Evo VIII and IX factory head unit information

[logic]

I want the factory head unit, with an auxiliary input (or even better, a charging-capable iPhone connection). There's been a million threads here about this subject, with people being told what they want to do is stupid or wrong, and that they should just accept that they need to replace the factory head unit.

No.

I'm not making my car more of a target for break-ins than it already is. I have no visible gauges other than factory-installed ones, no obvious aftermarket parts aside from the wheels outside or inside the car, and keep a low profile with it in general. The last thing I need is an OLED light show in the middle of the dash to draw attention to the interior of the car. Plus, I'm just plain stubborn.

So, with that in mind, I started doing a bit of research with ASA/CAPS, looking at the part numbers Mitsubishi assigned to various Evo VIII and IX decks, and trying to track down visual differences between them. I'll update this post as people give me solid information with which to supplement it.



Part numbers!

It looks like there have been three major revisions to the head unit over the years:

• MR587268 was the original early-years part number right across the board. ASA seems to think MMNA Evos through the 2003 model year had this version from the factory. The ones I've seen so far have a "P001" in the upper right corner.
• MN141489 was the replacement. It's the standard deck without support for the external CD changer. Near as I can tell, it's identical to the MR587268 deck. ASA says it shipped with models from 2003 through 2006. The ones I've seen have a "P301" in the upper right corner.
• MN141190 appears to have been the "SSL" head unit; it seems to be visually identical from the front, with one exception: the word "Infinity" is silk-screened in gold lettering above and to the right of the volume knob. The back has two additional plugs: what appears to be a round 7-pin plug to the right of the main plug that both decks have, and a rectangular receptacle to the left. ASA claims it shipped in the 2004-2006 model years. The ones I've seen have a P004 in the upper right corner.

I have no idea if the "PXXX" numbers in the upper right corner of the faceplate mean anything specific, or can be relied upon for model identification. I know I've seen at least a few variations on that number with other Mitsubishi models (Montero, Diamante) that shared this head unit. The actual Mitusbishi part numbers (MR587268, etc) are printed on a label on the top of the unit, which makes it simple to distinguish once it's out of the car (on eBay, etc).

They all appear to have what's referred to as a "14-pin connector" on the back (some vendors talk about a "22-pin connector" in their documentation, which applies to other models like the Eclipse).



Pictures!

Front of the MR587268 and MN141489 decks (they're basically identical, except for the PXXX in the corner):


Front of the MN141490 deck:


Back of the MR587268 and MN141489 decks (basically identical):


Back of the MN141490 deck:




Adding an AUX or iPod connection! (ie. the part we care about)

Mitsubishi apparently has an AUX input option available. As far as I've been able to tell, the Mitsubishi version, along with several aftermarket options, will only work with the MN141190 head unit; essentially, your connected device becomes the external CD changer. I have a suspicion that the Mitsubishi version works a bit differently, I'd love some clarifications from anyone who actually has this item in-hand about how it installs.

Next up, a company called P.I.E. (mmm, pie) produces both an iPod adapter and a 3.5mm plug adapter that look remarkably similar to the Mitsubish adapters. They're about $30 from a variety of online retailers (or directly from P.I.E., from what I can see). I can't say anything about these yet, as I don't have one in my hands.

In both the Mitsu and P.I.E. versions, you apparently remove a few pins from the main plug on the deck (which would typically run to the CD changer, if I'm reading the diagrams correctly), and replace them with pins from the adapter, effectively replacing the CD changer with the auxiliary connection on the adapter. (Again, see above about my suspicions regarding the Mitsubishi version.)

Finally, for those of us with newer iPod Touch or iPhone models, you'll need a charge converter if you want your device to charge while connected to one of the iPod-specific adapters, since the firewire charging pins on the adapter aren't connected (only the USB pins). Yay, Apple.

Performing a clean installation of the adapter and charge converter is left as an exercise for the reader. I'll probably just toss mine in the glove box, or do something creative with the ashtray.



I'll update this as people respond with new or contradictory information, or as I figure out new things as I go. For my own purposes, I've ordered an MN141490 deck for myself off of eBay to replace my original deck (which I can probably sell for what I bought the other deck for), along with a P.I.E. cable and charge converter. I'll update this thread with what works or what doesn't.

[Erik@MIL.SPEC]

Know what kind of power these head units are putting to 4 channels? Looking to upgrade my head unit and wanna know.

[Justin VIII]

interesting, im very curious to see if this pie connection works. please keep us informed

[logic]

Erik: no idea, sorry. If it's not in the FSM or on EvoM right now, I probably don't know it. There's nothing obvious labeled on the deck itself.

So, my eBay MN141190 deck and the PIE iPod connector arrived, exactly as advertised. As a trial run, I decided to hook up the new deck to make sure it was working correctly before adding the PIE stuff into the mix. Plugged in, it powered up, it could seek from radio station to radio station.

But no audio output.

So, I went back to the FSM, and noticed that, while it's not explicitly mentioned, it appears that the decks that support the external CD changer (and external amp) don't have an internal amp, and don't utilize the wiring to the speakers that the MN141189 deck uses.

I need to hunt around under the passenger seat to see if the amp wiring harness is physically present; if it is, I have what appears to be a compatible amp (MR158402) with deck-to-amp cabling sitting on the shelf that I pulled out of my 2g, and I might be able to do something with that. If the harness isn't physically present, I can harvest the cabling (at least the connectors) out of my DSM and rewire the speakers without too much effort, since the FSM's wiring diagram looks pretty straightforward.

A little disappointing to find that out, but I suppose it would have been pretty obvious if I'd spent more than five minutes thinking about it. People on eBay seem to want between $100 and $125 for those amps, which raises the price of this project pretty significantly if you don't already have one, plus the annoyance factor of having to wire the amp up to the factory speaker wiring. I suspect you could replace the amp with an aftermarket one, but that's getting way beyond the scope of what I'd planned on doing here.

Anyway, I'll update as I go, although this is now going to take a little longer than originally planned.

[Monochrome]

I was just researching all this. Again Logic, you seem 1 step ahead of me.

Fortunately I have an SSL car with the MN141190 deck. Looks like it'll be about $80 for everything I need. It also appears the cable won't be plug and play into the back of the unit which I was hoping for, but that's not a big deal.

[TwistedDreams]

charge your iPhone from the cigarette lighter, and run your music through the FM radio. lol
-TD

[Monochrome]

edit: see below...

[Monochrome]

Well, I ordered both the cable and the charge converter linked in the first post. Shipping was prompt and the parts arrived well packaged and were exactly as described.

Charge converter


Cable


This is the infinity unit MN141190


Installation is cake.



Just insert the wires into the back of the harness as shown. Even comes with the clips!



The only thing you need to wire up is power and ground for the charger. I grabbed it from the cig lighter so the iphone could be charged while listening to the radio with just the key turned to accessory.

The charger works great, the phone recognizes it's hooked to something, but it seems the radio has no kind of interface. If its wired to the cd changer input, according to the manual, all i'd have to do is hit the cd button 2x and it'll read the ipod. This isn't the case...

Someone want to double check my work? I'm wondering if I have it hooked up correctly. The pinout on the case doesn't really match the pinout on the harness.

(sorry for the size of the pics)

[KnightRyderx2]

Those are some huge pics...

Anyways try holding down the CD botton to go into AUX and it should work form there. I dont know if you expected to be able to control the IPhone front the deck but you cant do that. You still need to control it front he IPhone.

[Monochrome]

Originally Posted by KnightRyderx2

Those are some huge pics...

Anyways try holding down the CD botton to go into AUX and it should work form there. I dont know if you expected to be able to control the IPhone front the deck but you cant do that. You still need to control it front he IPhone.

That didn't work either. I also tried disconnecting the charge converter and hooking the cable up directly to the phone.

I didn't expect to control the phone from the radio.

[ralliart610]

i am interested in this seeing how i have the infinity system in my car and dont want an aftermarket head unit. i was hoping an evo stereo had an audio input that i could use but i guess its the same as the ralliart. hopefully something works so i dont have to get an aftermarket head unit.

[ralliart610]

any more information on this? monochrome, did you get anything to work to use an ipod with the stock head unit besides a fm transmitter?

[Monochrome]

Originally Posted by ralliart610

any more information on this? monochrome, did you get anything to work to use an ipod with the stock head unit besides a fm transmitter?

Not really. Been meaning to call PIE and ask then why the cable doesn't work and return it.

[Monochrome]

I haven't had any luck with pie.

Make any progress logic?

[logic]

I'm afraid I haven't had a chance to look at this in a few weeks; hardware is all sitting here, just need time to play with it.