It took me from about 10:00 in the morning till about 4 or 5. Would take a lot less now.
Ok your hired! when can ya come over
Jim
__________________
Live everyday like it is your last --- one day you will be right!
"B.B." Is Mysterious with -
Leather (and I am a member of PETA! shhhh)
Conv. + Power pack
LSD (not the driver.. the car!) and ABS
Manual
No Onstar - No XM -- I got Sirius :)
One neurotic owner
Road Trip,
Your sign off says you added a Type Z stubby antenna. Where can I get one? How tall is it? Do you need any adapters? Just got an '07 GXP and I'd like to change the antenna. Thanks.
edit; if u need a switched ignition source, DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT think the radio will provide you one. Tore the dash apart for nothing.
Tap off the actual key ignition... When doing so you will have to tap the yellow wire for power, and ground to the key lock mount, or another ground source in the steering column.
I installed a 7.5 TV/DVD Player/ with XM, Radio, IPOD and Nav unit.
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If interested PM for pics
Quote:
Originally Posted by AztekzRpurty
Found a similar description of the harnesses on the HHR forum, however, they had a pink wire for antenna which we don’t, and their gray/tan LF speaker wires were on the other harness, which leads me to wonder if a chime harness will work for both the HHR and the Solstice as I had been assuming, since the radios look identical.
Next I attached the appropriate wires from the radio’s harness to the car’s harnesses using the tap-in connectors.
Everything worked but I found out later that the radio does not shut off with the key. I could swear the harness power was off when the key was out, and on when the key was on, but maybe I screwed up. The radio also has a wire for constant power, which I hooked up to the cigarette lighter wiring, so I guess the radio might have a setting I could change, but I doubt it. Anyway, it’s not worth digging back into the dash as I think I like it this way. I can turn on the radio when I’m washing the car without putting the keys in the ignition. I’ll just have to make sure I turn the radio off when I get out. I should be able to handle that.
Next I removed the Din cage from the new radio. Most aftermarket head units will have this. It comes off by using some flat insertion pins that come with the radio. Read your manual.
Attach the din cage to the adapter. There is a spacer ring that comes with the adapter you have to put in first, then put the cage in and lock it into place by bending over the metal tabs of the din cage.
Once again, easier than it sounds, look at the adapter instructions and your radio manual and it should be clear, provided your manual is in English and not Engrish. http://www.engrish.com
O.K., now the dash adapter. While trial fitting the adapter, I noticed it wouldn’t sit all the way down flush. I found that there are circular guide pins on each side that fit into holes in the dash, keeping the piece aligned. It seems they changed that a little on the Solstice. The boomerang piece has a small plastic pin that inserts into a slotted hole in the dash where the alignment pin would normally be. The solution is the remove the pin on the passenger side of the adapter. I did this by drilling from the front side with a ¼” drill bit. After test fitting again, the hole still wasn’t big enough for the boomerang pin to fit through, so I removed the plastic between the drilled hole and the adjacent lower hole with a skil saw. Very ugly but it works.
One more mod to the adapter might be necessary. After installing the adapter, hooking the radio to its harness and antenna adapter, and sliding the radio into its cage, I thought I was ready to reinstall the boomerang. Wrong. I couldn’t get the area just above and to the right of the radio to seat back down. I figured the problem was interference from the top of the dash adapter, so I basically took some tin snips and the skil saw and removed everything above the radio trim ring. (see pics) All this plastic served no purpose anyway. Of course, after doing all this, the boomerang still wouldn’t seat.
Frustrated, I made sure all the wiring behind the ac controls was out of the way and tried seating the piece with a different sequence. Then it worked fine. Was trimming the adapter piece a waste of time? I don’t know. I guess the next person to do this will have to tell us.
All in all, it was a pain, but not as bad as it probably sounds. If you’ve done installs before, you should be able to handle it. If you haven’t, go slow and ask questions here if you get stumped.
Just wanted to say thanks for the detailed pictures and info on taking apart the dash. I replaced the single player with a 6cd player and XM in my gf's car. Couldn't have been easier. I didn't have to take apart the leather handle after I unbolted them from the car. My hint it was going to be easy was when the chrome rings simply came off. Are the designers THAT familiar with Lego that they now design cars this way? One word to add though - I am certain almost everyone knows this but just in case - take off the ground to your battery before starting. It would be unfortunate if a wire crossed or touched metal when it shouldn't.
Anyway I am grateful for the knowledge and now just have to get the unlock code for it. Does anyone know if this will be trouble? I bought the player off eBay. I had one reply earlier that said the dealer does it pretty quickly but read another that there had to be paperwork etc.
I like all of the details. I have the regular one c d unit in mine as well. My question is, do you feel as though installing a new hu was the best way to go?. I havent made the decision yet because I am pondering over that verses buying a mp3 player. I know I will lose my steering wheel controls but they seem backwards to me anyway after using the ones in my truck. I have found that for the most part I just simply reach down and turn the main volume knob on the unit itself. I took my door panels off the other day to install actuators for door locks and I took pictures of all of my steps to get the panels off if you are interested. I don't know how to post pictures on here but would be glad to send them to you e-mail if you need them. hootie.
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