GM truck radio swap

[captainvi...@gmail.com]

I have a 2006 Chevy Express van. The radio is the stock Delco AM/FM radio. All my music is on cassettes so I would like to replace it with an equivalent junk yard Delco AM/FM/cassette unit. The problem is that these radios talk to the body control module, and when power up is attempted compare the vehicle's VIN number to that which was programmed into the radio. If they match the unit will work. If they don't, (as would be the case if one were to just switch radios) the "new" radio will not do anything. This is apparently their anti theft scheme.

I have been told that only a GM dealer can reprogram one of these radios for it to work in another vehicle. For the simple procedure of what is probably just erasing an eprom the dealer charges 115.00

The radio is 45.00 plus the 115.00 and I'm way beyond what I want to spend for this.

Does anyone know of a way around this. Thanks, Lenny

[Tim R]

On Thursday, August 3, 2017 at 10:52:23 PM UTC-4, captainvi...@gmail.com wrote:
> I have a 2006 Chevy Express van. The radio is the stock Delco AM/FM radio. All my music is on cassettes

I think you're asking the wrong question.

I have an old (1991) vehicle that I use for local transportation in the knowledge that I have one year left. (each year I decide how much to spend to pass inspection. I'm not planning on 10 years.)

It seems you've decided your cassettes are worth keeping for another 10 years but your vehicle has one year left so you need to be cheap. In fact it's probably the other way around.

My wife put an aftermarket radio in our other car for a trip. It has this weird slot my daughter calls a USB. All their music is somehow on my daughter's phone, in some kind of digital fashion I don't understand but apparently doesn't degrade or tangle like cassette tape. There are local car audio shops everywhere that do this kind of thing and it's not super expensive.

[captainvi...@gmail.com]

On Thursday, August 3, 2017 at 10:52:23 PM UTC-4, captainvi...@gmail.com wrote:

I don't understand what you mean that my truck "has one year left". I may only have one year left but that has nothing to do with this discussion either. Perhaps you were being sarcastic. I don't know . It's hard to read people sometimes. I've been an electronics tech for most of my life,(I'm 71) and of course I can install my 1990 Delco AM/FM cassette if need be but a factory radio that would just fit perfectly would be so much easier. So, sure I know what USB is and how it can input to a newer radio and if you don't with all due respect, what are you doing on this forum? Did you read my post? Lenny

[Tim R]

Okay, let me back up.

I think you are overlooking opportunity by asking the wrong question.

You want to know how to install a salvage yard radio in an old van and make it work.

That's what you've asked for help on.

But that's not what you need. What you need is a way to play music in an old van. You have that music available in one format.

When you've redefined the problem this way, you can see there may be a much easier or cheaper solution. Might even be more expensive, but more convenient, higher quality, longer term.

[rickman]

He is not saying your truck has one year or ten years left on it, he is just
talking about the fact that you are trying to make the swap with as little
effort as possible, as if you weren't expecting to see it continue to run
for more than a year.

If you think about it, if there was a way to bypass the anti-theft feature,
the thieves would have been the first to learn about it. The difficulty of
installing a new radio is the main reason why I haven't fixed the burned out
lamp in my radio. That and the fact that I don't listen to more than one
station most of the time.

--

Rick C

[John Keiser]

My guess is that the car's ECU [or whatever GM calls it] is being
programed to recognize the radio, not the other way around.
If that is the case, you might be able to by-pass the switched power and
bring live power to the radio if you consult a wiring diagram and are
willing to cut a cable, splice a cable.
Have you tried posting this question to the various internet GM user forums?

[John Keiser]

On 8/3/2017 4:52 PM, captainvi...@gmail.com wrote:

This might work?
https://www.gmpartsonline.net/blog/how-to-unlock-your-chevy-or-gmc-radio-without-paying-a-dime

[Taxed and Spent]

I have never listened to more than one station in any of my vehicles.
Sometimes I change stations, though.

[Stephen Wolstenholme]

On Fri, 4 Aug 2017 09:47:55 -0700, Taxed and Spent
<nospam...@nonospam.com> wrote:

>
>I have never listened to more than one station in any of my vehicles.
>Sometimes I change stations, though.

I was a one station person. I gave up driving when my radio stopped
working!

Steve

--
http://www.npsnn.com

[Ron D.]

Pretty much. You need the Tech II scanner. Their new scanner is basically a significant outlay and subscription based and requires internet access and for occasional use you might pay $70.00 for 3 days of use unless ypu have a monthly subscription.

Furthermore, security stuff is further restricted. Two different anti-theft mechanisms are used, One where you need a PIN to make the radio work after power is removed. This mode is optional. The second is the VIN thing.

The radio is also the interface for the consumer to program options in the car like locking, headlights, oil life etc.

I don't know if an automotive locksmith would be cheaper.

[Tim R]

On Friday, August 4, 2017 at 1:34:48 PM UTC-4, Ron D. wrote:

> The radio is also the interface for the consumer to program options in the car like locking, headlights, oil life etc.
>
>

Whoa! Didn't know that. So is an aftermarket (stereo shop) solution not workable?

[pf...@aol.com]

Cutting to the chase - you want to be able to play cassettes in your truck at the lowest possible cost. With that in mind, there are many (repeat, many) outboard devices that will play your cassette and convert to a digital USB output. Here is one:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/927654-REG/ion_tape_express_h_tape_express_portable_tape_to_mp3.html

There are also remarkably inexpensive FM transmitter adapters that will connect directly to the above and transmit right to your existing radio. One such:

https://www1.crutchfield.com/p_142IPFMRDS/Scosche-IPFMRDS.html?tp=121

Gonna be a lot easier than surgery with a dubious outcome, and will be adaptable to any vehicle with an FM radio.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[Tim R]

On Friday, August 4, 2017 at 2:29:44 PM UTC-4, pf...@aol.com wrote:
> Cutting to the chase - you want to be able to play cassettes in your truck at the lowest possible cost.

I think you're right about what he wants, but I also think it's dumb.

Pay a grandkid $20 to burn the cassettes to mp3. You have equal quality, and you've eliminated all the hassle of storing bulky cassettes, having the tape tangle, finding the one you want. You can save a footlocker sized collection of cassettes as mp3s on one flashdrive, and have a complete backup at home for when you drive your truck into the river and soak everything down.

And that's assuming you have to go to the trouble. All your music might already be available as mp3 for download.

[Tim R]

Whoops, didn't read yours carefully enough. Yes, you're exactly right. Get away from cassettes into digital, great suggestion.

[pf...@aol.com]

On Friday, August 4, 2017 at 2:49:41 PM UTC-4, Tim R wrote:

> On Friday, August 4, 2017 at 2:29:44 PM UTC-4, pf...@aol.com wrote:
> > Cutting to the chase - you want to be able to play cassettes in your truck at the lowest possible cost.
>
> I think you're right about what he wants, but I also think it's dumb.
>

The first link is to a device that does exactly that.

The issue is, and why I went with what I suggested, is that cassettes are manually (and reasonably safely) searchable while driving. Mp3 files are not.

[jethro tull]

On 2017-08-04, pf...@aol.com <pf...@aol.com> wrote:
> Cutting to the chase - you want to be able to play cassettes in your truck at
> the lowest possible cost. With that in mind, there are many (repeat, many)
> outboard devices that will play your cassette and convert to a digital USB
> output. Here is one:

[ ... ]

> There are also remarkably inexpensive FM transmitter adapters that will
> connect directly to the above and transmit right to your existing radio. One
> such:

[ ... ]

> Gonna be a lot easier than surgery with a dubious outcome, and will be
> adaptable to any vehicle with an FM radio.
>
> Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

I don't really understand why there's so much babbling around such a simple
question. The OP is only asking how to unlock his system for an upgraded radio
with cassette player. Plus one has given a link to a page showing the procedure
that seems to answer the OP question.

All side solutions like buying a cassette to mp3 encoder or external cassette
player and FM transmitter or some other adaptor to go through USB ... that's
mostly a matter of over-complicating, eating room, and also time. Think about
the time effort it will take to encode the music from cassette to mp3. You'll
have to input manually titles or they will all be only numbered.

For what I have understood around "my truck has one year left" sentence is that
its author assumes audio cassettes would wear out in about a year. I don't
think that's true and it depends on how often the same one is played. I've been
used to play cassettes from as far as the 70's in the 90's and afterwards
regularly without noticing any damage. Magnetic tapes naturally lose signal
quility over the time, that's all. Unless the player is not in good condition
there shouldn't be any noticeable damage if normally used.

[pf...@aol.com]

Why create an unique-and-specific solution for a general problem, when a general solution will also serve other and future needs? Why require surgery and dubious hacks or solutions that could fail with a dead battery?

With hardware costing less than the radio specified, and taking up about as much space as a pack of Hostess Twinkies, he has a portable solution that meets his needs in that truck, and any other vehicle with an FM radio.

As to Cassettes: The first time they make 120+F in a hot vehicle, they are *done* for home use - but likely still OK in a car. Vehicular High Fidelity is a contradiction in terms. But yet another reason to have the mp3 option already laid on.

I keep a Revox & HK2000 cassette decks, both capable of making pretty good recordings. But one (1) time in a very hot car, and it is remarkable how much deterioration takes place.

[Tim R]

On Friday, August 4, 2017 at 3:53:30 PM UTC-4, jethro tull wrote:
> For what I have understood around "my truck has one year left" sentence is that
> its author assumes audio cassettes would wear out in about a year. I don't
> think that's true and it depends on how often the same one is played. I've been
> used to play cassettes from as far as the 70's in the 90's and afterwards
> regularly without noticing any damage. Magnetic tapes naturally lose signal
> quility over the time, that's all. Unless the player is not in good condition
> there shouldn't be any noticeable damage if normally used.

Well,
A. It's a dead technology. Why spend the money to hang onto an obsolete system with so many clear disadvantages?
B. The newer technology is not only better in terms of sound quality (yeah, not real important over road noise, but it's portable) but convenience. The storage capability is huge, and with list systems like Apple's it's easily managed and searched. Plus, it's going to be around a while.
C. It's probably cheaper to upgrade than to put together a kludge job with the cassette.

[John-Del]

On Friday, August 4, 2017 at 3:53:30 PM UTC-4, jethro tull wrote:

>

> I don't really understand why there's so much babbling around such a simple
> question. The OP is only asking how to unlock his system for an upgraded radio
> with cassette player. Plus one has given a link to a page showing the procedure
> that seems to answer the OP question.

If it works... is that procedure used to reprogram the *original* radio that came with the car after a power failure only, or will that procedure also work on a radio from a different car or year?

Because it's a security issue, I'm dubious that GM will give out the code unless they figure at this age it's a legacy issue.

[bruce2...@gmail.com]

Tim R. wrote:
>On Thursday, August 3, 2017 at 10:52:23 PM UTC-4, captainvi...@gmail.com wrote:
>> I have a 2006 Chevy Express van. The radio is the stock Delco AM/FM radio. All my music is on cassettes
>
>I think you're asking the wrong question.
>
>I have an old (1991) vehicle that I use for local transportation in
>the knowledge that I have one year left. (each year I decide how
>much to spend to pass inspection. I'm not planning on 10 years.)
>
>It seems you've decided your cassettes are worth keeping for another
>10 years but your vehicle has one year left so you need to be cheap.
>In fact it's probably the other way around.
>
>My wife put an aftermarket radio in our other car for a trip. It has
>this weird slot my daughter calls a USB.

USB stands for Universal Serial Bus.
And even then, the USB port (outlet or socket) could be that, or a micro-USB, both of which you use to connect your mobile phone to most computers, wall chargers, audio or video units, etc... via a USB cable.
(a USB-USB or USB-micro-USB cable includes power and data hard-wired connections into one cable)
This hard-wired concept is being somewhat phased-out by Apple and Samsung in favor of both wireless data communications and wireless charging which presents a solenoid situation that cuts down on the wear-and-tear presented by connectors.