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Installing Aftermarket Radios - Get the Harness!!!

73K views 73 replies 32 participants last post by  John F 
#1 ·
I know that radios are expensive and that we all want to save a few bucks. But passing on the adapter harness and trying to wire in the radio directly to the body wiring is quite possibly one of the biggest mistakes you can make.

A) You will lose your door chimes. Which if they are disabled, it can make it difficult to resell the vehicle or trade it in.

B) You will lose your OnStar functionality (if installed)

C) Chevy doesn't have any particular method to their madness when labelling what wire is what and more often than not, doesn't make any sense to the nomenclature used in the aftermarket schematics (which actually follow a standard!).

D) IT'S $100!!! SERIOUSLY!!

E) Installing the aftermarket harness is easier and faster.


So you may ask, "Oh great and powerful Will! How do I know what harness to get as I don't possess the infinite knowledge in your noggin!)

Here's how: Crutchfield: LCD TV, Car Stereo, Home Theater, Speakers, Digital Cameras

Go there and you'll see a menu called Car Audio/Video&GPS, and then Outfit my car.



Then it will ask you for the Year, Make, Model, Body Style (if applicable), and last but most certainly not least, what original equipment you have or had installed on the car.



It may also ask if you already have a factory or aftermarket stereo installed as well.

Then you can click on Car Receivers, In dash DVD Receivers or In dash GPS Navigation depending on what you have or want to install.



Once you find your radio, it'll tell you everything you need to know. Including WHETHER IT FITS OR NOT!!!

And if you click on Installation Info...oh HAI!



You know what harness to install, how much it costs, and where to get it from.

To see how easy it is with the adapter harness...

Everything is color coded to the standard colors that the aftermarket manufacturers adhere to. With solder splicing instead of butt splicing it took me half an hour to build the harness to get it into the car. And all I had to do was plug it in.



So before you cut into your factory harness, please do the above. Because I've seen it take upwards of TWO WEEKS to get everything working correctly otherwise. It's not worth the money to skip it.
 
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#3 ·
This would be just about all years and makes. They'll have information on installation, whether or not the radio will fit the car and what is needed. I just pulled a 1977 Chevrolet Impala for grins. Which is why it's in the General Audio Video section.
 
#6 ·
LOL...I learned that Dual makes a twin shaft cassette deck for yours still. Guess you're stuck with moldy oldies bro. :p
 
#8 ·
lol...nice! Can't ever account for cars that have basic wiring. You're better off coming up with your own schematics then.
 
#9 ·
Yeah it was about a six hour install. The key hot wire and ground wire is all I reused, all other wiring is custom. plus had to custom the mount to hold the CD/radio into the dash. I had talked to a shop once that did radio installs and was told it would cost me 600 just in labor to fit the speakers, wires, and radio into this car. Not worth it to me and I did the full install myself.

My grandfather was upset with me for even adding a different radio then came from the factory. He told me that I had ruined the value of the car, well at the time is was almost 27 years old and had 25K total miles. I laughed and told him I have no desire to sell the car and I will fix it up the way I want it. He shrugged his shoulders and never said another word about it.
 
#10 ·
You're like me. I'll probably crush my car before I resell it. :lol:
 
#11 ·
""Everything is color coded to the standard colors that the aftermarket manufacturers adhere to. With solder splicing instead of butt splicing it took me half an hour to build the harness to get it into the car. And all I had to do was plug it in.""

So with the harness, I still need to splice (solder or butt-splice) the wiring?
 
#12 ·
So with the harness, I still need to splice (solder or butt-splice) the wiring?
You need to splice the harness to the radio side wiring. Which both are color coded to each other. Then you just plug it into the car.
 
#17 ·
When you buy a harness, it has bare wires on one end that match up to the harness that cones with the aftermarket stereo. They don't mean cutting and splicing any of the cars factory wiring. All of the splicing is in the aftermarket stuff. Then it plugs into the factory connector.
 
#19 ·
D) IT'S $100!!! SERIOUSLY!!
You saying that as a good or bad thing? Because $100 to me sounds bad, especially when my deck isn't even worth $100 anymore. :S

That being said, I bought a $5 wire harness/adapter for my '02 Impala, simply because I don't have BOSE, Onstar and not worried about the chimes since there are dash lights for warnings and only about 5 chimes anyways.

My question is... ever so often I see a post that says "...you must keep the original radio in the vehicle somewhere and keep it plugged in or your gauges will not work and you will get malfunction lights in the cluster."

Is that true? again, not worried about audible warnings, I simply don't have the $100 to spend on the integrated adapter, vs $5 for one of these.

Also... I have another POST for this, but, if anyone knows where the red wire goes, please let me know. Thanks

 
#20 ·
You saying that as a good or bad thing? Because $100 to me sounds bad, especially when my deck isn't even worth $100 anymore. :S

That being said, I bought a $5 wire harness/adapter for my '02 Impala, simply because I don't have BOSE, Onstar and not worried about the chimes since there are dash lights for warnings and only about 5 chimes anyways.

My question is... ever so often I see a post that says "...you must keep the original radio in the vehicle somewhere and keep it plugged in or your gauges will not work and you will get malfunction lights in the cluster."

Is that true? again, not worried about audible warnings, I simply don't have the $100 to spend on the integrated adapter, vs $5 for one of these.

Also... I have another POST for this, but, if anyone knows where the red wire goes, please let me know. Thanks

That is a very good question. If someone answers it, it may help with the questions I asked in this post, http://www.impalaforums.com/audio-v...radios-oil-life-chimes-and-tire-pressure.html
 
#21 ·
#22 ·
love your post dude! i had people cut the stock harness because theyre impatient/excited to get a new stereo and try to hook it up themselves. and i wanna slap em. but then i just charge them more! tehe! but ya most times when u order a new stereo like from sonicelectronix.com, the harness is free anyway. just do some research before u buy a new stereo. its not hard. and worth it.

i have a 2003 impala 9c1. all the chimes were disabled when i got the car. and there was so much extra wire laying around in that car it was ridiculous. a year later i still havent gotten all the wire out.

but since its a 2003. chevy did something wrong somewhere in there wiring. because in order for an aftermarket stereo to work. u have to run a wire from the red wire on the aftermarket to a fuse spot that turns on with the key. like with a bussman add-a-fuse. only on the 2003s. no idea y but thats what ya gotta do.
 
#23 · (Edited)
Okay yall, I wish I would'vd found this site like a week ago.
Here's my issue. I have installed my aftermarket radio into my 2003 Impala. It's a Pioneer Deh-P710BT if that helps.

Now my dash lights and tail lights don't work. Also my defogger works when it want's to. Before I pulled out the factory radio I disconnected the negative from the battery to be sure not to blow any fuses during the install. I beleive I've properly identified the dash, tail and defogger wires. Now I just need to know what to connect them to.

I cut the stock harness. Wasn't being impatient, just thought I could install it like I did with my 2000 Malibu.
Another Quesition: If I reinstall the stock harness where can I find a aftermarket harness adapter compatable with my pioneer and Impala.

Thanks for the help :)
 
#26 ·
Just to let people know, all 200 and up GM cars and 2003-up trucks need a specific harness or interface to keep everything working as if was stock. If you cut the harness you are just causing more of a headache for yourself. Whether it's a standard car with not high amenities to a fully loaded OnStar/Bose setup, you need them.
 
#29 ·
Anyone see a harness or anything else for 2014 impala? Crutchfield only has the replacement speaker sizes. I'm trying to add an amp and I am having a hard time finding any info. I haven't even managed to get the head unit out yet. Seems like there is too much involved in pulling the dash apart. I feel like I'm missing something.
 
#30 · (Edited)
With the 9th gens, I'd be surprised to find much aftermarket gear for the stereo since it's so "embedded" into the vehicles operation. Not even sure if you could connect an amp to it or not - I'm guessing that it doesn't have any pre-amp outputs, so you'd probably have to use an "adapter" that allows you to use the speaker-level outputs (speaker wires) to add an amp - not entirely sure what drawbacks this introduces though - can someone (@RYD?) comment on adding an amp to a stock head-unit that doesn't have pre-amp outputs?

I just can't stand the direction that cars are going in regards to the radios... WIth some of the newer cars, there is just no way to replace the radio because they are *so* embedded into the vehicles operation (and dash). It's all fine and dandy for now, until a few years down the road when CDs become obsolete and the next "latest and greatest" thing comes out and you are SOL...

For people that really like car audio/video customization, it's a pretty big issue.

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App
 
#31 ·
I agree with what you're saying jt, it sucksfor people like us. But it's good for the auto makers, because when they become outdated, it will force those who want the latest and greatest to just buy a new car...

He has posted around on here a bunch, and has a handle on what needs to be done (adding a LOC or Line Out Converter), but is having trouble accessing the back of the head unit. Unfortunately, I can't help there...
 
#33 ·
Cheap LOCs can cause degradation is sound quality, but a good-quality one will be un-noticeable from pre-out RCAs. The biggest drawback is controllability. With the pre-out RCAs, you can adjust the levels of the subwoofer/speakers through the headunit itself, which is not possible with a LOC
 
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