$100+ wiring harness for 05 pontiac grand am

[bigbang 10+ year member]

I went to Best Buy to buy a radio for my girlfriends car. They wanted over $100 for a wiring harness for her 05 grand am. Told me without it the speedometer, odometer, door chimes would all get screwy. They had the normal $15ish harness without the computer chip, highly advised me not to get it, decided to wait. Info please?

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[blackbonnie 5,000+ posts]

i dont believe that your speedometer and odometer mess up. but i know that you will lose door chimes, and what not,

 

[Anonymous User 10+ year member]

if you want to keep the chimes but not spend $100+, i remember walmart has the same thing for around $40.

 

[Dj-torn 10+ year member]

http://fitguide.installationexcellence.com/select_product.aspx?ManufacturerId=1&VehicleId=214202&ProductId=8988&CategoryId=3#8988

If you have the premium sound system you are looking for the GMOS-04 It Allows you to integrate your after market radio, into your bose system using your bose amplifier. Also enables you to KEEP your onstar system if you have that activiated. $100.00 is about average price for them

Or you can loose all those features and run wires to by-pass the onboard amplifier located in the trunk. With wiring harnes 70-2028 which is used for non premium systems Probably goes for around $30.

 

[regal8r 5,000+ posts]

or you can just run your stock headunit in the trunk or something and use the aftermarket hu for the speakers and such. that'd be the cheapest way to go...

 

[whizdumb 10+ year member]

Yeah you can find it cheaper other places, but you don't necessarily NEED it. All you lose are the door chimes (when you leave the lights on, or the key is in the ign and the door is open) and the radio turn-off delay (until a door is opened). BUT you do have to run a switched wire from the fuse box or ign. harness as there isn't one in the factory radio wiring.

 

[jeffs42885 10+ year member]

metra 99-2003 works too, you don't need to use the expensive harness if you dont want to. a friend has a 2002 impala and hes using the cheap harness instead of the gmos01 it controlls.

IT DOES NOT EFFECT SPEEDO! IT GIVES YOU DOOR CHIMES lol

 

[Fiercetimbo17 10+ year member]

You will also loose all info like oil change, seat belt warining all that stuff

 

[blackbonnie 5,000+ posts]

and if you dont get it, your doors will not open, and you will have to climb through a window. and your car will set on fire after a weeks use.

 

[bigbang 10+ year member]

OK, finally got around to checking the replies. My girlfriend is a typical hard to please female that hates modifications and tampering with things. She hardly ever lets me touch her new car because she wants things to be "professionally installed", meaning she thinks its takes a professional to use a wire crimping tool.

Anyway, relocating the original unit elsewhere is out of the picture, I don't like the idea of the extra work running wires to hide a useless piece of radio somewhere, and she would explode in the process.

She has a 05 Pontiac grand am, SE I think, regular package, no premium Bose stereo or On Star (Police plot to track people).

The dude at Best Buy said that the expensive harness supplied a signal so the car knew that the original stereo hadn’t been stolen and that the expensive harness was the only way the car would allow another stereo to be installed. He also told me that without the signal, the odometer and speedometer would be thrown off! I honestly don't see how, unless this is another car manufacturing scheme to keep out aftermarket parts. I know that not having the chimes and open-door radio turn-off delay would pisss her off to no end, and honestly it would annoy me too.

So I guess I'll check Wal-Mart for a cheaper harness, and see what Metra offers. Where are Metra harnesses sold? I'm probably not being sharp right now but I can't remember where they are carried.

Also, If I manage to save all the functionality of chimes, door turnoff, ect. with a computer chip based fancy wiring harness, would those features work with external amplifiers? The RCA's would probably send the chime to the amps, but would the amps stay on along with the radio as long as they are hooked up to the radios remote turn on wire? Too bad the chimes wouldn’t work when the faceplate is removed, I am sure she would catch on to this and complain. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother doing things for her when all she does is ***** and complain. Anyway thanks for feedback.

 

[bigbang 10+ year member]

Wait, the harness probably inserts the chime directly into the speaker leads, so how would I wire external amps to the speakers and maintain the chime? Would I have to run the speaker wires (however many I want to have a chime) out of the amp, to the harness at the appropriate speaker wires, and finally to the speakers? I wonder if the chime has a built in low frequency to pisss off people?

 

[bigbang 10+ year member]

Then the gauge of the speaker leads at the harness would add a hell of resistance to the new speaker wires from the amp, I hope I am overlooking something important. OK, I'm getting to sleep before I think of another what if.