CoolCobalt_NY

OK Guys and Girls...

All my info is straight from 2 different techs over at METRA!
I have been looking and searching around for all the parts I need to Install my Pioneer 5700 DVD Head Unit in the car!.... The only problem I WAS HAVING was the wireing harness, because I did not want to cut or loose an functions of the car..

SOOO FINALY I GOT PISSES AND CALLED UP METRA MY SELF..

FOR ALL THOSE WHO HAVE A BASE STOCK RADIO.. not the Amppppeeedd one.. AND DO NOT HAVE ONSTAR...... the model number for a harness THAT WILL GIVE YOU THE SAME FUNCTIONS like your stock radio ON A AFTERMARKET RADIO..

GM uses a LAN system. Basicly a computer network in your car. FOR all those how have installed headunits.. have a VERY GOOD possibility of having problems in the future! Like airbags not working as one example!

The Model number is::::::: XSVI-2103 made by Metra <-- it's about 4 months old, they just came out with it.. It has an interface on it that talks with the car's 2 COMPUTERS!
So you can have your after market radio, take the keys out of the ignition and still have it working for 20 minutes or untill you open the door!!....
If I'm correct, I think they have one for the upgraded systems also!..

I HAVE DONE AAAAAAAAA LLLOOOOTTTT OF research on this... Thats how pissed I was... or am... Now I just need to find a vendor that can get me the harness

Bandit2941

How about here? http://www.audiooutfitter.com/store/XSVI2103.html

PursuitGT

The stereo does not talk to the computers. but whatever spend your money.

roccityroller

It doesnt? so how does it receive speed reading for the auto volume leveling? magic?

bluechevyss05

nice info man sounds like you have done some research

bluechevyss05

the radio definitly talks to the computer

PlaysWitCars

the only thing i lost on my car was door chimes. I could careless about door chimes. I saw the metra kit but it was too expensive and seemed pointless to me. just my opinion tho

xtremeGM

The same thing was said in 2002 when the pontiac grand am switched to a class 2 data system and there were these same thing being said.Some people bought the harness others didnt. The only thing people lost who installed the standard harness correctly only lost their door chimes.

When I installed my pioneer avic-d1 I didnt have any problems but I did have to change the pinout of the harness I bought (didnt even loose my chimes) I ended up taking it out because I needed to send the nav system in for repair. Havent installed it back in yet.

05BlackCobaltSS

I heard this same thing. Things going haywire, like door chimes, ect. But i wouldn't want to be the one to find out that the airbags don't work if you don't use the proper harness....do we have any takers to test this?? Anyone?

GSoccer24

i will crash into something for the payoff on my car loan and the money i've put into mods. who's paying?

stealththx

Sounds like a scare tactic into getting you to buy something you don't need. I have had zero problems so far and I have almost 30,000 miles on the car. By the way, there is a DTC for if the air bag system has any problems so I'd pay more attention to that than a company scaring me into buying their product.

littlejohn

Airbags would be on a dedicated circuit, not in-line with a radio. Think about that one.
On the base radio, there is only a wiring harness and nothing more. There is no connection for the GM LAN. I don't know what the connections are like on a radio that came with Onstar, steering wheel controls, or XM.
IF YOU HAVE A BASE RADIO, THE ONLY THING GOING INTO IT IS POWER AND THE ONLY THING COMING OUT OF IT ARE SPEAKER SIGNALS.
When are people going to listen? The GM LAN system is only used in cars that have the DIC built into the head unit. On Cobalts, the DIC is built into the dash. Installing an aftermarket head unit does absolutely nothing if you have a base radio.

Clmbngfrk18

yeah guys i put one in and had no problems at all i still have my door chimes and if the air bags really would not work why didnt the air bag light turn on with new cars the slightest mess up and it will turn on the idiot light

PursuitGT

Its done with a voltage rise and drop. thanks for trying.

CoolCobalt_NY

I'm just putting up info that I found out!... I forgot exactly what was said.. Something about no access. wire, or no ignition wire.. I DON'T KNOW I DONT REMEMBER...

BUT basicaly the car or the computers on the car run SOME HOW with the wireing behind the radio....

Me personally... I'd rather get this harness so I dont have to cut, splice, repin or what ever...... Just plug in connect the other side to where it has to go and THATS IT....

Plus I have to give the car back.. (Smart Buy) So I don't want any problems!... lolol Next Car BMW 325 or 330 XI lolol

I work at Toyota I have learned how to buy and SELL cars for that matter!!..... lol

Assitant Pre-Owned Manager!...

lol ok talk to you all later

xtremeGM

thats good that you are looking out for peoples best intrests but on the other side people need all the facts. Its nothing against you. Using the normal harness doesnt require splicing it just requires you to change the pinouts for everything to function. For some people that may be confuidng for them this harness would be great.

tiny

how does that make sense?
does you car produce more voltage if your cruisin at 80 mph than if you were at 30 mph?

05stockbalt

thank you i've been saying this for almost a year now...if you don't have the pioneer system or steering wheel controls all you have to do is buy a metra 70-2003 wiring harness the dash kit and an antenna adaptor...you don't lose anything and you just need to run a wire for acc power...there are a million posts on here about this and where to run it to

Bandit2941

If this is the case, then why do we have to run a seperate accessory wire to the fuse box for an aftermarket radio?? Its because the stock radio gets its turn on signal from the computer!!!!!

This harness interfaces with the computer and provides a +12 switched signal, that's its selling point!! With this harness there is no need to run an extra wire into the fuse box, and you can retain RAP. For people with a sunroof (or sunroof fuse) this isn't needed, since power can be tapped from that to retain RAP. But if your car doesn't have a sunroof fuse in the fuse box, then this is the only way to retain the RAP feature.

xtremeGM

The stereo does get some signals off of the computer in the vehicle anyone saying it doesnt isnt correct. For instance in my SS/SC I had one of the pinouts wrong the first time I installed my avic-d1 nav system. My Information Center wouldnt work till the harness was connected correctly but it didnt require a special harness or keeping the stock radio. I just didnt look very closely at the pinouts and missed one. If you use the standard harness and dont follow the proper pinouts things wont work correctly.

You can keep your RAP with the regular harness. I still had my RAP feature on my aftermarked h.u. without speending additional money for a special harness. Like I said before, you just have to know what you are doing.

laserblue2006

i thoguth it was metra 70-2013 atleast htats what im getting b/c the metra book said it was for the 2005+ cobalts. i could be wrong but the install guy who is a very good friend said to get the 70-2013 and that 70-2003 would not work.

correct me if i am wrong.

Bandit2941

I'm guessing your information center stopped working because you tried to hook up the red accessory wire from the head unit into one of the wires on the harness (and tagged the data turn on line), instead of running it to the fuse box. Unless your harness was messed up from the factory, you shouldn't need to change any pinouts.

xtremeGM

No that’s not what happened. I wouldn’t hook up the red wire to the harness I learned that years ago with my 2002 and 2004 Grand Am, which had to have a separate 12v line to the aftermarket hu. And yes I did have to change the pinouts in the harness to keep the RAP function and the remote amp turn on for the stock amp other people have too (i just did a search). Maybe they have a different harness now where you don’t have to do that. At the time that was the only harness I could find locally that would fit the car. I wish I could remember the model #. But it doesn’t really matter.

The point is. You dont need an expensive harness to keep the features of the car (except the steering wheel controls)

Bandit2941

Yeah - I've never had to change a pinout - maybe the ones I've used are a newer style?? Who knows.....

Totally agree. However, this new $50 one might be worth it to keep RAP if your car doesn't have a sunroof/sunroof fuse since this harness appears to interface with the computer and translate its turn on signal into a simple +12 wire like aftermarket recievers use.

PursuitGT

If you dont have a sunroof just use any features fuse that stays on