputs (CD, Radio, etc).

Note: the pins you are going to solder onto are located on the back right of the unit (as you face it from the back), under the heat-sink you just removed, and on the adjacent corner to the actual connectors on the back of the unit. The pins you are soldering onto are the other ends of the actual pins you see in the connector, at the location where they solder into the main circuit board. 

The column of pins you see on the left in the image below corresponds to the column of pins you'd see on the right as you look at the connector from the back of the unit; the column of pins on the right below corresponds to the column on the left as you look at the connector from the back of the unit (See the pinout diagram in Method Two below to help clarify).

Remember to route your cable through a slot in the heat-sink panel!

• Follow the preceding instructions backwards to close the unit up, and install it back into your dash.
• Run the cable down the fin of the heat-sink that it comes out in, so that it doesn't stick out on the side (and interfere with the stereo going back in). (Note: this image shows the cable running up, when it really should be running down).

METHOD TWO - SPLICING (this method is not as clean as soldering, and a bit more difficult to pull off (and easier to mess up), as you have to modify the wire harness while it's inside your dash. However it may be easier for those of you who have never soldered before (or shy away from the thought of opening up the stereo)).

Step Two - Splice Into the Car Stereo Harness

• Using the pinout diagram on the sticker on top of the stereo, figure out which wires in the harness go to the right front signal (RF+), the right front ground (RF-), the left front signal (LF+), the left front ground (LF-), and so on for the right and left rear speakers. Below is the pinout diagram from my stereo (yours may be different).

• Get your 3.5mm audio cable, and cut one end off (if it is a 3.5mm to RCA cable, remove the RCA end).
• Strip the insulation off the resulting wires, and twist the exposed wires (not to each other).
• Use a multi-meter to check continuity to find out which wire is which:

There are three parts to the 3.5mm plug: the tip, the ring (the middle conductor), and the sleeve (the conductor at the base of the plug). The tip is Left Signal (or Left +), the ring is Right Signal (or Right +), and the sleeve is Ground (GND). Test each of these with your exposed wires to find out which wire is which. Ideally you should use a two part cable (with two joined insulation pieces), which will leave you with two ground wires.

• Using some cheap wire splices from Radioshack (these, or these have worked best for me), splice each of the wires from your aux cable into the respective harness wires for the front, or rear speakers (or both).

Remember that if you choose to splice to both, you will loose fading (front to back) control for all your other inputs (CD, Radio, etc).


FINISHING:

• Route your audio cable under the dash (if it's long enough), through a hole you've made in the front stereo panel (if you want to do that), or under the front panel in the bottom where it screws in (what I did - it's quick and dirty, remember?).

You could always run the audio to a jack mounted in the dash, which would be nicer, but if you're going to spend the time and money on that, just go ahead and get a CHRY02-Aux and do it properly.

PLAYBACK:
Turn your stereo OFF, plug your iPod in, and press play! Control the volume using your iPod's volume control. Beware that this will work even with the car off and the keys out of the ignition, so watch out for leaving music on and running out your battery!


ANY QUESTIONS? Leave them in the comments, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

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I love hearing from you. If this was helpful to you in any way, please leave a quick comment letting me know!

Disclaimer: I make no claims as to whether following any of the above will work for you. I take NO responsibility for any damage it causes to you, your car, your car stereo, or any other resulting damage or injury from following these instructions.