What Are The Chevy Cobalt Rear Deck Electrical Boxes?
 

Hey,

So the other day I was looking at what's under the rear deck and noticed two boxes.

It looks like the purple outlined box below is the Radio Control Unit. Not to sure what the other orange outlined box is though. Any ideas?


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cob...cf98ad7c54.jpg

The one in purple is for satellite radio. If you don't have XM it's not needed as far as I know. My base model didn't have that and I had a headunit from an SS unlocked in my car. I don't know what the other one is.

If those are not used / needed I was going to remove them. No point in keeping unused items around. Guess I'll see what happens when I start unplugging that mystery box outlined in orange...

Pretty sure the other one is Onstar. If you don't have an active subscription I recommend removing or at least unplugging it. Onstar continues to collect all sorts of data (that it can sell) about your driving habits and location even after you cancel your subscription - yikes.

If/when you pull that XM box out, please do me a favor and weigh it. I'm curious if it'll be worth the trouble for me to pull everything apart and remove it.

I don't imagine it'll be much though.

When I was doing my sound deadening, the front box weighs maybe 1.5-2kgs max. The back one I would say is about 1kg.

Cool. Totally not worth the savings then. I didn't think they'd weigh much, but you never know.

It's a pain in the ass in get that back cover off, DEFINITELY NOT worth tearing apart for very little weight reduction.
You have to disconnect the battery, take the rear seat out, undo the 4 (very tight) bolts for the seatbelts, pry the back 2 B pillars (these have airbags hence the battery negative disconnect), take the head rests out, unclip the 2 plastic retainers where the back seats go, feed the belts through the openings, then pull (hard).

Otherwise, it's easy :lol:

agreed the rear deck cover is PITA. I had to replace the rear speakers in my base model, I don't remember what all I had to do to get under there, but i managed to undo enough to be able squeeze my hands in there without pulling the whole thing out.

I don't have the airbags (2005 didn't get them) and I've always run the car without the rear headrests (no one sits back there, and it increases visibility just a touch).

But yeah, I'll be sure to skip doing that then, lol.

Purple is the digital radio receiver (XM module) and the orange box is onstar module. If you remove the onstar module you will need to install a jumper because the low speed and high speed communication buss runs through/to it , other option is to just unplug the white and brown connector and leave the black one hooked up. That will leave the communication circuits intact while effectively disabling the module.

Yup defnitely a pain. I did this 10 years ago but i still remember. I did this on a 100 degree day to boot :lol:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cob...3a1a5bdef2.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cob...141244ab21.jpg

Yep, removed the two boxs and found out that the orange outlined box is needed to start the vehicle so plugged it back in.

@colodude18 what did you do for the jumper or is there a adapter that you purchased. I want that box gone! lol

@Kolt
What pins need to be jumped?

what year is yours

Ah, duh its in your sig :lol:
Here is the connector end view for the black connector. You will need to jump pin 2 to pin 8 and pin 3 to pin 9. If your going permanent delete the best thing to do is just cut those wires and solder and weather tight heat shrink them together making sure there is less than 4 in of straight wire (keep them twisted).

Thanks for that info, I pulled out the OnStar box and since I couldn't find a connector for that factory end and I didn't want to modify it, I ended up taking the OnStar box apart, and then dremel'ing down the connector and soldering the pins together with some spare wire. That ended up being my solution and everything works great! Plus I saved a whopping 3 pounds! Go weight reduction!

I know how much everyone likes pictures on here...

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cob...5204bae903.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cob...a7b8f65c41.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cob...37288abd9f.jpg

I need to do this. Although I thought that by installing an aftermarket radio, it would disable the unit as well.

Sorta? Installing a aftermarket radio makes it where you cant hear anything from the OnStar module because it cant communicate with the radio anymore but its still there. Pulling the fuse or disconnecting the connectors I mentioned will disable it.