RICKYVB

I am sure a lot of members here have come across the dreaded Radio replacement in the good old HHR. Thank god mine does not have the onstar junk on board too.

I purchased a DVD, NAV, SD, TV, blah blah blah Car stereo and was ready to hook it up when I found out that my car has a BOSE SUPREME SOUND SYSTEM.

Did not seem that great to me but, GM and Bose gave it a fancy name. Which is odd considering I have to park my HHR, right next to a radio station to get a clear signal. Oh well.

So, I went out and picked up a Scosche gm radio installation kit. Got home. Opened it up and found out that it does NON Bose Supreme Sound systems.

Wish it said it on the outside of the freaking package.

What it did say was that it had everything to connect my Stereo. Hmm...
It did not come with the antenna adapter. Would that not be considered part of everything to connect? I thought so.

Almost forgot to mention. Even if it did work. You would have to cut a hole in your dash for this gigantic box from Scosche, to even fit in behind the radio. Hmmm...

Let's see. $24,000 car. $80 install kit. Hmmm...

Yeah, I am not cutting a hole in my dash to make this thing fit. No way!

So, back to walmart I go for a refund. Along the way I realized something. I don't like the sounds anyway in my HHR. I liked that it was quite when using the turn signal. I like that the door could be open and no annoying chime sound was playing. Hmmm...

I cut off what I needed to make my own wiring setup without the stupid box.

Sorry walmart but, I wasted my gas driving back and forth for the Scosche gm radio installation kit, that lied on the package about having everything and working for a 2006 HHR, and it did not even come close to working.

I seen another Scosche gm radio installation kit, from Best buy at over $140.
Hmmmm... DVD, Nav, Radio thingy for $250 and to install it $140. Hmmm...

No freaking way am I paying that much for that and then have to cut out a hole or feed up wires from the back of the dash to install that box. Besides, you can't even hardly hear the box when it is sitting in the center. Just imagine how quite it would be under the dash behind the radio.

Anyway. I came up with a nice setup so far and will take pictures tomorrow of everything.

MORE TO COME...

07azhhr

The GM lan 03/04 are not that big??? Not sure about the ones you are refering too. Just an FYI the upgraded system in these cars is by Pioneer not Bose. Also if I am not mistaken, the GM lan 03/04 are so that we can retain the R.A.P. (retained accessory power) as well as the chimes. The chimes play thru our left front speakers and the gm lans will allow that to continue if you wanted them that is. From what I have read they have a pot that you can adjust to make the chimes louder or quieter so i would think that you could retain the RAP feature but have the silence that you want.

Please do post pics of your design. I know I hate the $120+ price tag on the GM Lan harness. But I want to retain the RAP feature myself so I will pay the money when I cange my HU.

RICKYVB

Wow, so much radio and not enough space. The hole where the factory radio sits at was made just for that radio.

The factory radio slides into the cut out holes in the back bracket area. The new radio has no room for all the wires and rca input / output jacks.

So tomorrow. I will be hacking up more of the wiring and start cutting the factory plastic after all.

No biggie. I ran all new wiring for the radio and used the factory power for the factory radio. The on / off function was retained by tapping the On / Wire (RED = Normal CD Player color ) to the power sunroof Power supply at the fuse box.

Which on my 2006 HHR, is under the radio itself. First bit of good news so far.
LOL

The two front speakers are the only speakers which are hooked up as of now. Even though, I only had time for the TWO. It sounds amazing now.

Here is a Video of the Radio in action. I still have to Cut out some room for it so I can slide it back another 2 inches but, at least I have something to listen too now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCZgOfQ0b5k

Sorry about my phone taking horrible video. It does not do this DVD player justice.

speedwagen

I have been watching this thread with interest.
My pioneer set up is acting flakey, and I would like to stick someting better in the dash.
I'm more of a wrench turner than a wire stripper..but I am watching to try to learn the tricks required.

Grizzly old man

My brother in law just bought a new AM/FM/CD/DVD/XM/GPS/ONSTAR in dash radio thing. I'm pretty sure it is a Pioneer. It is only a single din unit. The LCD screen retracts inside the thing when its not in use, and does not have to be out when just listening to a CD or the different radios.

He put it in his Ford and totally loves it. He did have to buy an additional device to get the tones when the door is open and such.

He already replaced all the speakers in his car with Bose but, to my ears the stock Ford speakers sounded better.

I've had problems of my own with the stereo in my HHR but I am really happy enough with the stock radio and what may be better after market speakers.

At least all the speakers are now playing.

I still find it absolutely hilarious that the dealer could not get either of the replacement HHR radios I bought to work in my car and that the best they could figure was that the amplifier on at least one side of the original radio was heating up and would stop working.

I'm pretty sure that if the thermal protection circuit {if the radio has one} were to kick in neither side would play.

And no, {for those who have read my own post on the subject} I have not figured out how to make either of the additional stereos work out of the car. I did manage to lose the tag with the VIN number on one of them so I really have no reason not to tear it apart so see if I can apply the right implementation of technology to make it work as a stand alone stereo. I still think it would make a good garage rig even though it is only a single CD playing machine.

Grizzly old man

While I was having problems with my stock radio I bought the wiring harness to put a Clarion stereo I had on hand in my HHR from Amazon. The shipping was more than the the wiring harness.

My wife was not happy that the chimes were disabled while the Clarion was in the dash. But you can buy a thing to make the chimes anyway. One of the many odd things about having the Clarion in the car for that short while was that all the original speakers worked just fine with it.

When I finally decided to put the original radio back in they again worked for a while but soon one at a time they stopped.

After replacing them one at a time I have since built speaker cabinets and have them playing now in the garage with the Clarion stereo when I'm out there and want to listen to some music.

I have no idea why they will work out of the car and really don't care all that much. I am a little surprised that they seem to be working fine even in the much colder weather. My garage is not heated unless I happen to be out there.

RICKYVB

Well, I decided enough was enough with the Factory wiring.

I just made my own power on and memory wires from the fuse box. I used the power from the Power sunroof for the delayed cut off time like the factory six disk had and ran my own speaker wires. I tapped into the factory speakers wires before the amps thus keeping from having to run new wires into the doors and to the speakers. You see, with me particular stereo setup. The sub is a middle speaker. (REAR) All the other speakers where wired off the amp in the rear. which is one huge mess of factory wiring.

This setup eliminated the chimes and clicks for turns but, I love the quite that it now has thanks to this.

Believe it or not. There is only one wire that does not only the chime sounds but the illumination and the power on / off of the radio on my particular model.

Oh, and my radio is a pioneer. The info on the Scosche gm radio installation kit, was a crock of crap. Between the package lies about having everything you need and it saying my factory radio was a bose. I have lost faith in Scosche.

Anyway, the CD,DVD,GPS, Cause you to wreck while your driving, TV,AM / FM Stereo thingy is working fantastic now. Gps in dash is sweet but, I dont get the need for PIP for a dvd to play while you have the GPS on. Oh well.

Anybody know of a great replacement streamlined style antenna for the HHR?

The whole reason why I replaced the factory radio was because I thought the radio was to blame for picking up the poor radio station signals. Now with the new radio installed, I face the same issue.

As for hooking the new radio to the Factory antenna. I just went loco and snipped the factory plug. It's not like I plan on selling my discontinued HHR. So, who cares about resale on something I plan on keeping. I went down to the local junkyard and snipped off a 1987 FORD RANGER antenna Wire end and wired it up to the factory antenna wire on the HHR. Again, the signal is better then factory but, still not as good as my OLD econoline work van and it's $5.00 radio it came with. LOL Go figure?

I would post a wiring schematic but, there is so many variations of the wiring for an HHR, it is not funny. Mine was the 6 Disc premium Pioneer with the Pioneer Sub in the back.

HHRFritz

If you buy your head unit from Crutchfield, the Interface kit is 50% off ($65 instead of $130)and the box is small. Also you get the install kit and antenna adapter for FREE.

Brian Wasilowski

Like HHR fritz said... Crutchfield has it all for hhr's plus there is even a section that tells you how to remove radio's panel's and even how to deal with the factory amp and sub if you have one.... Just add your info to their page and they will suggest all the right equiptment

Brian Wasilowski

Here is the link
2006-2011 Chevrolet HHR Car Audio Profile