[perseus]

You can't easily remove the entire glovebox on the 2019+ Mazda3s as far as I can tell (just the glovebox door and ceiling plate to change the cabin filter), but I don't think that's necessary now that Bose put the front main speaker in the cowl where the TAU used to be.

Here's what it looks like behind the passenger kick panel:

Is that bottom white connector what I should plug the PAC MAZ2 into?

 

[elan]

I was under the impression that it would not work with a 2019+ Mazda 3. Let us know otherwise!

 

[perseus]

I was under the impression that it would not work with a 2019+ Mazda 3. Let us know otherwise!

Will do. For now I just want to find the TAU...

 

[KeepingHatchbacksAlive]

Are you able to follow the wiring harness from the amplifier? It lives under the front passenger seat so you could take the seat out to double check the hardness and such.

 

[perseus]

Might be making some progress. There's now a Remote Tuner near the antenna on the gen4s, so I think they ditched the separate TAU. Also, a separate TAU wasn't mentioned anywhere in the gen4 Workshop Manuals. So the MAZ2 is definitely going back.

Just ordered the PAC APH-GM02 AmpPro ($35) from Crutchfield based on a user's comment that it worked with the Bose system. This is one of the adapters I'm hoping will fit:

This is the rightmost plug on the back of the Bose amp:

Fingers (not signals) crossed...

 

[avosough]

You can't easily remove the entire glovebox on the 2019+ Mazda3s as far as I can tell (just the glovebox door and ceiling plate to change the cabin filter), but I don't think that's necessary now that Bose put the front main speaker in the cowl where the TUA used to be?

Off topic, but the glovebox is removable. The service manual shared on this website shows a different style glovebox (Canada, Europe??) that has the entire box swing out. US models have a lid that swings out and the box portion is stationary. To remove the glovebox, I had to remove the padded leather dash trim to reveal the last two screws. I also took off kick panels on both sides and an end panel on the dash that the door closes against. Removing the glovebox gives more access to the speaker down there, but I don't recall seeing any other audio components back there.

 

[perseus]

Thank you. Yea, that's more or less what I meant by "easily." I was able to get it out after the 2 screws, but you definitely want to remove those before tugging on the compartment (luckily I didn't break anything). Hopefully putting it all back together today will be straight forward. Tapping those blue wires that go to the cowl main speakers is my plan B (or C?). I'm a bit surprised there are not more options for a model car that's been out for a couple of years already, but it's been fun and informative so I can't complain.

I think maybe that first pic is sort of what's left of the old TAU. More of a hub now instead? What I can't figure out is why the plugs on the amp all look different than the ones in the passenger kick panel.

Can you imagine the conversation with the electrical engineering department? "So yea, about that TAU. We're going to slap in some 2-liter main front speakers in that location instead, move the tuner closer to the antenna for a better signal, and convert the old TAU to a hub. Oh, and move that to the passenger kick panel too, mmmk?" Fever dreams ensue lol.

Here's an upside down picture of the back of the green middle plug on the amp:

Different plug, but I was thinking those colors might all be a good match to the black plug up top in my first picture:

If so, then that might be a second place to tap, but would require a 14 pin adapter from somewhere, which I haven't seen anywhere yet.

Updates to come...

 

[perseus]

Off topic, but the glovebox is removable. The service manual shared on this website shows a different style glovebox (Canada, Europe??) that has the entire box swing out. US models have a lid that swings out and the box portion is stationary. To remove the glovebox, I had to remove the padded leather dash trim to reveal the last two screws. I also took off kick panels on both sides and an end panel on the dash that the door closes against. Removing the glovebox gives more access to the speaker down there, but I don't recall seeing any other audio components back there.

Do you remember where this goes by any chance?

I suspect the front trim piece but I'm hesitant to remove it again for just one clip.

 

[avosough]

Do you remember where this goes by any chance?
I suspect the front trim piece but I'm hesitant to remove it again for just one clip.

Hmm, I don't remember anything like that coming off of whatever panel it was attached to. I think the leather trim piece had metal clips.

 

[perseus]

Hmm, I don't remember anything like that coming off of whatever panel it was attached to. I think the leather trim piece had metal clips.

Thanks. I may wait to see if I have to go back in there for some reason. Hopefully not the one missing clip that starts a rattle. Speaking of which, what's up with that pillow material in the caged area? Some kind of base/rattle trap because the glovebox is a potential problem area due to loose items inside?

Adapters and E10/12 Torque sockets arrive today, yay! I figured I may get lucky with that far right plug which can be reached by pushing the seat all the way back, but if so, it'll be easier to install the PAC and Kicker LOC under there with the seat completely removed.

 

[perseus]

Quick update: having looked over the 3 adapters that are included in the AmpPro package, in fact this is the one I'm hoping will work with the far LEFT plug of the Bose amp:

From the sounds of it, that's the easiest route if you're adding only a sub and letting the Bose power the existing remaining speakers (the other adapters will let you add your own speakers or swap out the amp I think). Hopefully that will tap the sub signal BEFORE the amp.

What I plan on doing this weekend, after the rain passes and I can remove the seat (note: disconnect battery to avoid curtain airbag issues. Kill 2 birds and run power cable thru firewall near where clutch pedal would be after you remove battery):

1) Butt splice with heat shrink connectors the 2 whites to the matching 2 whites, then the 2 grays to the matching 2 grays. I THINK what that will do is passthru (have no effect) on the audio to the main (cowl) speakers.

2) Connect the LONG end of the remaining blue wires marked "subwoofer" (those coming out of the female connector) to your amp/sub using your LOC.

3) Seal off the short ends of the blue wires. I'm hoping keeping these as dead-ends leaves the Bose subwoofer in the deck unpowered, but I was going to remove that anyways to increase airflow for the sub in the sedan trunk.

(ETA: Other than turning out to be the correct of the 3 adapters to use, and matching the wires by color, everything else in this post is 100% wrong).

 

[perseus]

The sealed, 12-inch Rockford Fosgate looks like it'll be a nice fit in the sedan trunk.

 

[perseus]

Success! Powered sub added to Bose system on Turbo Sedan with no factory wires cut.

Well, mostly a success. I started having problems last night with the sensors and onboard computers. Luckily, after spending the better part of this morning staring at a reccurring message on the dash that read "Engine Malfunction. Please bring your car in for service." Even after repeatedly disconnecting the negative battery terminal and waiting 3+ minutes. Also no signal from the LOC to sub after a really loud electrical buzz yesterday that sounded like I blew a fuse.

Things were looking really bad.

Then things started coming together. The engine eventually reset on its own. No idea how. The sub finally came to life after I realized I had to T-splice both channels, so 4 leads, from the Kicker 46KISLOC2 into the 2 front door speaker loops created with this connector from the AmpPro PAC:

The male side goes into the RIGHT most plug on the back of the Bose amp. The female side of the AmpPro plugs into the connector that you unplugged from the Bose. For these 2 I had to use some large clamp pliers because they were REALLY hard to snap together by hand.

Leave the wires marked "Subwoofer" as sealed dead-ends on BOTH the long and short ends. I spent way too long stupidly trying to use these leads. Leaving them disconnected will leave the factory Bose sub deactivated.

Then connect the 2 whites to the 2 corresponding whites and the 2 grays to the 2 corresponding grays. This closes the connection to the 2 front (non-cowl) door speakers, allowing the Bose to power them.

Then (or rather at the same time) somehow T-splice your 4 leads from your 2 channel LOC into those 2 closed loops from the adapter. It looked a little messy at first. I used heat crimps, but the hair dryer didn't do much so I just left them unheated for now. This was pre-organization:

Then after some careful placement:

It's more or less a standard LOC hookup, only you're doing it on the harness and not onto any factory wiring. Here's a down and dirty diagram:



Depending on your connectors, what I did was crimp the connector end with a single wire in it first, then the end with 2 wires inserted in it second. I don't think a single crimp in the middle would have worked with these connectors.

With the seat bolted back in place, the amp cover back on, and the Kicker LOC stuck on top of the cover:

Final location in trunk:

Phase set to 0. Crossover at 80. Gain right at 50% for now. I drained my battery at one point and had to jump start the car. I'm guessing that listening with the car in accessory mode might not be a good idea.

All systems seem to be back in working order this evening. Well, all but 1. Remote Start stopped working. I have no clue where to start with that, but given that I thought I had possibly destroyed a 30k car this morning, I'll take it.

 

[perseus]

Note: the entire seat is really easy to lean backwards once you have the 4 E-socket bolts removed. The torque is super high, but once the 4 bolts are removed, you can lean the entire seat backwards for easy access to the amp.

This accomplishes a couple of things. Firstly, you don't have to remove the lower seat belt mechanism. Secondly, you don't have to disconnect the 3 or more unrelated connectors that are attached to the seat unit from underneath. Really brilliantly designed. Or lucky, but I doubt it.

$60 between the Kicker and AmpPro.

Before:

After:

 

[perseus]

Remote Start mysteriously came back on its own today too, a lot like how the Engine Malfunction message disappeared eventually. All systems back to running like new from factory, additional bass notwithstanding.

I think some of the onboard computers might take more than just a 3 minute battery unplug to truly reset.

 

[perseus]

Flipping the sub this way and the phase to 180 seems to have helped with the delay issue. As should replacing the 20' RCA with a 7' one from Blue Jeans Cable next week.

 

[perseus]

This is what the final harness looked like after heat shrinking today:

The snipped blue wires from the harness were to the factory subwoofer. The other, closed off leads from the LOC are the trigger/remote and ground wires. The harness should have a ground passthru wire, and my amp is set to turn on via audio.