Just bought an 03 Malibu LS, How am I soposed to do this?

[jgarcia9102 10+ year member]

Well, its a nice car and all, but the stereo is absolutely terrible and its apparently not gonna be that easy to swap my pioneer in there. It has that Class II data bus system and supposedly i cant take out the old HU without switching off my airbags. i couldn't care less about door chimes, but id rather not die for a nice stereo.

anyone have experience with this? I'm not about to have an old useless HU taking up space in my car if i dont need to.

I also cant find any Dash Kits that would work. it seems that the 01-03 Malibu's don't fit anything. Now normally i wouldn't mind doing a little custom work, but I'm not really ready to do that with a car that I've had for 3 days...

sorry to sound pissed off here, but i had initially thought that with all the space in this car it would be great for a new stereo, and thats one of the reasons i had bought it. i never thought id be missing the 93 Saturn....

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[brendan_121212]

Well, its a nice car and all, but the stereo is absolutely terrible and its apparently not gonna be that easy to swap my pioneer in there. It has that Class II data bus system and supposedly i cant take out the old HU without switching off my airbags. i couldn't care less about door chimes, but id rather not die for a nice stereo.
anyone have experience with this? I'm not about to have an old useless HU taking up space in my car if i dont need to.

I also cant find any Dash Kits that would work. it seems that the 01-03 Malibu's don't fit anything. Now normally i wouldn't mind doing a little custom work, but I'm not really ready to do that with a car that I've had for 3 days...

sorry to sound pissed off here, but i had initially thought that with all the space in this car it would be great for a new stereo, and thats one of the reasons i had bought it. i never thought id be missing the 93 Saturn....

70-2003T (Metra) or GM06 (Scosche)

I have an 2000 Impala, which has the same lame ass GM crap in it. I used a metra harness which relocates the factory headunit, it is cheaper, and makes it easy to reset oil light, and change settings like auto lock, and junk like that. You lose retained accessory power (RAP) (the thing that makes the radio stay on when you shut off key, until you open the door). Also you need to install a speaker for use with the door chime

There is another harness that replaces the radio completely and gives you RAP feature, and oil change lights can be reset using curtain actions, EG.) Press brake, then shift to drive, and something..., etc. This harness also has a built in speaker for door chime. Its costs about twice as much. I wish i had bought it though.

Please make sure you buy the correct harness for your car crutchfield has a part finder that will locate the correct part to replace your radio based on your car info.

 

[brendan_121212]

Also the Class II data module gives you a switched accessory power source. With the relocation harness you will need a relay and will need to find a accessory power source. On your old radio the data bus tells the radio when to turn on, an aftermarket radio doesn't work that way.

 

[jgarcia9102 10+ year member]

so besides loosing the annoying door chime, do i really need to use this special harness? is there an alternative harness that just says to hell with door chimes, or should i splice wires myself? id rather not cut any wires in case i need to put the old radio back in for any reason...

and back to my other question, why doesn't the 03 have a decent dash kit, yet all other years do....

 

[azbass 5,000+ posts]

id get the special harness. i would not cut anything. but really not have gotten that car....

 

[brendan_121212]

so besides loosing the annoying door chime, do i really need to use this special harness? is there an alternative harness that just says to hell with door chimes, or should i splice wires myself? id rather not cut any wires in case i need to put the old radio back in for any reason...
and back to my other question, why doesn't the 03 have a decent dash kit, yet all other years do....

Well i guess you could just find a direct connect harness. You would lose the door chime, maybe some other features like cruise control (not sure). I've heard that the engine light may come on if the radio is removed. There are ways to reset oil light by certain actions, like i said, I'm not sure what the certain actions are. Also the door chime speaker, would give you warning sounds like when your coolant is low, etc. But you prolly would see those messages in the Message center box, without hearing the sound.

I would recommend getting the right harness.

About the dash kit, I don't know... Did you look on crutchfield?

I found this and they say it works for 03 Malibu.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-dS1ZSj22TbJ/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=112200&I=120992001

 

[Rich B 5,000+ posts]

Does this help?

It seems to include the wiring harness and the dash kit in one.

http://cgi.ebay.com/2001-2003-CHEVY-MALIBU-RADIO-DASH-KIT-HARNESS-ANT_W0QQitemZ150041585173QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

 

[jgarcia9102 10+ year member]

Does this help?
It seems to include the wiring harness and the dash kit in one.

http://cgi.ebay.com/2001-2003-CHEVY-MALIBU-RADIO-DASH-KIT-HARNESS-ANT_W0QQitemZ150041585173QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

That Dash Kit looks like its much better than the other cheaper ones Ive seen, the harness is different too. If it does what it says, thats a **** good find! thanks.

Like i said before, i dont care about a door chime, but i was not aware that so many other features were tied to this stupid system. living without a door chime's one thing; dash warning lights turning on, no cruise control, and possibly no airbags is entirely different and not worth it at all. i wouldn't pull anything like that.

 

[brendan_121212]

I always laugh when i see those dash kits that have the mounting hardware for those twin shaft radios from the 60's. Why in the world would they put that in there for.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

twin shaft radios where used until the mid 80's lol

 

[brendan_121212]

twin shaft radios where used until the mid 80's lol

I know my pimped out mustang had one.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

lol cd players marked the end of dual shaft...trying to make me feel old?