bpsmicro

Well, it's been over a year since my initial install. I'm pleased to report that I haven't had to make anything other than minor changes to my original "design", though I did have to take it apart once or twice to replace the handsfree unit (I'm on Bluetooth now) and repair part of my scanner configuration. If memory serves, the little "cubbies" are molded onto the overall panel assembly and not removable. So when the time comes to sell the car I'll have to either repair the holes I made from the back side, or replace the entire panel. Since I tend to drive my vehicles into the ground, I'm not overly concerned about that. My '05 has a cigarette lighter plus a separate power port in the dash, plus another inside the center console. I did rig up custom power sources for the GPS & scanner, but my approach is a little unusual and not one a normal person would follow. I didn't manage to get any decent photos. But I expect to be working on the system again soon because I'm soon to upgrade the scanner and I need to tweak my cell phone handsfree setup a bit. Brad.

TSB ST001-06 seems to cover this exact issue. Title is "Steering Intermediate Shaft Noise" and covers the '03-'06 Camrys and '04-'06 Solaras (there's a specific VIN range mentioned). Description: Some customers may hear a clunk, pop or knock type noise when turning the steering wheel left or right. A new intermediate shaft has been developed to address this concern. It's covered under the Comprehenmsive Warranty (36 months of 36,000 miles). In case somebody is out of warranty and their dealer refuses to cooperate, the new part number is 45220-33260. Brad.

Definitely worth a check. I'm not sure what the used parts situation is in your area, but when I had to go through this with my Sienna, the best price I could find on a used part was Cdn$395, and Toyota would sell me a brand new part for Cdn$400. I was just a tad annoyed that new was only $5 more than used, but that may have been an anomaly.Mind you, maybe I just need better sources for used parts.

The power window motors have a bi-metal thermal cut-off switch. They're intended to shut down the motor if the window gets jammed (like raising it with your arm in it). The most likely scenario is that your switch is going bad and is tripping as soon as load is applied. It'll just get worse.Do you find it goes up a teensy bit and then stops? Then if you wait a few minutes, it'll go up a teensy bit more. That's symptomatic of a bad thermal switch. They're usually part of the motor assembly, and you can't get the part separately. That's why the dealer will just swap out the motor. Since it's quite possible the motor is overheating slightly and causing the switch to go bad, a full replacement may not be a bad idea. You have to remove the entire motor anyway, which is a nightmare pain in the butt. When the one in my Sienna went, we just hot-wired the switch and it's been fine ever since, but that's not an approach I'd recommend unless you clearly understand that if you *do* roll up the window and something gets jammed, you'll likely shatter the glass. Brad.

The radio in question is a Kenwood TM-D700 2m/70cm. I also have a scanner & cell phone handsfree. I ran a fish line through the grommet inside the car where the hood release goes through into the left front fender. It poked out the front end right next to the battery. I ran a 10ga wire back direct from the battery (20A fuse there). That was a PITA, I can tell you. From there I ran the wire down and underneath the panel below the driver's door and then underneath the carpet to come out underneath the driver's seat. There I built a small panel from 1/4" plywood which slides underneath the driver's seat from that back. TO this I mounted my noise filter and a circuit I built which drives a large relay (the circuit switches off the master power 5 minutes after I shut off the ignition). From this set I ran a "switched" power wire and an always-hot power wire, plus an input wire from a control switch for the circuit underneath the carpet into the space underneath the center console. There's space in there to allow me to set up the central power distribution, minimizing messing around underneath/behind the dash. Power wires run forward & aft. The radio unit is mounted in the trunk. That was fairly tricky and watch out for those rods used to proving the "spring" for the trunk lid. I underestimated their movement and the first time I closed the trunk I almost sheared off a connector. In a space underneath the back panel, next to the third brake light, is a GPS module for APRS use. The antenna is a trunk-lip mount (and on the other side of the trunk lid the scanner antenna). The wiring harness runs inside the plastic/carpet stuff across to one side and then into the rear of the car, coming out underneath the back seat. From there it runs underneath the carpet in the middle, coming out again in the space underneath the center console. The most stressful part was the installation of the glass-mount cellular antenna. The wire runs down one side pillar and out underneath the back seat. I just had to be careful to avoid anything remotely related to the side airbags. Luckily, the antenna has a plenty-long cable. Up front, I used the Panavise (the one listed on their web site for the '05 *is* correct), following the supplied instructions to mount it underneath the climate control panel (which pops right out). I bored a hold underneath/behind the climate control for the cell wiring (the hole is invisible unless you lie on the floor). The main handsfree module fits into a space in the bottom front of the console. On the lower front center console are two compartments. The upper one is a mini glove compartment, and the D700 head fits perfectly in there. I drilled a hole at the back of that compartment for the cable for the head unit. The lower compartment is the ash tray. Since nobody will ever smoke in my car, I popped that out and mounted one of the dual jack boxes that you can buy from any network supply shop (or Radio Shack). One jack is wired for the microphone, and the other a custom RJ-11-based connection I rigged up for the main mapping GPS. I haven't yet finalized the connections for the scanner (the wires are coiled inside the center console for now). I'm going to be working in there again soon to finalize the scanner mounting. Since you're not the first one to express interest, I'll make a point of taking some pictures, with the understanding that I'm no expert. A "pro" installer would definitely do some things differently, and be less afraid of drilling holes as required. In particular anybody running higher power would want a heavier gauge power cable, which would be more difficult to run. What I like about my setup (which I began designing while I was sitting in the car at the dealer's lot before I even picked it out) is that I can unplug the microphone & GPS, close the compartment doors, and nobody will see any radio gear (other than the antenna and my callsign license plates, I guess). My wife is especially pleased for those rare occasions I allow her to borrow my car. :P I also avoided any significant work underneath the dash. I didn't have to mess around behind the steering wheel or take out the stock stereo or anything like that. Most of my work was in the center console area, where I could see what I was doing. Apologies for the long-wind diatribe. Hopefully you can extract a few useful bits. If you have any specific questions as you're looking at yours, feel free to ask. You can also go to my web site at www.bpsmicro.com and click the "Contact" link to send me an e-mail (my ultra-strict spam filter catches most unsolicited e-mail) and I'll respond ASAP. Brad.

The correct number is NV010-03. The 'R' means it was revised, but that's not part of the "real" number. When you look at the TSB, it'll just say "Revised" in the title. Brad.

Odd, my '05 Camry has two buttons, one for the compass and one for the anti-glare. You only have one? I guess worst case you could put a bit of electrical tape over the "eye". ;) Does the picture in your manual match the actual mirror? It sounds like you either have a different mirror than is covered in the manual (or a different manual, which seems less likely). If you *do* have a different mirror, you may have a case for a warranty replacement for one that matches what's in the manual. Brad.

Oddly, the first time I tried panavise.com I got a DNS error, but somebody in another forum posted a link to the search page and that worked. You can get to the main search page for the "InDash" line here. When you go through, it'll suggest a bracket for the 02-06 Camry, but I believe that's the wrong bracket for the '05 (and probably '06). My dash looks much closer to the one shown for the Solara 04-06 (further down the page). The warnings about 2-way radios are pretty common. I normally run 5W-10W and on very rare occasions 50W. If the electronics were so poorly designed that such low power would significantly affect them I'd expect problems every time I drove past somebody running a commercial rig. I expect better from Toyota, so if their electronics *were* so poorly designed that a properly installed ham rig caused problems, I'd have to finally start looking at alternate brands. I think this is just a butt-covering clause, just like the one I've heard against auto-starts (like, how could a properly installed auto-start *possibly* fry electronics?).

I want to mount my cell phone handsfree unit in my new '05 Camry XLE. I know Panavise makes a variety of brackets for various models, but I prefer to actually see where these go before buying, and not many places around here keep stock. Has anybody ever seen one of these for the '05 Camry? I'd be interested in knowing where/how they actually attach. A photo of a handsfree install would be great. I also have some amateur radio gear, a scanner and a GPS to install. Sooner or later I'm gonna have to drill some holes. Brad.