pac ipod direct, mkz

12 Volt, I spent a warm Friday morning installing a PAC IPOD direct connect unit to my MKZ's THX/NAV system. It went smoothly. The PAC unit let's me connect my IPOD directly to the receiver (and charges the IPOD) and control all of its functions from the LCD screen on the THX/Nav screen. I still have to work out the button correlation but it works. As I play with it I will add more "user" info as the weeks go by. The install went well because... 1) I wasn't rushed 2) It was warm outside (too cold and things snap!) 3) I did my research and laid out my plan far in advance I got all the needed diagrams for the car stereo access from ALL DATA and they were superb. Really helped to know where the snap connectors are as well as the screws. I had to remove 3 "sections" but it went very well. Too my time releasing the snaps. Covered parts of the work area with cloth and blue painters tape to avoid scratches and dinks. But when you take your time things go much smoother. I tested everything at each step as I put everything back together fully. I now can use my 3,500 songs IPOD directly to the car receiver!!!!!!!!!! And boy there is NO comparison in sound quality compared to the other IPOD connections...FM wave or cassette connection. The sound with direct connect is AWESOME.

I have had my PAC unit installed for about 2 weeks now. Something interesting happened. Here's the scoop. Some background info...on the THX radio (Pioneer) lcd screen, you accessed the IPOD PAC "connection" thru the SR touch screen button. SR stands for satellite radio. Inside the SR button you have SAT 1, SAT 2, SAT 3 which allow 3 levels of satellite stations settings. Once you passed SAT 3, the PAC unit takes over and it gives you like 3 other AUX connections, one of which is the IPOD connection. (I still have not figured out fully the touch screen buttons and hard buttons on how to best navigate the IPOD but that will come.) So, as I was driving the other day, my initial new car SR account expired and when I touched the SR button to play the IPOD, the ONLY screen image it showed was "to call Sirius for service" kind of thing. The SR button did not scroll to the PAC unit Aux chooses I had had earlier. No SAT 1-SAT 3 or any other changes as I pressed the button. It was like frozen. I thought that since I have my IPOD connection I would let go the SR account and listen to my IPOD. No good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here's why. I called PAC and told them the situation. They had me disconnect, re-connect etc the blue PAC unit, to "re-program" the unit, but still no access to the SR buttons that controlled the IPOD connection. I called them back and another rep said I had to fully disconnect the 16 pin connection behind the radio/pac unit, leaving the 24 pin connection in place. He said this 16 pin connection was the SR connection and since I had no account, it would "freeze" the radio at the SR point. By disconnecting, it would "change" what the radio and PAC unit see is going on and would recognize now the PAC IPOD connection via the SR buttons. So I go and re-move the panels to get to the radio connections (24 and 16 pins blocks) and access this connection, remove the 16, test, but no good. When the 16 pin connector is disengaged, there is NO sound from the radio. It works, but no sound. Buttons all work, but again, no sound. So I then call the SR company and ask them what may be the problem. Of course no answer from why I can't access the IPOD thru the SR buttons. You know, the "she said, he said story". The bottom line is I renewed the SR subscription for the lifetime of the radio (great price as a 2nd unit!!!!) and all is well in THX/Radio PAC/IPOD land. From whatever reason, on this THX/Pioneer radio in the MKZ, the PAC IPOD unit will only work if the SR account is active thus allowing continual scrolling thru the touch buttons in the SR mode. Go figure!?!?!?!?! Hope this info helps any MKZ THX LCD radio users.