jman093 Posted May 9, 2010 Report Share Posted May 9, 2010 There seems to be a lot of questions about how to do this. I know, I had one of those posts several months ago. The FM transmitters don't work worth a crap and I tried an FM modulator. It worked ok, but the sound quality was very poor and the volume was too low as even with my iPod turned up, I often had the GP's stereo turned all they way up too just to hear. Then I found this: http://www.clubgp.com/newforum/tm.asp?m=3273349&p=1&mpage=1&tmode=1&smode=1&key=&language=&cookieCheck=726146863 It works just like having a factory aux input and it sounds amazing and with my Ipod volume at about 75% it's playing at the same volume as the radio. I just wanted to share this for others here who are having the same frustrations I had!. Don't waste money on a transmitter or modulator. The ClubGP author says to use the Malibu tape player, but they came in a lot more than just Malibu's: S10/Sonoma, Blazer/Bravada, Full-size trucks, and they all work the same and use the same harness. I got mine out of an S10, hooked it up, stashed it under the passenger seat with a Richard Marx cassette swiped from my parents house, and have been enjoying my new Ipod connection! To know if this will work on your radio, pull it out and look for the unused 9-pin connector on the back of the head unit. This is where the harness for the slave unit plugs in. If you have a separate multidisc changer or something in the car, the 9-pin connector will be used and you will lose that changer, etc by doing this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 link is dead, don't suppose you can find it again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jman093 Posted March 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 (edited) link is dead, don't suppose you can find it again? Nope, I can't. I tried. That forum has the absolute worst search imaginable, and they don't let Google archive their site, so you can't use the site: command to find it either. Here's how to do it though. This works with all GM ETR style radios that have an unused flat 9-pin connector in the back: 1. Go to a salvage yard and find one of the remote cassette players that came in Sonoma/S10 and full-size pickup trucks in the late 90s/early 2000s. Get the 9 pin wiring harness that connects it to the radio head unit as well. Also get an old pair of headphones or other audio cable with the typical headphone plugin that connects to an Ipod/MP3 player. 2. Cut off the end of the headphones, keeping the end that plugs into the MP3. It will be useful to keep wire as long as possible. There will be three smaller wires or 2 smaller wires with an uninsulated wire inside the headphone cable. Strip and twist these into their 3 separate wires. The diagram below shows which wire on the headphone plug is Left, Right, and Common Ground. You'll probably have to use an ohmmeter to figure out which wire is connected to which point on the plug. 3. Then cut off the Left Audio, Right Audio, and Common Ground wires from the 9 pin harness. Strip these and splice the radio side of your cut to the corresponding wires on your headphone wire. Plug the 9 pin harness into the radio, and the other end into the remote cassette player. Put an old cassette in player and stash it somewhere. Mine has a Richard Marx cassette in it I stole from my parents. The player is stashed under the passenger seat out-of-sight. 4. The head unit should now see it has a remote cassette player connected to it, and there will be a small cassette icon on the display. Press the CD/Aux button (once if unit is not loaded with a CD, twice if it is) to switch it over to the cassette. It will now be operating the remote cassette player, but the audio signal is not coming from the cassette player. It is coming from whatever is plugged into the headphone jack that was spliced in. I have done this to 2 94-96 Grand Prix's and a 95-99 Monte Carlo, and am going to do it to a 97 GMC truck here soon. Audio quality is superb as its a direct connection. I see in my OP 2 years ago, I said I run the Ipod at 75%. Maybe I was at the time, but I'm actually running it at 100%. You could run 75% or whatever you want, but obviously the radio is expecting a full signal, not something that has been de-amplified down. So 100% would be the equivalent to what the radio would normally receive. Edited March 25, 2012 by jman093 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 ETR?? http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/174747/ ETR = electronically tuner receiver... based on that schematic, i may have a simpler option brewing up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jman093 Posted March 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 ETR?? http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/174747/ ETR = electronically tuner receiver... based on that schematic, i may have a simpler option brewing up... No idea what ETR means. ETR is just what I've always heard the style of radio used in 94-96 GP's, 95-99 Montes and other various GM products in that era called by. Basically if the radio looks pretty similar to this you'll have what you need: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jman093 Posted March 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 I'm unsure how your going to do it simpler? The head unit will not turn on its auxillary input unless it has something interfacing with it on the network bus. In this case, that is the cassette player. I have seen cables like these that have a small module that interfaces with the HU and accomplishes that and allows for an Aux input or Ipod port: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chevy-1995-radio-ipod-interface-Peripheral-PXDP-PXHGM1-/270323773585?hash=item3ef08d7091&item=270323773585&pt=Car_Audio_Video&vxp=mtr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 there are modded CD units on ebay that seem to only have an aux port added with no external switching necessary to select the aux input(comes on when plugged in). a 98 camaro with a remote CD unit only uses 5 circuits connected to the radio and the remote CD unit. 3 are the audio signal and common wires, 1 is a ground and the last is a signal from the radio to the remote changer to turn on. not sure how different that radio is from a mid 90s W-body radio though. it obviously is in control of what signals get used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManicMechanic Posted March 26, 2012 Report Share Posted March 26, 2012 there are modded CD units on ebay that seem to only have an aux port added with no external switching necessary to select the aux input(comes on when plugged in). I have one of these in my Blazer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted March 26, 2012 Report Share Posted March 26, 2012 you basically just plug and go, right? as long as it's turned on, it will play from the aux input? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManicMechanic Posted March 26, 2012 Report Share Posted March 26, 2012 Correct sir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carkhz316 Posted March 26, 2012 Report Share Posted March 26, 2012 See my post in this thread: http://www.w-body.com/showthread.php/52659-Question-on-wiring-a-3-5mm-jack-into-a-Monsoon-or-any-factory-radio I've been meaning to do a write-up from my own experiences, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. This method eliminates the need for the stand-alone tape deck or cd changer input, or harness for that matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alec_b Posted April 2, 2012 Report Share Posted April 2, 2012 Wow, that delco-loc II cd player is a rare bird. I remember my buddy had the factory CD in his '95 blazer. It was one of those goofy mid-year blazers that had the newer body style but still the old interior. The cd player didn't work... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManicMechanic Posted April 2, 2012 Report Share Posted April 2, 2012 Wow, that delco-loc II cd player is a rare bird. I remember my buddy had the factory CD in his '95 blazer. It was one of those goofy mid-year blazers that had the newer body style but still the old interior. The cd player didn't work... Rarer yet, it actually plays CDs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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