Factory radio not recognizing SAT

This is a continuation from the NAV gyroscope thread in audio and electronics but my issue has strayed far from that subject so I'm starting a new thread.........and I'm desperate, so please help....

(Package 5) I have Vais Tech XM radio components but my factory radio has stopped recognizing the existence of my SAT. VAIS sent me a whole new set of components for the XM and I tried to install those, but still no dice. They said there was likely a fuse blown somewhere, such that the amp was not getting any power to the radio or something like that. I don't know what fuse it could be or where it would be, but they said if it's a fuse internally in the radio, then I'd probably need a new radio. I'm guessing I could probably buy a brand new prius for what toyota would want for a new radio.

At the risk of going into too much detail, I'll just lay it all out in case someone is kind enough to read all this and offer any suggestions. This all started when my GPS signal was non-existent, like I basically almost never had one at all. I thought a wire might be loose or something so I pulled out the NAV screen and unplugged the connections into the back of it and then plugged them back in. Never touched the radio at all. When I started the car back up, SAT was just gone. No idea what could have happened, but it just was not being recognized. In the absence of XM, my GPS has worked great, meaning that my XM was probably causing some interference with the GPS. But now, I can't get the XM going again. Maybe I should've left well enough alone b/c I'd much rather have the XM than the GPS, but that ship has sailed now. And I ought to be able to have both anyway. So I have no idea what to do now. The VAIS folks said to take it to the dealer and they might be able to see if any fuses are blown somewhere, possibly in the radio. I just don't understand how/why that could happen. It feels like something got "turned off" somehow, but they told me that there's no way to make a "Satellite ready" radio "un-satellite ready". I don't know. This is a disaster. I am way, way past the warranty, despite it being just one year old, and spend about half my life in this car, so I really, really want to get the XM going. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

Don't have any ipod stuff. I contacted VAIS b/c that's who I bought the XM components from. I have their Soudlinq2 (SL2xmt) XM receiver.

It's definitely not something just being loose. I've checked all connections, unplugging and then plugging back in about a dozen times.

A fuse seems plausible, but I don't know where it would be. It's not the XM receiver b/c VAIS just sent me all new parts (receiver and all harnesses/connections), which I tried, and still nothing.

Any idea where/how to check the fuses? I appreciate the help -- thanks.

 

Barring any revelations with fuses somewhere, I was thinking of going to the dealer and seeing if they could try to install the factory XM system. I don't think the VAIS system is the problem, but this tactic would theoretically at least force the dealership to troubleshoot the whole thing until they get it operational.

And, I'm hoping, if they can't actually get it working, I might not get charged for the labor and install b/c I obviously don't want to get stuck with a huge bill from them and still have no XM working.

Is this a good plan? Anyone have any better ideas for how to proceed? Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

Here's my follow up, finally with some good news -- I have my XM again!! Thanks to a used OEM Prius OEM radio I bought off eBay and installed in place of mine.

Here's a quick rundown of what transpired: I did purchase the factory XM kit online just to check that out and see if the problem was with my VAIS kit. I did not have high expectations but I was running out of things to try at that point. I plugged in the factory XM to my radio and still nothing.

Then I went to AutoHouse on 3rd Ave here in Nashville. I cannot thank/recommend them enough for their great customer service. We spent about two hours with both the VAIS kit and the factory XM kit trying to get the radio to recognize one, but still nothing. Finally, they opened up a package with one of those ipod direct connect cables and we tried to plug an ipod directly into the auxiliary port on the back of the radio. When the radio did not recognize that either, it become clear the problem was not with the XM devices I had, but rather with the auxiliary port on the back of the radio. (For all the time we spent, they only charged me their standard $35 diagnosis/analysis fee.)

The options were to send the radio off to have someone try to repair it, or look for a replacement 6-disc radio. Toyota offers them, I believe, for the bargain price of $1,300, which was obviously not an option. But I did find a used one on eBay and won the auction for the very reasonable price of $140. It just arrived yesterday -- I held my breath as I plugged in the XM into the auxiliary port, but sure enough, it worked just fine!

So now I have an extra 6-disc OEM radio that works just fine except for that auxiliary port in the back. Maybe I'll put it up on eBay. I still don't understand exactly what happened to it -- I guess when I was unplugging and plugging stuff back into the display unit (See NAV gyroscope thread), it must have shorted out that port in the radio or something. I don't know - I'm just glad my XM is back up and running...two and a half months later.

And of course, thanks to everyone for their suggestions -- it's nice to have some good news to share finally (instead of just updates on my levels of frustration!)