Ok, so one of my buddies calls me today. He bought a new head unit, 4 speakers and an amp. Because he knows jack shit about audio, he asked me to install it for him. Sounded simple enough, or so I thought. I’ve done way more complicated installs before and I’ve installed many HUs for friends, so I agreed.

He has a 2002 Z24 Cavalier.
Head unit was an Alpine CDA-9856.

First off, I can officially say Cavaliers are the worst cars EVER to change a radio on. You need to completely remove the dash (top, front and bottom) just to get the stock radio out. WTF GM??? I was able to get my radio in my golf out in less than 10 seconds. At least the dash is was not that complicated to remove, except for the 5 screws in the glove box.

So once we got that out of the way, we were able to gain access to the car’s wiring harness. The guy at the store sold us the wrong OEM harness, so I decided to simply chop it off. Again, no biggie, or so I thought. There were 13 wires in total. I grabbed my multi-meter and was able to correctly identify the 8 speaker wires by measuring the impedance on each line. 12V constant lead was also easy to identify by checking for voltage on the remaining wires. That leaves 4 wires remaining to be identified. 2 of them were identified as grounds (why 2???). That leaves 2 wires. We turn the key on ACC, hoping to find the ACC wire by checking for voltage. Both of them were at 0V. We were completely lost. No ACC line? That’s impossible… Checked the fuses, nothing. Humm… We also noticed that when the unknown purple wire was checked for voltage, ERROR would appear on the odometer. So we figured it must be for the alarm or something, but it still doesn’t make any sense that there is no accessory line. We ended up tying on the ON line, powering the blower and other stuff…

We also had a very hard time getting the fucking HU to fit, as the opening was not very shallow, and the RCA wires would press against one of the blower ducts. We had to cut out parts of the dash, shave part of the RCA connectors, put 4 washers on each screw for the mounting brackets to allow for more spacing, etc.

I NEVER EVER want to do an install on a Cavalier.

Oh yeah, and the 12v outlet does not work anymore, and we have no fucking clue why.

I'll have pics real soon.

Yeah, GM cars are a bitch to do much internal audio work on. I've only done one, but it was a pain. Took me 8 hours when it should have only been 1.

Pussies.
I can have the dash of a 1995-2005 Cavalier out in less than 5 minutes.
as for wiring, what was so hard? I had the head unit swapped in my 98 in less than 25 minutes.
there is a reason why the proper harness is a must when installing a radio. First off, with the 2001-2005 Cavalier, the way that the cars were wired, in order to have the airbags continue to work, the factory radio has to be moved to the trunk and THE PROPER harness needs to be used. Hacking and slashing the harness as if this were a 78 Nova is not acceptable.

Hell, we just did an install on a 2004 Cavalier, amo & subs included and it only took 2 hours.

But then again, not everyone is as blessed with GM/J-body insight and experience as I am.

Samurai

Well, even with the proper harness, WHERE THE FUCK IS THE ACC LINE? That was my main question.

As for the radio in the trunk, now that's interesting.

Samarui,

I oddly knew the thing with the stock radio because on another board for ham radio, there's a guy who asked for some help with installing a mobile VHF radio in his 04 Cavalier and he wanted to remove the stock radio completely for this VHF radio and there were several people who told him that he has to mount the stock radio it in the trunk.

Ok, so where the hell to connect the stock HU to in the trunk?

Posted by Professor Chaos Ok, so where the hell to connect the stock HU to in the trunk?

sam is right the radio is involved with the ecm. also if the car has remote door locks the radio can hold up to 4 profiles so its attached to the remote locks. If you have the monsoon sound system there is a pre amp in the trunk too. Oh and dont forget the beeper that tells you the key is in the ignition, parking brake on or the seatbelt is un buckled is wired through the radio to the drivers door speaker.

the hot in acc wire is yellow
alarm module - orange with black line
interior light system - grey
- brown
airbag wires: (only if car has steering wheel controls)
lt grn
yellow (to radio fuse
dark green (only if car has scv) to power train module

the following are only present in this function if no trunk preamp present
grey + tan left front speaker
brn + yellow left rear speaker
dk green + lt green right front
dk blue + lt blue right rear

blk (ground duh)

in this car NEVER ground the speaker system

if you want the schematic ill email it to you tomorrow

systems you woulndt expect to go through the radio that do?
1) interior lights
2) anti theft
3) airbags ( sort of an apendix from the old steering controls)
4) ecm connection

Posted by nostra-YOUPPI! the hot in acc wire is yellow alarm module - orange with black line interior light system - grey - brown airbag wires: (only if car has steering wheel controls) lt grn yellow (to radio fuse dark green (only if car has scv) to power train module the following are only present in this function if no trunk preamp present grey + tan left front speaker brn + yellow left rear speaker dk green + lt green right front dk blue + lt blue right rear blk (ground duh)

See, the harness only had 13 wires. The 8 speaker wires were coded exactly like stated, which we correctly identified.

Orange was the +12V.

2 Black wires were grounds.

The 2 unknown wires were purple and light grey.

There were NO other wires. That's what I don't understand. The airbag light does not light up. The door lock remotes still work and I believe it still beeps. That is why it does not make any sence to me at all.

Everything appears to be functioning as it should.

Oh and BTW Sam, it only took me 20 minutes to remove the dash, and it was my first time doing a Cavalier. It was quite easy, but I was surprised that so much was needed to change a radio.

put the keys in and leave the door open, no beep!

my sunfire with the "premium" sound system has 8 speaker wires that dont use the above coding that run to the trunk. The pre amp has 16 speaker wires because i have the 8 speaker system, was a bitch when the wiring for my drivers door speakers shorted out.


This discussion has made me think of what has been keeping the airbag light on my dads gtp lit!

he has the steering wheel controls, his radio face hasnt lit in months and the front speakers were not working, just went and pushed the wiring harness in right and poof it works fine!!

When one of my friends bought a new JVC HU for his 2001 Sunfire, the guy at StereoPlus did mention something about loosing the door beep but nothing else...

Technically, should the air bag light show up on the cluster or not???

Posted by Professor Chaos When one of my friends bought a new JVC HU for his 2001 Sunfire, the guy at StereoPlus did mention something about loosing the door beep but nothing else... Technically, should the air bag light show up on the cluster or not???

just called my friend who works at G. Lebeau. If the car has steering wheel controls for the radio then the airbags will be disabled. If the car has no steering wheel controls you are ok. He also says that if the car has no steering wheel controls you are EXTRA lucky. GM will sell you a little do hickey they used to put in the ones sold with no radios. The cavalier was available as a fleet car with no radio. It came with 4 speakers and no radio, gm would put this do hickey in to enable the beep so you can have the car work normal.

back to the airbags, he has done dozens of installs and says the radio is only necessary if the wheel has the controls, those cars if you remove the radio the light comes on right away. anyways. you seem to be safe

im going to call JD's and Arizona Audio just to back this up tomorrow

Jesus, who dreams up this bullshit....?

Posted by Sinister Crayon Jesus, who dreams up this bullshit....?

yeah no kidding

i'm sure it made perfect sense on the assembly line (rrriiiiiggggggghhhhhhhhttt)

you guys have been busy while I was at work. Expos is quite the J-body geek in his own right. kudos!

Samurai

I know a ex Mopar Engineer and I remember when he was telling me about replacing the speakers on my previous car, that cars are designed with the idea that if someone needs to change the radio in the car, its going to be for the same stock radio despite the large amount of people who install aftermarket radio/cd/dvd/hd-dvd/satelite/ham/gps equipment.

Posted by Samurai i'm sure it made perfect sense on the assembly line (rrriiiiiggggggghhhhhhhhttt) you guys have been busy while I was at work. Expos is quite the J-body geek in his own right. kudos! Samurai

i always liked the j body cus they were cheap to fix. I hate with a passion that radio the 89 till the end sunbird had (well i liked the sound) the only radio you could replace it with was the one from the GM pickups at the time. It was an interesting radio but if you wanted to put an aftermarket unit it you better have gotten the cassette deck because just above it was the only place it would fit. Now the worst part was the "head unit" in the dash wasnt even that! it was a control panel for the actual radio mounted under the dash near the ECM. at least it wasnt tied into other systems on the car.

as far as mine goes the worst part in my chicken is when i hit the talk button on my CB my radio better be turned down because the speakers will pick up everything. I mounted my glass mount antenna on the window behind the driver to be far from the antenna but i forgot about the amp in the trunk. its on the drivers side right where the fuel filler is on the other side.




sam did your J body have the mysterious check engine light? mine will come on for a day or 2 once every six months then disapear, sorta like my aunt martha.

Posted by nostra-YOUPPI! as far as mine goes the worst part in my chicken is when i hit the talk button on my CB my radio better be turned down because the speakers will pick up everything. I mounted my glass mount antenna on the window behind the driver to be far from the antenna but i forgot about the amp in the trunk. its on the drivers side right where the fuel filler is on the other side.

You know, some choke filters would fix that

Posted by nostra-YOUPPI! i always liked the j body cus they were cheap to fix. I hate with a passion that radio the 89 till the end sunbird had (well i liked the sound) the only radio you could replace it with was the one from the GM pickups at the time. It was an interesting radio but if you wanted to put an aftermarket unit it you better have gotten the cassette deck because just above it was the only place it would fit. Now the worst part was the "head unit" in the dash wasnt even that! it was a control panel for the actual radio mounted under the dash near the ECM. at least it wasnt tied into other systems on the car. as far as mine goes the worst part in my chicken is when i hit the talk button on my CB my radio better be turned down because the speakers will pick up everything. I mounted my glass mount antenna on the window behind the driver to be far from the antenna but i forgot about the amp in the trunk. its on the drivers side right where the fuel filler is on the other side. sam did your J body have the mysterious check engine light? mine will come on for a day or 2 once every six months then disapear, sorta like my aunt martha.

The WORST radios GM ever tried were in the fucking Citations... they were inside the instrument cluster and VERTICAL... no aftermarket radio would fit it right. In 1985, the instrument panel was changed to accomodate a normal radio.

the check engine light that comes on every now and again is nothing more than the EVAP solenoid on the gas tank sticking... it's a big fat pain in the ass, one of GM's dumber ideas!

Samurai

Posted by Samurai one of GM's dumber ideas! Samurai

you speak like they actually had a a good one .

Anyone remember the "ford has a better idea" commercials?

I also felt the urge to say "someday they'll use it" after each time they said it.

one that made me laugh was the old caddys that had a CB built into the radio!