pdmorris1

I just replaced the radio in my hhr. I was told I need to take it to a dealer to have it vin coded or unlocked. when I turn the radio on it doesn't say loc or anything. everything on the radio seems to be working,except I have no audio coming from the speakers. my question is is there no audio because it has not been unlocked,or is there a problem with the new radio? I understand from posts that usually the screen will say LOC

Oldblue

Welcome to the site! Stop by your dealer to have the radio matched to your HHR

pdmorris1

I wanted to share my experiance to help answer some questions others may have about swapping radios on there HHR. I purchased a used HHR radio from a 2011 LT . It is the Panasonic made unit with the USB connector located on the bottom right side of the power button. It has the UUI option. I was told this would not work in my 2006 HHR LT
I decided to try it anyway.when I turned the new radio on everything worked, clock, Xm,cd, ect. But no sound. The radio did not say LOC as others have mentioned. So I went to my Chevy dealer Roger Dean Chevrolet in Cape Coral Florida. They charged me $35.50 to program the vin . The radio is working great. Hope this has help answer any questions others may have had about swapping radios

donbrew

In other words; "everyone" was correct! It did need to be matched up to the car.

Good to know that the security system let you drive to the dealership with the "stolen" radio. I always thought the car would shut down.

DickKarth

The radio in our 2011 HHR has crapped out on us. I'm going to get a junk yard radio. Ours has the US8 radio and I want to replace it with the UUI radio with the USB port.

99% of the reason I want the USB port is to charge my iPhone.

Has anyone had trouble getting the UBS port on the UUI radio to charge phones when installed in a car that didn't come originally with the UUI radio (like one that came with the US8 radio like ours)?

Thanks!

RJ_RS_SS_350

Not original owner, '09 owned since 2014, my factory-equipped UUI USB has never been able to do anything.

It's easy to charge with either of the power outlets.

donbrew

See the section beginning on page 4-65 in your Owner Manual (link in my sig).

I don't know what the BCM programming could have to do with the USB port; the only thing it does is check the serial number to make sure it is not stolen. You may have a problem finding a mechanic that can do the programming with a radio model that did not come in the car.

You have 2 12V auxilliary power outlets that are always on and adapters cost less than $5.00.

DickKarth

Had the UUI radio (salvage yard showed me a picture of the sticker in the glove compartment of the car it came out of) installed in our 2011 HHR which was originally equipped with a US8 radio. As expected the radio did NOT work and only LOCK appeared on the screen.

The USB port had power and charged my iPhone, although it did appear to be charging slow.

I took the car to Newman Chevrolet in Cedarburg WI today for them to "flash" the radio or do whatever they needed to. Service Advisor seemed knowledgeable about what had to be done, but warned me that they would charge me if the radio didn't work.

Well it didn't work. Service Advisor said that they couldn't get the radio to synch up or something like that. The UUI radio is a Panasonic that came out of a 2010 (I think) HHR. Maybe the dealership (which has been around for decades and decades doesn't the have the right software in its system?

Maybe when I'm in SW Florida I should take the car and replacement radio to Roger Dean Chevrolet in Cape Coral Florida and have the procedure done there, but we won't be in that area until January of next year. Looking for suggestions. Thanks!

donbrew

Not many know how to use their Tech2. They only know how to sync the radio model that came with the car. I think the trick is lying to the computer.

You need to talk to mechanics to find out if they know how. Service Advisers are useless in this case.

If you buy a brand new radio it should program itself.

donbrew

Here are the directions for the tech to follow, some say you need the VIN from the donor vehicle: