GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hey guys... I just bought an MP3 HU for m wife's 03 Vibe. Today I went to get a wiring harness plug at the local Future Shop (Canada)... to my amazement they informed me that I need to buy a "relay kit" which will enable the car to function correctly when using an aftermarket HU. Without this kit the airbags will not deploy in case of an accident or I won't be able to collect diagnostic information from the ECM.This kit costs $150... or I could buy a relocation kit to move my stock radio to the trunk, which costs $80.I was informed that all 2000-up GMs are wired that way.Here is what I'm wondering about:1 - what the hell is he talking about?2 - is this really true for all 2000-up GMs?3 - is there a wiring harness schematic out there somewhere so I could try and reverse engineer this thing ?(I work in electronics for a living).thanks for any info

Quote, originally posted by navaidstech1 »Hey guys... I just bought an MP3 HU for m wife's 03 Vibe. Today I went to get a wiring harness plug at the local Future Shop (Canada)... to my amazement they informed me that I need to buy a "relay kit" which will enable the car to function correctly when using an aftermarket HU. Without this kit the airbags will not deploy in case of an accident or I won't be able to collect diagnostic information from the ECM.This kit costs $150... or I could buy a relocation kit to move my stock radio to the trunk, which costs $80.I was informed that all 2000-up GMs are wired that way.Here is what I'm wondering about:1 - what the hell is he talking about?2 - is this really true for all 2000-up GMs?3 - is there a wiring harness schematic out there somewhere so I could try and reverse engineer this thing ?(I work in electronics for a living).thanks for any infoThe guy doesn't know what he is talking about. Some GM vehicles do need the factory HU for some functions, but in the Vibe this is not the case.The Vibe radio connects to power, the speakers, the antenna, and not much else.Only concern would be if you have Moon&Tunes. (In which case you still don't need the factory HU but A/M installation has a couple more things to be aware of.)

I used Crutchfield.com as a reference and searched for installation info on a 2003 Vibe. The only item you need is the GM wire harness. I would wait for a few more replies from GenVibe members, but that sounds like serious bull****. What HU are you installing? I'll cross reference it for you. It's slow at work tonight, I have time.

Good news so far. Thanks for the replies.I checked Best Buy and Future Shop all over Ottawa this week and NONE of them carry the harness. I'm heading to Toronto tomorrow and will take a look there.The HU I'm installing is Clarion DXZ365MPthanks again

Crutchfield confirmed that all you need are the mounting kit and GM Harness adapter. Good Luck finding the harness tomorrow. That looks like a nice HU you picked out.

Ah, great! Thank you for your help. Muchly appreciated.Thanks GMJAP!

One more thought for the Harness; try Radio Shack:DIXIE OUTLET MALL1250 South Service RoadMississauga, OntarioL5E 1V4905-278-0327

I might be going there on the weekend, I live about 25 minutes away from there. I'll give them a call to make sure.Are they still called Radio Shack? Most of them up here are now called The Source.

OK.. called them just now...they don't have it.ANd yes, they are called Radio Shack. Go figure.

The part, in case it wasn't mentioned, is a Metra 70-2003. You also need a 40-GM10 antenna adapter to make the FM antenna fit into the new radio.