Interior: How To: Add Aux Input to pre '07 Cobalts
08-14-2009, 01:04 PM
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How To: Add Aux Input to pre '07 Cobalts
So I am big iPod person, I need it, I love it. This morning I decided to figure out how to add an Auxilalry inpuut to my 2005 Cobalt SS/SC with Pioneer Sound System
At the time of this writing, I do not know what the scope of this tutorial is. I know it works on my Cobalt, and I know you have to have a XM radio factory Head Unit.
Tools/Equip:
Wire Strippers
Needle Nose Pliers
Sockets
Wire Taps or Crimps
Wire
Aux Audio Cable you are willing to cut
1) The first thing you need to do is remove the radio. A tutorial for this can be found here
2) Disonect the harnesses attached to the back of the radio. There should be two, or else this tutorial will not work for you. We will be using the smaller of the two. It is a 12 pin connector, with 5 wires going to it. Three of these wires carry the audio from your XM receiver to you Head Unit.
3) The three wires referred to in the above step should come grouped together from factory. In this picture, they are the three wires on the left. Green\White, Brown\White, Tan\White.
4) Depending on how you choose to connect to these wires, the following steps will vary slightly.
5) If you are using wire taps: Cut three short pieces of wire, make sure they are the same gauge as the harness. Crimp one wire tap onto each one of the wires pointed out earlier, along with one of the pieces of wire you just cut. In the picture below, ignore the two wire taps in the background. You should only have three, which match the three in the foreground.
6) Take your Auxiliary Audio Cable and cut off one end. There Should be three wires. Two should be sheathed, and the other one should be uncovered; this is the ground.
7) On the harness, as mentioned earlier, the three wires we just tapped into carry the audio from your XM receiver to your Head Unit.
Tan\White - Ground
Brown\White - Left (Or Right, does it really matter?)
Green\White - Right (Or Left, does it really matter?)
You will now want to connect the three wires from you Aux cable, to the three wires above, you can see them trailing into the foreground. The ground wire on the Aux cable goes to the ground on the harness. And the other two, go to the Green and Brown wires on the harness.
Use wire crimps to connect the wires on the Aux cable to the corresponding wires coming from the harness.
8) Tune your XM radio to channel 0, and plug in your music player. It should work. If it doesn't, check your crimps and splices. See if your audio changes when you wiggle them. Redo each as necessary.
9) Put everything back, and crank that ****!
Bonus:
After wiring mine this way, I noticed that my audio cut out intermittently because the taps I used were to big. I then decided to use crimps all around instead.
To do this, I cut the three wires on the harness. I used a single crimp on each wire to attach the wire coming from the connector, to two wires. One of these two went to the Aux cable, and the other continued to the factory wiring.
This enabled for a cleaner installation, and most likely a more reliable one.
At the time of this writing, I do not know what the scope of this tutorial is. I know it works on my Cobalt, and I know you have to have a XM radio factory Head Unit.
Tools/Equip:
Wire Strippers
Needle Nose Pliers
Sockets
Wire Taps or Crimps
Wire
Aux Audio Cable you are willing to cut
1) The first thing you need to do is remove the radio. A tutorial for this can be found here
2) Disonect the harnesses attached to the back of the radio. There should be two, or else this tutorial will not work for you. We will be using the smaller of the two. It is a 12 pin connector, with 5 wires going to it. Three of these wires carry the audio from your XM receiver to you Head Unit.
3) The three wires referred to in the above step should come grouped together from factory. In this picture, they are the three wires on the left. Green\White, Brown\White, Tan\White.
4) Depending on how you choose to connect to these wires, the following steps will vary slightly.
5) If you are using wire taps: Cut three short pieces of wire, make sure they are the same gauge as the harness. Crimp one wire tap onto each one of the wires pointed out earlier, along with one of the pieces of wire you just cut. In the picture below, ignore the two wire taps in the background. You should only have three, which match the three in the foreground.
6) Take your Auxiliary Audio Cable and cut off one end. There Should be three wires. Two should be sheathed, and the other one should be uncovered; this is the ground.
7) On the harness, as mentioned earlier, the three wires we just tapped into carry the audio from your XM receiver to your Head Unit.
Tan\White - Ground
Brown\White - Left (Or Right, does it really matter?)
Green\White - Right (Or Left, does it really matter?)
You will now want to connect the three wires from you Aux cable, to the three wires above, you can see them trailing into the foreground. The ground wire on the Aux cable goes to the ground on the harness. And the other two, go to the Green and Brown wires on the harness.
Use wire crimps to connect the wires on the Aux cable to the corresponding wires coming from the harness.
8) Tune your XM radio to channel 0, and plug in your music player. It should work. If it doesn't, check your crimps and splices. See if your audio changes when you wiggle them. Redo each as necessary.
9) Put everything back, and crank that ****!
Bonus:
After wiring mine this way, I noticed that my audio cut out intermittently because the taps I used were to big. I then decided to use crimps all around instead.
To do this, I cut the three wires on the harness. I used a single crimp on each wire to attach the wire coming from the connector, to two wires. One of these two went to the Aux cable, and the other continued to the factory wiring.
This enabled for a cleaner installation, and most likely a more reliable one.
Last edited by TommyP; 10-06-2012 at 09:22 AM.
10-08-2009, 09:09 PM
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wow i cant believe no one has commented on this till now. Very nice mod. I would reccomend soldering though, however the crimp on connectors are alot easier.
10-09-2009, 10:32 PM
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I know I will definitely be doing this as soon as I can!
Great write up, will save me from buying a new head unit lol.
Question: Will XM radio still work with this? I'm assuming it would as it will still get the original wires signals.
Great write up, will save me from buying a new head unit lol.
Question: Will XM radio still work with this? I'm assuming it would as it will still get the original wires signals.
10-09-2009, 10:40 PM
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I don't believe so because you have to have those input wires to be able to get the signal sent to the radio.
I know I had even bought an aftermarket harness that was supposed to add an aux for our car and it just plugged in to where the original XM radio plug was, so you lost XM, but it ended up not even working.
I know I had even bought an aftermarket harness that was supposed to add an aux for our car and it just plugged in to where the original XM radio plug was, so you lost XM, but it ended up not even working.
10-10-2009, 07:30 PM
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+1 for a good easy mod. ^^^^ I agree its gonna look stock with a random wire unless you find a place to put it like mine is in the trunk button holder thing... <--- lol
I have an 06 SS but anyway..to simplify...what i did was cut the recommended cords a certain distance from the harness.. then crimped the designated wires to each other (tan/white to ground, etc...). 20 minute mod for $10 > Ipod adapter and install $100+
I have an 06 SS but anyway..to simplify...what i did was cut the recommended cords a certain distance from the harness.. then crimped the designated wires to each other (tan/white to ground, etc...). 20 minute mod for $10 > Ipod adapter and install $100+
10-10-2009, 07:34 PM
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10-10-2009, 10:53 PM
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http://www.overstock.com/Electronics...7/product.html
something like this, but hide the big part that makes it retract and only see the tip. I'm thinking I may need to mount the larger middle part still against something so the other end of the connection doesn't get pulled out by me pulling the other end.
10-13-2009, 01:18 AM
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to XM
10-13-2009, 01:26 PM
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you're not completely cutting them out, you could and lose XM, but if you only splice the auxillary wires to the XM wires and leave the original XM wires connected also you should retain XM and have aux.
10-13-2009, 03:00 PM
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XM is the sheet! I have it for free... so maybe I'm biased, but I love XM. Radio stations around here only play stuff everyone already knows, XM plays a huge variety and a lot of new stuff I never hear on FM. I'll hear something on XM and a couple months later it finally gets to FM.
Plus their heavy metal station rocks
Plus their heavy metal station rocks
10-14-2009, 05:46 PM
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So, I have an 06 NON XM car...
but, I replaced my deck (Long Story) with an 06 XM equipped deck.
I assume all I would need to do is buy a 12 Pin Male Connector and wire my aux 3 wires into it? Where can I get this connector and am I correct? Will that work?
I don't have and don't want to make the XM part of the deck work, What XM station or setting do I need to tune to, to make the Ipod play? Any need for a fuse? Obviously the Ipod wont charge, Correct? Thanks!
but, I replaced my deck (Long Story) with an 06 XM equipped deck.
I assume all I would need to do is buy a 12 Pin Male Connector and wire my aux 3 wires into it? Where can I get this connector and am I correct? Will that work?
I don't have and don't want to make the XM part of the deck work, What XM station or setting do I need to tune to, to make the Ipod play? Any need for a fuse? Obviously the Ipod wont charge, Correct? Thanks!
10-14-2009, 10:27 PM
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any xm station should work, since you dont have XM
shouldnt need any extra fuses and no the ipod wont charge.
It's just like hooking up headphones to your ipod, except the speakers in your car replace the speakers in your ears.
shouldnt need any extra fuses and no the ipod wont charge.
It's just like hooking up headphones to your ipod, except the speakers in your car replace the speakers in your ears.
10-15-2009, 05:00 PM
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I am going to go with this connector and try it out...
http://www.millionbuyplus.com/view_p...&Pioneer-12PIN
Anyone know of a cheaper one that will work? 10 Bucks plus shipping is crazy! lol
