2006 Suzuki Grand Vitara Auxiliary (Aux) Cable Adapter How-To

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Note for 2007+ Owners: This How-To is not quite applicable for the 2007 and up Grand Vitara’s. Suzuki deleted the remote connector thats shown in this How-To. However, the 2007 and up Grand Vitara DOES have the connector on the back if the radio itself. The basic wiring schematic is the same for 2006 and 2007, just connects in a different place. If anyone wants to experiment to determine the pin-out on the 2007+ Grand Vitaras, I’ll be happy to help, contact me on the GVOC forums.

The 2006 Grand Vitara has a hidden connector for use withe “Aux” function on the stereo. This Aux connector allows for the use of an MP3 player, iPod, or other audio device. The problem is that Suzuki doesnt provide a cable or adapter for it, or even the specs. Neither does Clarion, who makes the system for Suzuki.

For reasons that still escape me, the specs for this cable are some big secret. Suzuki wont tell you, and other people who know wont share the information with anyone (which is shameful IMO). I spent less than an hour doing some “R&D”, its that simple. Well, heres the information you’ve been looking for... How to make an Aux connector yourself for under $10. No need to spend $30-$60 on a special pre-made cable.

In this How-To, I assume you have basic electronics skills, and know how to remove the glove-box. I’m only providing the basics so you can make your own, and theres any number of ways to make this cable. This works for me, and I’ve tested it to the best of my ability. This How-To will point you in the right direction.

I make no claims of accuracy or warranty, proceed at your own risk. By proceeding, you agree that I am not responsible for anything that goes wrong.

Stuff I used:
* Soldering Iron & Solder
* Shrink Tube
* Electrical Tape
* 1/4” stereo jack extension cable
* 1.5 Kilo-Ohm Resistor
* Mini-pin connectors

I looked everywhere for a male connector to plug directly into the connector on the Grand Vitara. I couldnt find anything, so I used a different approach (as outlined in this How-To). If you know of a place to acquire this type of connector, please let me know.

OK, heres the empty connector behind the glove-box, on the right side. You can find this connector taped to the wiring harness back there. This picture is the connector untaped and free.

Sorry the diagram (below) isnt the greatest. The green shows the trigger to activate the port on the stereo. Just loop those 2 positions together using a 1.5 kilo-ohm resistor, and the stereo will see the Aux port as available.

The other 3 (red, blue, yellow) are the actual audio channel, right, left, and ground. As you can see in the pic, the upper-right connector is empty and not used.

I purchased a 1/4” mini-jack extension cable, resistors, and pins from Radio Shack, The  extension cable is normally for use with personal stereo head-phones. It has a male and female connector, so I just cut it to the length I wanted (I use the female end for this project).

Here I split the end of the extension cable, you can see the 3 wires:
* Red - Right channel
* Black - Left channel
* Bare wire - Ground
I soldered the mini-pins to each of the wires (you can also see the 1.5Kohm resistor off to the upper side in the pic).

Then shrink-tubed everything. You’ll need to measure how far the mini-pins go into the connector so you can shrink-tube them to the proper length

Heres the 1.5K ohm resistor with mini-pins soldered on.

And  the 1.5K ohm resistor & mini-pins shrink-tubed and ready to go. This is the means in which the Aux port on the stereo is triggered.

Side note (UPDATED): I did an additional test to see if the looped circuit has any gain control facility, as far as I can tell it does not. I tested down to 1Kohm with no notable difference. 1.5Kohm seems to work best for triggering the Aux port.

Heres a couple of pics of the cable and connector all plugged-in per the diagram at the top of this page.

Once its hooked up, just need to do a test. The pic below shows the display when the CD\AUX button is pressed to the AUX setting. It has 3 input-level ranges, Low, Med, HIgh. You can adjust that by the up/down arrows on the right side of the display.

Once you’ve verified functionality, and made sure its good, I’d recommend using some electrical tape, or silicon sealer to solidify the connecter setup. If you go the electrical tape route, make sure you dont pull any of the pins out by accident.

And thats pretty much it! I’ve been using this setup for a few days now without any problems. If you have any questions, comments, or corrections, just contact me on the GVOC forums.

Griff

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