GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I was exploring all the wiring and connections on the interior of my car. Came across a few things I have questions about.

What is this little black box on the metal plate? It seemed to be stuck on pretty well with some adhesive


What's this connector used for? This is down under the steering wheel.


And lastly this weird box with a ton of wires. When i found this, the connector with the red/black wires had been disconnected, so I plugged it back in

So I plugged that connector in and left it at that. A little later I went to drive, and the car wouldn't start, and that thing was making a beeping sound. Sounds like an old GPS tracker/vehicle disabler.

The box looks like an aftermarket alarm or remote start. That white connector is the factory diagnostic connector.

gtv237 wrote:The box looks like an aftermarket alarm or remote start. That white connector is the factory diagnostic connector.

Thanks for the info! I don't know why it didn't cross my mind that that white connector was for the diagnostic tester.

Found a few more things I have questions about upon further exploration.

Under the door panel, anyone know what this empty connector is for?


Also, is this a power lock actuator? Would I be able to use this to install power locks (I have manual right now) or should I just get new actuators in a kit?

Oh, yes, that is an aftermarket power lock actuator in that pic. It sounds like I was right, that someone had installed an alarm at some point and added locks, but cut it out before you bought it. It might work, but those kind are pretty cheap. I bought 4 for my Mustang and paid like $4 each for them years ago.

That black box is a GPS ignition disabler that a car lot put on the car. I googled that name and several things came up on it. That box with the wire might be part of it too.

http://www.imetrik.com/portal/en/finance/benefits.html

Sounds like you have a bit of a wiring mess there!

According to my Chilton's, the purple and pink wires are for the driver's side door speaker. There is a tweeter on some systems that is mounted up high on the window opening in the triangular corner. It is plugged into the same two wires, so that empty plug is for the tweeter harness.

trb wrote:According to my Chilton's, the purple and pink wires are for the driver's side door speaker. There is a tweeter on some systems that is mounted up high on the window opening in the triangular corner. It is plugged into the same two wires, so that empty plug is for the tweeter harness.

Makes sense. I did notice some models have tweeters on that triangle piece.

I was thinking about buying a Chiltons or Haynes repair manual, but I worried it might be a little too technical for me.

trb wrote:Oh, yes, that is an aftermarket power lock actuator in that pic. It sounds like I was right, that someone had installed an alarm at some point and added locks, but cut it out before you bought it. It might work, but those kind are pretty cheap. I bought 4 for my Mustang and paid like $4 each for them years ago.

That black box is a GPS ignition disabler that a car lot put on the car. I googled that name and several things came up on it. That box with the wire might be part of it too.

http://www.imetrik.com/portal/en/finance/benefits.html

Sounds like you have a bit of a wiring mess there!

I googled it and found quite a bit too, but didn't explore it that much. I emailed them and asked if there was a way for me to safely remove it, or if there was somewhere I could take it to have it removed.
Thankfully all of the wires for it were kept pretty compact, but at the same time, it's really a lot of wiring.

Chiltons and Haynes are pretty basic. They were all that was readily available when I had to learn how do do a lot of mechanical stuff on my first car, an 81 Olds Cutlass, and my wife's 78 Fairmont Futura. Way before internet! I have like 4 different books for Mustangs from 79-04 to cover all of the parts I've put on my 87.

The new ones don't have as much as the older books, especially in the wiring and vacuum diagrams, but they are better than nothing.

trb wrote:Chiltons and Haynes are pretty basic. They were all that was readily available when I had to learn how do do a lot of mechanical stuff on my first car, an 81 Olds Cutlass, and my wife's 78 Fairmont Futura. Way before internet! I have like 4 different books for Mustangs from 79-04 to cover all of the parts I've put on my 87.

The new ones don't have as much as the older books, especially in the wiring and vacuum diagrams, but they are better than nothing.

Is there one you recommend over the other?

I preferred Chilton's, as the ones I got for my Mustang had a lot more data and pages than Haynes.