Need some clarification before installing headunit

[Sonders]

Hey guys just bought an 03' Vibe and am going to be swapping the oem headunit with an Alpine. I've been searching around on the forum trying to determine if there is anything special that has to be done on the install. Mine has basic single disc cd player hu but has speakers with front door post tweeters if that does matter. I thought I read that having the tweeters is a step up audio package?? Anyways is there anything I need to do other than run my wire harness adapter and antenna adapter? Does it have a chime module or anything? I had the Alpine hu in a 03' Grand Am prior to this, so hoping they have the same wiring plug. Thanks in advance for any help.

[Raven]

Check here: http://www.crutchfield.com/m_266150/Car-Stereos.html

[joatmon]

...
Mine has basic single disc cd player hu but has speakers with front door post tweeters if that does matter.
...
Does it have a chime module or anything?

There is no chime module. Some cars use the radio system to put out beeps and alarms like door ajar, seatbelt, etc. The Vibe doesn't do that. it uses a simple beeper on the back of the gauge cluster. So there's no radio chiming to worry about.

If you have tweeters in the door posts, (and it came from the factory that way) then you would also have a sunroof. Vibes had a package called Moon & Tunes, which gave you the sunroof, the tweeters, and also an audio power amplifier under the front passenger seat. This power amplifier can be an issue with a a replacement head unit. A number of people who have installed an aftermarket head unit to feed that amplifier had a problem with loud clicks coupling through the system, which they got around by putting some sort of level converter between the head unit and the amp. I still have an OEM radio in my Moon&Tunes vibe, so have never had to deal with it first hand, and don't know what specs to put on this level converter thing, just reporting that a lot of folks in your situation seem to have needed one.

[Sonders]

Thanks joatman for that info. Yes mine has the moon & tunes package. I really don't mind the stock HU, if it only had an aux input so I could plug my phone into it. The 03' grand am this Vibe replaced had a monsoon hu with cd and casette. I was able to tap into the cassette player on it and add a 3.5 mm aux plug and play my phone off it. Was hoping I could do something similar on this one.

[Raven]

You can perform surgery and install an aux plug or there are stock head units available on Ebay post op but they're kind of pricey for an old basic headunit.

[Sonders]

That would be great Raven, but not sure how I'd tap in for the 3.5mm plug on my factory hu. My Alpine is already hooked up and ready to go with the wiring harness adapter from my old Grand Am, so guess I'm going to pull the factory unit this weekend and see if the Alpine will plug right in. It has a chime module that is part of the harness; guess it can stay without hurting anything.

[ColonelPanic]

Here's what I will be installing with the new JVC I bought for the Vibe:

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_142SLC4/Sc ... 4&skipvs=T" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It goes inline between the HU speaker outputs and the wiring harness adapter and lets you lower each channel. Without it, you'll end up with high volume even at low settings and a good bit of white noise.

[Sonders]

So do you plug rca plugs to the rca outputs on the hu then connect them to the speaker wires on the wiring harness adapter?

[ColonelPanic]

Not sure how the RCA's work on this thing. It has inputs and outputs for all 8 speaker wires, so I'll just use it that way.

[Sonders]

Oh ok, didn't realize it had speaker input and outputs; looked like rca input then speaker output on other side. Guess I'll pick one of those up, they look cheap enough.

[Sonders]

Ok, got a chance this evening to pull the oem HU out and attempt to install my Alpine. The plug on my wiring adapter plugged right into the car wiring harness, but didn't power on my Alpine; so I guess the wiring may be different. I'll have to find a wiring diagram and start over. Also my hu mount isn't going to work do to the wierd angled mounts of the dash, so going to have to find a new mounting kit. Sucks because this radio and mounting kit has been in my last 3 or so GM cars haha.

[Sonders]

Also, what in the world is this weird little white piece that connects to the back of the radio bezel? Has a cable inside it. Also, there is a smaller harness that plugs into the back of the oem HU, what is it?

z

[lannvouivre]

It's so that when you switch your vents settings to "defog," it pops the recirculate flap back into the "fresh air" position or something like that. I broke mine out because it would not pop out and I dislike having to press the recirc button again if I'm just switching back and forth.

[trb]

When I installed my son's new radio, I used the metal brackets from the stock radio on the new unit, not the cheap plastic ones in the dash kit. I had to drill a couple of new holes in them to mount the screws on the new radio, and cut a bit of one bracket due to a spot on the radio, but it worked out very well. And on the smaller harness, do you have the CD changer under the seat? I have one in my 03 GT and the stock radio from my son's 06 plugged right in, using both plugs. His car does not have the second wiring plug that I recall, but maybe they only used one main wiring harness in the earlier cars with both plugs whether it has the CD changer or not, so it could be an easy dealer upgrade.

[Sonders]

Good idea on using the mounts off the stock radio. I'm putting a single din radio in though, so not sure how well that will work. I'll still have to get an actual trim piece to go around the radio to fill the gaps. No mine doesn't have a cd changer. Thats what that second plug is for though?

[ColonelPanic]

It is used for "mute control" according to the manual IIRC. Just tried to install a new radio in ours tonight but have to redo the SLC-4 setup (not enough wire length to mount it where it is out of the way.). Was plugging the OEM radio back in and all speakers came on with white noise. as soon as the small harness was plugged in the white noise was silenced.

This harness is not needed once you get your factory radio out of the equation.

[Sonders]

I thought this would be a simple install, but man I'm not having much luck. The only mounting bracket in town I could find was a Scoche brand one. I got it home and started mocking it up and the stupid thing is to narrow for my Hu. I tried reusing the wiring harness adapter I already had from my grand am by cutting off the chime module and rewiring, but that didn't work either. I guess I'm going to have to get on ebay or amazon and order the right ones and try again next weekend.

Since I wasn't having luck with the Alpine, I focused my attention on adding a 3.5 mm aux jack to the oem hu. I have it temporarily wired up and was ready to test it when I realized I didn't have a cd with a blank track on it to use. Of course my wife has the laptop with cd burner out of town with her. Looks like no aux input for me this weekend.

[Sonders]

I was able to track down the correct wiring harness adapter at a Best Buy a few towns over yesterday evening and wired in an old line level converter I had. Was able to get the Alpine working and sounds good. However not mounted in car yet. Still trying to find a better mounting kit before I start hacking up the one I have. Atleast I know the radio works.

[cptnsolo77]

I have the Moon & tunes and recently replaced the HU. I didnt use the line converter ( although I have it ) I didnt experience any loud beeping, but I what I get is hissing comming through the speakers at volume level O. Its similar to playing a blank cassette tape & turning the volume up. To be honest in the begining it bothered me cause im very picky, but the only time you can hear the hissing is if you have the volume on 0 and you are parked with the car off If I get ambitious i will install the converter, but for now I can live with it

[Sonders]

I wondered about the line level converter. I had one so went ahead and wired it up while I was at it. Had a hell of a time with the stupid dash mounting kit. I bought a Metra brand kit and it wasn't much better than the Scoche one I already had. The faceplate was still to narrow for my Alpine to fit in so had to dremel the opening out more. Plus the pocket insert that goes below the radio wouldn't fit under the radio, so had to trim down the top of the pocket to get it to fit. Finally got it all in the dash. I still have the dash apart until I get new light bulbs in the tempertature controls.

[Sonders]

Finally all buttoned up. Don't really like that the HU sticks out a little bit, but will work for now. I noticed my front drivers door speaker is blown so door speaker replacement is next on the list.

[ColonelPanic]

Glad you were able to get it all set up.

If you still have the original speakers, the cones are probably nice and rotten by now. The cones on ours would tear with gentle pressure when I went to replace 'em. The doors on these cars tend to let a bit more water down through the door than they should.

[Sonders]

Yeah I'm sure they are the original speakers. I was checking out a Vibe at local junkyard yesterday and the drivers door panel was off it so I was able to get a good look at the door speaker. It appears the mount is riveted to the door. Man I hate when they do that.

[cptnsolo77]

Congrats ! Looks great !

[Sonders]

Thanks cptnsolo. It works great, just need to upgrade speakers sometime now.