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Yes, I searched...I've poured through many and many pages of the Navigation hack threads. Couldn't find a reasonable answer to my problem. So here is what is going on...
Had my touchscreen/digitizer die on me a few months ago. Took the navigation apart, replaced the digitizer, all is working perfectly again. No problem
I thought it would be nice for my wife to watch DVDs while driving. So while I had everything apart, I took the red wire out from my J50 connector and ground it to the radio chassis/side frame.
Technically speaking...I grounded the red wire from the wire harness side to the chassis.
No other wires were spliced, cut, connected. No "navigation hack" performed.
My problem now is the brake light is on all the time. Obviously I did it wrong.
Do I need to...
a. ground the red wire from the actual nav headunit to the chassis (instead of the way I did it, ground the red wire from the harness to chassis)?
b. perform the rest of the navigation hack (which I am not really inclined to do) for the DVD while moving function to work?
I had this in my LS460. Great for long trips, but I bought a unit from Prestigous Society. Got in through Rominl and he did the install when I was in LA. Id say you might be safer using one of those units than DIY. I think it was $150 and it came with a nice switch you could mount on the console . Good luck
I would put it back to stock, and if you're local in So Cal, there's a guy (Tommy @ MusicBox) and he can install a module for you. I opted to go with the Beat Sonic Navigation Override for the DVD playback and to input addresses while in motion. Beat Sonic is local, and they've been more than helpful in answering my questions and providing a quality product for the Lexus community. To be honest, it's a lot simpler than splicing and cutting wires, and it's reversible in the event you want to sell your car and sell the module separate, which some have done in the past.
Its been about a year since i did the hack on my own Nav, so my memory is a bit fuzzy BUT you have to do a lot more cutting and splicing than just the red wire to watch DVDs while moving. I believe grounding the red wire only takes care of the parking brake (eliminates the need for the parking brake to be depressed) but theres also a speed sensor associated with the system that needs to be bypassed as well. I know you said you searched, but there is a thread out there that walks you through the whole process. I believe it might be in the 2nd Gen IS forum.
Good luck!
-R
J50 connector is the one that you want; it is the connector at the top, closest to the drivers side of the dashboard.
The red wire needs to be cut; the farther away from the actual white J50 connector, the better.
Expose the wire, terminate it with a crimp connection, and ground it to the radio chassis.
DVD's while the car is in motion, no parking brake engaged.
Just a reminder, my car is a 2008 ISF with the navigation / ML package. It may be different for other trim levels.
I take it this is different on the 2012 Navigation/ML units? anyone have instructions for that by chance? I can't justify the cost of the Beat Sonic solution.