Full-Throttle

Thanks mate. She's been a work in progress but it's been fun keep this thread updated. As time as goes on, things are slowing down as I run out of things to do to it, but it gives me more time to enjoy the car instead of constantly working on it or thinking about 'what's next'. Looking forward to getting our cars together sometime for a shoot. Now that would be quite something

Good to hear!! For the 'DISP' button I had the same problem, since on the Blade you cycle the screen by a knob on the actual cluster itself instead of on the steering wheel like the Aurion, so I hooked it up to the radar cruise control button on the RH side of the steering wheel controls (under the hook/unhook buttons). Fortunately in your case the GSV50 does have a dedicated 'DISP' button, but the pin out must be different to the GSV40. You'll likely have to add another pin to the clockspring under the dash and connect it to the Aurion's factory purple wire.

The 3rd wire will be for the ground. So shift up, shift down and ground.

Which plug have you been trying to repin? The wiring from the steering wheel which contain the paddle shifter wires plug into the clockspring on the airbag side, so don't worry if there's 3 pins, just as long as it plugs in. The only two pins you have to add to the clockspring are underneath the dash. Generally the clockspring is pinned for more than necessary to accommodate for different options etc, but the wiring only changes on the actual body loom.

No worries! It gets confusing real fast so I'm glad we're both on the same page. Later on down the track you could trace which wires do what and then mix-and-match as required, but the main thing is getting the paddle shift functionality working first. I used original Toyota wiring/pins by smashing open a spare plug that I cut from a wrecked Toyota. Most of the pin/head sizes are the same in late model Toyotas. You can unpin the plug, but it's a pain and it's easier (and more fun) to just smash it open. You just have to be careful not to actually smash the pin itself, but even if you do you generally have about 5 more to choose from on the other side once the plug has been split open. Once you have 'extracted' your two pins with a bit of existing wire on the end you are ready to insert them to the GSV40 clockspring (dash side). You'll need to use a small screwdriver or blade to gently pop up the locking tab on the existing body plug to allow the new pins to actually slide into the connector, but it's not too difficult. The two pins you want are at the top, directly in the middle (refer to the before and after pics below). In the 'after' pic the two wires added are the pink and purple ones. Don't worry that the wiring colours in each picture differ between the plugs, they are actually two different Toyotas and are only for reference. I can't remember exactly which one was + and - but it's easy to work out when you hook it up to your shifter later. Once you've inserted the pins into the clockspring make sure they're pushed in all the way (they should make an audible "click") push the locking tap back down and give the wires a wriggle so you know they're in there properly. Next you have to lengthen/run the wiring under your dash and to the centre console, ready to hook up to your existing shifter wiring (the plug isn't part of the shifter itself, but on a plug of it's own further back, but we'll go into that later on).

Ok, I'm with you now. * The plug from the clockspring to the steering wheel (where the two yellow airbag wires are) was lacking pins. * The plug from the clockspring to the car's harness under the dash has a different plug shape from factory. That's quite a pain.......I'd personally keep your GSV40 clockspring and not worry about the couple of extra missing pins, as they'll likely only be for directional buttons or back button etc that the GSV50 has, which aren't used on the GSV40 anyway. On my one I have a voice command button that doesn't get used at all, and I turned the radar cruise control button into the 'DISP' button, so it all works out in the end

Hmm, strange. Your factory GSV40 clock spring should have a 12-pin connector, but depending on the model/grade (Presara etc) there will be quite a few missing pins on the actual harness side. GSV40 connector looks like this:

Happy Friday!

I remember the one in Whangarei. It was for sale privately for a while, and then ended up being listed by a park-n-sell place. Not sure what happened to it in the end. From the research I've done on your one it was imported when it was brand new, and a couple of weeks after it arrived it had the personalized plate 'AURION' (correct spelling), then a few days later was changed to the '35OOSL' plates it has now. It's funny you mentioned that headunit as I was looking at that exact same one on AliExpress the other day. Not for my Aurion though as I already have an 8" one in there (sadly these big 10.2" ones are only new to the market so weren't around when I upgraded), but they definitely look good. I'm actually located in Papakura, so I'll no doubt see you sometime on the daily commute to work or out East as quite a few of our family/friends live that way :). I'll be in touch for sure.

Ahhh, so you're the guy who bought this one! Congrats on the purchase! This is 1 of only 2 that I know of in the whole of NZ, and considering they made under 600 of them full stop in Australia that makes it even more special. I'm in Auckland too. Would love to check it out sometime as it'll no doubt be the only time I ever get to see a TRD model in real-life. Welcome to the forums :)

You can buy them on AliExpress. Here's a link: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Factory-Selling-CCD-HD-Rearview-Waterproof-night-vision-170-degree-Wide-Angle-Luxur-car-rear-view/32619182223.html

Great to see that someone else has tried this. A shame that you also couldn't get any heat out of it, but that's understandable. If you ever do stumble across some magical setting between high/low or different temps left/right that suddenly produces heat please let me know! . Loving the TRD SL interior by the way. I've always wanted that interior for mine, but we don't get the TRD models here in NZ (there are only two here that I know of, that were privately imported). Very nice indeed

Thanks! :) That makes sense. Any of the Lexus wheels are going to have the type Lexus 'L' logo, and they are a real pain to change. There is another option I've had in mind due to other people asking me to come up with an alternative solution, but it will involve sourcing the airbag locally from a ZRE152 Corolla as I'm unable to send them via air freight. If I ever go ahead with it though I'll be sure to let you know, though you may have found a GSV50 steering wheel by then. The physical size and shape of the GSV50 hornpad/airbag assembly is a lot different to the GSV40, but the igniter itself should be exactly the same (twin plug 2-stage type). You can use the igniter already on the back of the GSV50 hornpad, or change it with your GSV40 one if there are any differences. I did that with the Blade one since they only have a single plug 1-stage airbag, meaning I'd have one plug not connected which would throw up the airbag light. The actual bag itself should be very similar however, and I can't see there being any problems should it ever need to deploy.

Avoid DOT 5.1. While it has a higher boiling point, that's only ever going to be a factor on a race track, and, even then, if you're boiling your brake fluid you have bigger things to worry about. It has a much higher water absorption rate that DOT 3 or 4, meaning it needs to be changed sooner. Stick to good old DOT 4. You can get away with 1x 500ml bottle, but depending on how much you bleed the lines it would be safer to buy 2x 500ml bottles just to be on the safe side. Just don't keep the unused fluid to top up the reservoir for when the fluid drops down in future (pad wear etc), as once you've cracked the seal on the bottle it will start to slowly absorb water by sitting. So any unused new fluid should be disposed of or used in the bottom of the bottle you use for bleeding the brakes.

There was a similar question on the Aurion Owners Group Facebook the other week. The short answer is that yes, the steering wheel will physically fit. It should even plug into your original clock spring and allow the basic functions to work. For the paddle shifters though, you'll have to add a couple of wires to the spare pins on your clock spring (there are specific pins to use) and run the wiring to your shifter's + & - wiring under the centre console. The basic functions such as the 'Mode' button, call buttons, 'DISP' button and volume/track buttons should all work, but the wiring pin-outs may be a bit different, albeit all there. Can be done, just requires a bit of patience.

Thanks mate. All the best to you, too! :D

Season's Greetings!