Sorry for the lack of explanation, delay in updating this thread, and poor pictures.

I'm an electrical engineering major so what makes sense up in here, , doesn't translate well into words.

To answer some questions:

Q: Do I lose XM radio?
A: No, as long as nothing is connected to the AUX connector, your XM radio will work normally. If you plug your ipod in, even without anything playing, XM volume will be nearly inaudible.

Q: Do I need an XM subscription?
A: No.

I'm glad you guys like the write up, I havent been on the internet at all in the last month or two so I haven't been able to keep this thread updated.

I would have soldered, just kind of got lazy. But, the crimp connectors still work great.

 

What gauge wire did you guys use?

 

did this today its sick

 

That's really sweet man! Great job!!

 

Levi, did you even look at that link you posted. It's free shipping. Says so on the tab at the top of the page when you open it.



Also, to the OP, just a thought here. What about using a banana jack and splicing that into the same wires you referenced? The reason I ask is that I have something better than Ipod. I have the new Google phone, the T-Mobile My Touch with Google. One of the apps you can download is Pandora Radio. I tell it a song or band and it makes a radio station based on my preference. No downloading songs and using up storage. My thought is that I could go to Radio Shack and use a cable with 2 male ends on it to connect from the adapter that came with the phone for the earbud head set to a banana jack that I'll splice into my 06 radio. It does have XM, which I listen to regularly. Since I also have an 07 SS that my wife drives, and she has the same phone, I think the cable is the only thing I would need for her to do the same thing.

Please let me know what you thing about the banana jack idea.

 

The GM personal audio link for the 07+ radios also taps into the XM wire (pin 18 on BCM, green wire), and the kit comes with a crimp. Mine has held going on 2 years now without a problem so I'm sure you'll be fine without soldering.

Great job!

 

I'm really motivated to try this out tomorrow on my 06, mostly because of my results from an experiment I did on my 07. For those that want more info on that, and how this post can result in hands free calls check out this thread: https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/electronics-audio-video-49/google-phone-%3D-hands-free-calling-193303/

 

If anyone has tried this, please post-up your results. I'd love to hear how this worked for anyone else. Mine is still working great.

 

Thank you gpro for the how to! I did this mod yesterday in about 20 min. I used a female coupler and mounted it in the black knock out under our stereos. The only thing I had to wait on was the epoxy to harden. Works great! heres a pic of the finished product Sorry about picture quality.

 

does anyone know how this would be done on a non-xm radio?

 

It depends on what you mean by non-xm.

Are you saying you don't have a subscription?

-or-



Are you saying you have a radio that is in no way, shape, or form capable of doing anything XM related?

In which case, you then have to find out if your car doesn't have an XM tuner to hook your radio to, or is the Head Unit not even capable of that?


If you have the female connector, shown in my picture on the back of your HU, then you should be able to do this mod. However, without an XM receiver, there will not be a harness for you to splice in to.

 

i guess the second part, since my car was never equipped with xm, so i dont believe there would be a harness to splice into.

 

In that case you have to see if that female connector is on the back of your radio. If it is, then you just have to pin-out the wires and find a way to connect them. Or just find a harness and use it as straight AUX.

 

ok i really like this idea and want to try it. i'm still kind of confused as to whether i will still be able to listen to my xm radio. i listen to xm everyday and would like it if i could switch back and forth between xm and my ipod with both working reliably.

 

Xm works fine as long as u don't have the iPod pluged in... I've had this done for a month or so and luv it

 

sub'd

 

I have a non-XM deck and I figured out which pins to attach to for audio left and right and ground. Do any of you know what I need to do to hear the AUX input? What station or mode should I be in with the non-XM deck? I see the OP said go to XM Channel 0, but thats not really an option for me.

 

My non-XM deck did have the XM wiring, so I wired an Aux cable in. Is there a way I can get the input to work or do I absolutely need an XM unit?

 

Nice Write up.....cant wait to try this...

Has anyone soldered these wires?
i want to do it professionally....im thinking, soldering and heat shrink...
Any suggestions??

 

I could hug you right now I'm so damn excited about this. One of my major complaints about this car, fixed.

Not as classy as some, but I prefer function, I slightly notched the bottom the trim with a drill bit, and just ran a coiled Griffin out. I say that as I went through many other brands with the iPod in a Scion tC and the Griffin still has held up.



Sounds great, XM still works great, I love it.

 

Hey what do you guys think about using this 3.5mm audio input jack mounted into the center of the black knock out piece below the radio?
http://www.discountcarstereo.com/detail.aspx?ID=1324

It would like pretty nice, i just dont like that it has writing around the input jack. hopefully its a sticker that can be removed.

Also, Can some of you give me a 100% confirmation that XM still functions properly?

 

Yes, XM works. You are simply tapping wires onto the XM harness. When nothing is attached to the other end of those wires e.g you aux connector, it is as if the wires are not even there.

 

Thanks somuch for this! I did this for my GTO. Thank god you found out how on the Cobalt!!!!!

 

good post man.

I did this a while back, wish I would have known there was a how to, but I did this exactly the same way, taping the XM wires. Although i ran a female auido port to the bottom of the radio/ac cover so you cant even see the jack unless you plug an audio cable into it. I originally ran it to the area with the trunk button, but was annoying to keep opening it to change songs..

 

Two questions for anyone that can answer:

1. I have a spool of some good solid copper 18 gauge wire. Is this gauge too thick? Should i go out and buy something thinner like 24 gauge?

2. I planned on using a 3.5mm to RCA adapter, and splicing the RCA ends off to be tapped into the xm input wires. However, im thinking this might not be a good idea since Each RCA has its own ground cable. This means i would need to tap 2 grounds into the radio, and then obviously the rest is the same. Is this a bad idea? although i already bought it, should i just get a 3.5mm end instead?

Thanks Everyone!!
I'm more concerned about #1, please help.