Sometimes You Gotta Do It Yourself...

So it all started with this:

Yep, a distribution block installed by Worx in the trunk next to the battery (right above the fuel pump area) which Nismo Omori hadn't removed.  Remember their job was to get the visible interior back to OEM, including the stereo wiring.  Further, the alarm shop's job was to remove the alarm and make sure the immobilizer functions didn't kick in and prevent the car from starting. I get it.

And yet every time I opened the trunk, this cancer served as a reminder that my car still had Worx items located in it.  So it got to the point where I wondered, how difficult would it be to remove it along with all the wires attached to it?

Bad question because 24 hours later...

It didn't take me 24 hours to get to this... rather as I'm working from home whenever I have a few minutes I'd pop into the garage to do some work

So first order of business was to get access to the distribution block from the other side - I'm too lazy to remove the trunk bulkhead as well as the strut tower bars.  So I decided to remove the seats, it's easy.

Just a couple of bolts and the seat cushion pops out

Of course first thing I noticed was that the new insulation sheet material installed by Worx behind and under the seat was crinkled up, not flat. So I go to straighten it up and:

Pink paint marker. As you will later see, this allowed me to know what he touched, bolt-wise

WTF!! Yep, looks like Nakamura lost his marker pen there! Sloppy!!!

Curious about what other presents he might have left me, I looked around some more and found:

And this:

Still not sure about this cushion material. I suppose I can keep it, as OEM was a thin rubber sheet with the fuzzy cloth stuff that had degraded over time.

I removed it and accessed the plate covering the battery area.

Green arrow points to where something added was grounded

A few bolts later, and I was surprised at how heavy this piece of metal is!

And yes, you can see that I took apart the center console too because I was curious to see what else I could remove in addition to the wires I found coming from the distribution block. More on that later.

So first task was to inspect the distribution block and see what wires came out of it.

Green arrows point to the bolts that Worx marked pink (in other words, he installed or used the bolt)

I could see a power lead coming from the battery (right most arrow) and this went back to the distribution block to 4 fuses - one for a lead connecting to a CTEK battery tender cable (extension plug which allows charging); another for the trunk release that was hooked up to the alarm I had removed; one for the back up camera that used to be hooked up to the CyberNavi; and finally one for the alarm's ignition immobilizer.

Basically, it was easy enough to trace where the leads went, but more often than not, in an attempt to hide them the wires were combined together with the factory loom with black electrical tape.

I could easily tell the difference between factory electrical tape and what Worx applied. So off came that aftermarket tape.

The immobilizer seemed to, in addition to the power leads, have a lot of other cables. I discovered this by following the power lead to a small space above the Fuel Pump Control Module, located near the right rear strut.

Squeezed atop the silver Fuel Pump Control Module is the alarm's immobilzer brain.

And for some reason, the FPCM was unbolted and loose.  Or should I say, it was probably held in place by the immobilizer brain so once I removed that:

Going to have to secure this.

 The immobilizer brain was interesting. There is a small LED light and since it wasn't on I figured it was dead, and just left there by the alarm installer when he removed the rest of the alarm.

This lead to a bunch of cut leads

 You can also see how Worx tried to be clever here by using the OEM loom protectors to hide his wiring. Although the black electrical tape he used to force it shut (some of these were cracked) gives it away.

Another example:

Clearly the shiny black tape and the cloth Tesa tape are not OEM

And this one on the floor next to the driver's seat.

And all the above was on the right side of the car.  On the left side, the wiring crossed in front of the battery.  Looks like he had previously used that hole to bolt something but changed his mind.

These wires led either into the trunk (trunk release, back up camera, and CTEK plug) or towards the front of the car (back up camera).

This wiring for the back up camera led to the front and ended up behind the stereo

After the first day, my intermittent work resulted in this mess.

The next day, I found the rest of the wires from the immobilizer already cut - I guess this is what the alarm shop did?

Leaving just these two red wires still connected to something under the dash.

You can see how removal of the back up camera wiring helped to clean up the area behind the stereo even more!

So because I figured out what the wiring going into the trunk were for, I simply cut off that portion that was visible in the cabin.

See! Back to OEM!!! (except of course the sound insulation and the Alcantara, he he.)

 And now the battery area was also cleaned up:

And yes I had to resort to zip-ties to secure the FPCM as for some reason if I bolted it down it bumped up against the adjuster for the rear right Ohlins DFV coilover.

But at least it's secure now and the wiring is clean and OEM

Removing all that wiring meant that this was the mess in the car (and just from the immobilizer side):

And it wasn't just about removing wires. I also took the opportunity to fix problems along the way.  For example, in order to create the shelf for the distribution block, Worx decided to add in screw taps (not sure if the holes were drilled in that area to begin with).  But as you can see this area was rubbing against an OEM loom and causing the loom cover to get worn down.

I ended up adding some TESA tape on top of the worn area where it rubbed against the metal

 In the trunk, you can see how I clipped away the zip ties holding these wires to the OEM loom in the top half of the photo.

Since I don't need a back up camera right now, I removed the camera itself as well as the wiring. I kept the loom for the CTEK charger, not sure if I can use it but I will admit that the set up (having the plug hidden behind the license plate) is clever and so I will try to figure something out.

I didn't take any photos of the last two red wires I mentioned above, but suffice to say I had to get on my back and unwrap a lot of electrical tape under the dash.

In the end, here is the mess of wires and electrical components I was able to remove.

Strange feeling of liberation!

There is more coming, but before I post that, a couple of interesting posts. Stay tuned!

Update from NISMO... They Called Worx AutoAlarm And...

So this past Saturday afternoon, after two days of updates from Ochiai-san on the progress NISMO Omori Factory's Uchida-san had made on cleaning up the mess caused by Nakamura at Worx AutoAlarm, I was treated to some more interesting news from Ochiai-san.

He texted me to let me know that he had called Worx that morning in an effort to get some clarity on how and why Nakamura had spliced into the electrical harnesses for the alarm install in the peculiar (non-obvious and unusual) way he did.  He was hoping to figure out how best to remove the alarm, but alas from the get go things did not go well.

Even before mentioning my name, even though I think most small shops would be thrilled that Nismo Omori Factory was calling to inquire about their past work, the response was rude and unprofessional from the moment Nakamura answered the phone.

This irked Ochiai-san, but keeping his cool he asked Nakamura about his past installs, only to be bluntly told he didn't keep records or notes of any of his past installs ("Records? Why would I need records? It's all in my head").  In fact he told Ochiai-san that the mechanics at Nismo were complete amateurs and they should follow each wire back to figure it out themselves - never mind that the reason for the call was that we were hoping that professional courtesy would prevail and that Nismo wouldn't have waste time doing just that.

Of course when Ochiai-san expanded and told Nakamura that it was my car they were calling about, Nakamura got even more agitated, refusing to have anything to do with me and my car.   I guess my critiques and complaints had gotten back to him. He's lucky I've decided it's not worth suing him.

What was funny of course was that Ochiai-san (the most laid back guy at Nismo!) admitted to me that talking to Nakamura had really pissed him off - and he told me he now understands why I was complaining about Worx so much when I described what needed to be fixed.

In fact, Ochiai-san was so upset that he did some checking around and found that apparently Worx's and Nakamura's reputation is extremely negative.  So I was informed that NISMO will never have any dealings with Worx/Nakamura, and of course if any other customer asks for a referral for an alarm, Worx won't be on the short list. If pressed for details I've told Ochiai-san that it's ok for him to tell others what they found in my car...

Meanwhile Uchida-san had made significant progress - super clean!

Anyway, on to better and more positive things.  As all this was happening Uchida-san was diligently continuing his quest to clean up the stereo wiring.  Ochiai-san sent me the above photo which shows that in the end, Uchida-san was able to bring all the speaker wires together and use OEM connectors so that I can use those adaptor kits for Nissan stereo wiring to install a modern 1-DIN stereo without much hassle. Awesome!!

Next, a small bump in the road - even though I had bought an extra HVAC unit to replace the one that was now integrated into the shift surround panel, it turned out that the connectors in my car did not match the extra unit!  I learned today that the wiring connectors for kohki (Series 3) cars are different from the zenki (Series 1 and 2) earlier cars, which are identical to ones on the BNR32! I knew the parts numbers were different, but why change the connectors? So weird...

I bought this HVAC (with the bonus OEM radio/cassette deck) from Yahoo Auction assuming it would work 

Admittedly, I didn't test it to see if it would work in my car before handing over to Nismo Omori Factory

HVAC unit from my car on top with yellow sticker. The one I got on Yahoo Auctions with the black label.

So an expensive lesson on another area where the Series 3 R33 GT-R is different from the others.

In any case, to resolve the problem they did what they had to - which was to remove my old HVAC unit from the modified shift surround (because this HVAC part is no longer available new). When I looked at it previously, it appeared to be in there pretty solidly, but with the right tools...

I can almost hear that "CRACK" as the plastic separated

Unfortunately, looks like the sides of the unit and the front fascia have also been modified

And yeah sorry guys I don't think this can be re-used... will take a closer look in person however

 So what to do with the damaged fascia - remove and use the near pristine one from the incompatible older unit!

Super clean, and should fit on the newer unit

So that solves that issue quickly... which reminds me that before I took the car to Nismo, there was an odd clicking/whirring sound coming from behind the center A/C vents, when the key was turned to "ignition" but the engine wasn't started.  Turns out that this CyberNavi part was zip-tied behind the vents...

Apparently a relay from the CyberNavi...

...and when they tested after removing it the sound went away! So some good news! I'm not needing to replace the motors that control the vents, and it appears there was no damage done.

Finally some mixed news - I had instructed Nismo Omori Factory to remove the Morel speakers up front, and replace with the old Pioneers in the rear deck, just so I'd be able to listen to music when I get a 1DIN deck - an amp and high end speakers can come later!  Unfortunately, when they tried to remove the Morels, it turns out that the speaker wires were directly connected to the speakers, without using the clips or connectors (!). Who does that?? This is a GT-R, I'm not sure any improvement in sound quality can be noticed by a direct soldering install.

Since I plan to replace these speakers (and it's something I can do myself) I told them to leave it all as is, but to make sure that the wiring to the speakers, both front and rears are still functioning, I asked them to use the OEM radio-cassette deck to check - which of course was possible because thanks to Uchida-san we now have the OEM connectors for the speakers and deck.

And the result:


Ok so the sound quality isn't great but that's ok for now...



Unfortunately the tape deck doesn't work (would truly be period correct if it did!), but not a problem of course.

So what's next? Stay tuned...

Call from NISMO - It's The Worst They've Ever Seen!

So I got a call last Thursday from Ochiai-san at Nismo Omori Factory.  Bad news, and he didn't mince words to describe what he thought  - that this is the worst they've ever seen! Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but I'm pretty sure everyone at NISMO believes me now on how bad Worx AutoAlarm is.

He was referring, of course not only to the mess of wires behind where the CyberNavi used to be, but what they found as they began to remove the wiring.

The initial exploration/planning stage. Note the left door panel is off as is the glovebox. 

One of my requests this time around was for the experts at NISMO to remove all the stuff that Worx AutoAlarm had added, and bring the car back to OEM condition.  Long time readers of this blog know that I had made the wrong choice by going to Worx and trusting the owner, Nakamura-san, to "install the best."

That "best" has turned out to be not only "mediocre" (and now I suspect, judging by the date of install vs the date of product release, he installed used or prior year model parts) but in doing the install Nakamura not only damaged several parts, but he also threw out many parts on the car without asking me, and installed untested parts that might have led to long term damage.  So clearly, this guy seems to have problems with judgment and common sense. But now NISMO, who's assigned their best electronics guy Uchida-san to the work, has confirmed my worst fears - that in doing his install, it appears Nakamura took a lot of short cuts, made illogical and irreversible decisions, and in some parts, even damaged other interior parts. Based on what I myself found earlier, I guess it's not surprising to find out that in areas that couldn't be readily seen, it was just as bad.

Uchida-san trying to get a sense of the mess - note he's removed the seats

For example, some plastic stays on the back of the dashboard have been filed off -  likely in order to allow the install of the relocated HVAC unit combined with the shift surround. Unfortunately these stays are designed to support the OEM stereo and HVAC units.

It might be a good idea, but not if you have to cut off essential brackets for a smooth install...

So now, I can either buy a new dashboard, or more likely, Uchida-san will have to figure out how to reattach some brackets for support or some other alternative.

Incidentally, here you can see the bracket that Nakamura jury rigged to hold the CyberNavi. So that enormously heavy piece of electronics was supported by 3 screws on the front, and nothing in back, with the unit itself resting on the sea of wires behind it. Unbelievable, really!

From my prior post, where just looking at this pissed me off and I removed it.

An example of a shortcut is that the existing Blitz boost controller was re-wired into, along with the new ETC reader (nothing wrong with my old one...), audio related wiring behind the CyberNavi, presumably because it's easier to run all aftermarket accessories from one central power source. Not a big deal maybe, but now that the CyberNavi is gone, these parts will have to get power from separate, and proper, sources. Did Nakamura not consider that one day I might want to change out the CyberNavi? What happens when it breaks? I think a true professional installs items so things can be reversed with little hassle, and unrelated parts should be able to operate independently.

This one way thinking was also apparent in the speaker wiring - the original harness was gone, replaced by what appears to be slightly higher grade wiring.  To be honest, I'm not too crushed about this, since I don't plan on reinstalling OEM speakers, and newer wiring, regardless of gauge, will likely be of a better quality than the old Nissan OEM wiring for purposes of sound quality. But, as with other items he removed from my car, Nakamura never asked me if he could cut and throw out the OEM wiring.

But more importantly, because he threw out the OEM speaker wiring and its connectors, it's no longer possible to use the OEM stereo harnesses which is what I wanted in bringing the car back to OEM condition. Having the OEM stereo harnesses and connectors would make it much easier to install aftermarket stereos, because there are adaptors that run between the aftermarket stereo and the connectors on the OEM speaker harness.

Like this:

Why didn't Worx use something like this? Photo from Amazon

Now, we likely have individual speaker wires running into the center stack, making for a complicated and unlabelled mess.

Uchida-san also found that the old Pioneer coaxials in the rear deck were not hooked up to anything. In fact, the wiring for these speakers seemed to be connected to CyberNavi leads that were labelled for the front? So as I hinted earlier, I asked them to reinstall these Pioneers in the doors, to replace the Morels that will be removed.  This would allow me to easily first install an aftermarket stereo deck without worrying about a separate amp (these Pioneers were installed amp-less alongside with the old Pioneer deck I had, back in 2006), enjoy it for awhile, and then figure out what aftermarket speakers to get.

As for the alarm install itself, it turns out that Nakamura hacked into the main electrical harness (and likely, other harnesses such as for the doors and dome light) in places that don't make sense, meaning that in removing the alarm, they will have to be very careful to restore the harnesses to OEM condition.  The concern is that without knowing what or where he hacked, simply cutting out the alarm might result in certain things not functioning.  Alternatively, we could just install new harnesses, but this threatens to drive up the cost.  Ochiai-san wanted my permission to let the alarm be and initially I agreed, due to time and cost considerations.

Friday morning, Ochiai-san sent me the following photo to show how Uchida-san was at the shop early, finishing the cleaning up of the stereo wiring mess. I'm curious to know his solution on the stereo output wires. Guess I will find out when I pick up the car...

Note the seats are still gone but the left door inner panel has been replaced.

Later, when Ochiai-san called me to report on progress, I told him I had changed my mind and wanted the alarm removed at any cost.  Might as well get it taken care of properly.  Ochiai-san and Uchida-san were also curious as to why the alarm kills the starter on command (as it's supposed to via the remote) but at other times kills the starter at random, making starting the car a perennial gamble.  Is the alarm dying? If so then I told them we need to get rid of it.  So, rather than risk cutting out the alarm and ending up with a car that doesn't start period, with my permission Ochiai-san has now decided to call Worx AutoAlarm's Nakamura to ask what he did, as they don't want to assume anything at this point, given what they have seen.

In any case, by the end of the day Ochiai-san sent me this photo, showing how much cleaner it all looks now.

Note, not only is much of the unecessary wiring gone, but the switch panel has been reinstalled.

So I wonder how much more needs to be done. From the photo above I can see, in the passenger footwell, the grey boost controller and small black ETC reader, but there still is that large box behind them (and its related wiring) which I suspect is the brain unit for the CyberNavi, and which I want gone.  The cigarette lighter and ashtray have to be installed, as well as the HVAC unit and a blank spot for the incoming 1 DIN stereo.

I'm sure you all want to know what happened when Ochiai-san called Worx... for that, you'll have to check out my next post tomorrow!

I Couldn't Stand It Anymore So...

I yanked out the overly complicated 2-DIN Pioneer Carrozzeria "Cyber-Navi" navigation/multi-media (AVIC-CZ900-M) entertainment system that was installed at Worx a few years ago.

From: Pioneer Website

As most of you know, I have never been really content with the device. Not only is it overly complicated, but every time I drove there was this annoying "BEEEEP" that would sound every 2 minutes, which I couldn't figure out how to turn off.  Maybe part of the front camera-based forward car tracking system, which I never used once I checked it out. Better to keep your eyes on the road than rely on some system to tell you a car is entering your lane or you're about to rear end someone!

Additionally, since our phones can now provide nearly-as accurate navigation (although not being linked to the car's electronics means no functioning in long tunnels) no need for a 2 DIN system or a 1 DIN with a motorized screen that flips out.  This means I can now pursue the best audio deck, period, although I see from recent research that most manufacturers are making fewer 1 DIN units.  But I think I will move back to a regular 1 DIN in order to get the HVAC unit back under the 3 gauges.

I'm hoping that I won't have to replace the StP sound deadening

Finally - I wanted to refresh my memories on how the current speakers sound - the Morel Tempo 602s.  They get very good reviews online, although I see that most people usually have them set up with a dedicated amp - which my car doesn't have.  Unfortunately the damn CyberNavi wouldn't turn on, even after I replaced a blown fuse, so I gave up one last listen, at least with this CyberNavi.

Once again, have to remove the dash surround...

But then remove 3 bolts and voila!

It's hard to describe how heavy and dense this CyberNavi feels.  Must be packed with various electronics. No wonder there's an actual fan on the back.

HDMI in/out... I guess useful if you have a monitor for the rear seats

And another problem

In removing the CyberNavi, it's apparent that another challenge will be to sort out and remove all the unnecessary wiring. I am hoping that Nakamura did not try to reinvent the wheel and used the existing harness for the stereo and speakers, although seeing some wrapped non-OEM wiring leading out the back I'm not optimistic on that one.  You can see the orange arrow points at the OEM loom for the HVAC unit, so I suspect the OEM stereo loom also would be wrapped in black electrical tape.  As for the green arrow, I think it's supposed to be sound deadening/heat reduction (there is some in the back too), which I will keep so long as it doesn't interfere with air circulation behind the new stereo/HVAC unit.

Anyway - next steps will be head unit, amp, and speakers selection. For speakers, my biggest dilemma is whether to go with a coaxial 6.5 inch in both doors, or try to go with components again. At this time, I am leaning to keeping it simple and go coaxial, but if I DO go with components, where to mount the tweeters? Door mirror sail panels, or A-pillars again? Time for some research... any suggestions would be most welcome!