I stuck the radio in and plugged it up, but got no power. The clock would display for a few seconds, then turn off. The only reaction I could get out of it was when pushing the eject button on either the CD or DVD. I was able to insert and eject a CD or DVD, but nothing happened once it loaded. The ON/OFF button was unresponsive, as was all the rest of the buttons with the exception of the eject buttons.

Oh well, it was worth a shot just to satisfy curiousity if nothing else...

 

That sucks. Guess you'll need a few more parts to get it to work properly, or you can just put it back on the 'bay and go aftermarket.

 

I doubt you're gonna get it to work. For any style OEM switch-out in the HHR you have to have the car re-flashed at the dealer for the computer to recognize the unit. (They say this is for security reasons; no sense in stealing a radio that won't work.)

Since that unit was never an option for the HHR, it may not be able to be forced to recognize it.

 

At this point, I'm not sure if it's worth all the hassle without having any intimate knowledge of how the security features work in these radios. I miss the old days of where you could just swap out radios at will without having to worry about all this 'flashing' mess

I'll probably just hang on to the radio for awhile to see if I can gain some more knowledge/info, then maybe stick it back on ebay. I informed the seller that the radio will not work in an HHR (though their ad stated that it would). The seller did email me back and offered a refund, but I haven't decided whether to take them up on it yet.

I wanted to go this route instead of aftermarket because of the clean stock look that an OEM radio provides.

 

Thanks for the info. It never occurred to me that they did this to circumvent theft; I figured they did this just to make life difficult for the owner

At this time, I agree with your assessment; probably not gonna work..

 

I would take the refund and put aside for an aftermarket one

 

FWIW, I bought an mp3 capable single disc unit from one of the forum members and put it into my LS (which did not have mp3 capability) and then took it to the dealer for a reflash. Before going to the dealer I called around and checked prices for the reflash; ended up getting it done for $39.99 from the dealer that I bought from.

Try calling around, phone calls are cheaper than gas

 

Main difference is that the unit you swapped for is one that is an option for the HHR, I'm not sure they would have a HHR flash for a non-HHR unit. But like you say, callings cheaper than driving.