Sticky: Installing the GM navigation radio in my Acadia

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[Phazer_II]

I bought a Denso radio for the Denali/Tahoe etc, and while it's identical to the Acadia's Delphi radio, the led lighting is blue instead of red.

The wife refuses to muck up the looks of her new car, so I'm looking for a Delphi nav radio from a '08 w/RSE & back up camera....   

[iscifi]

Wohas;

Have you tried to install the antenna and the connection to vioce recognition..

BTW, Is there any wiring manual for Acadia Nav. system.

I have the gps antenna installed I just don't have it where it would go from the factory.  I have not received my harness yet to connect it for voice recognition.  I do not know of any wiring manual, everything I did was plug and play.

wohas,

Were you able to get the harness to enable voice recognition via Onstar?

Thanks

[aKadia]

I'm thinking about doing the same thing. I'm a little apprehensive though.

1. How much does the dealer charge to reprogram the unit?

2. Are the Nav discs vehicle specific or could I pick up one on eBay that says for Yukon and Hummer h3, h2?

[loach]

If I decide to keep my Acadia (topic of a different thread), I'm seriously considering adding the factory nav and backup camera.  I'm also considering doing the install myself thanks to some very helpful guides posted on this forum and the Enclave/Outlook forums.  I'm looking for help on part numbers.  Nearest I can tell, here's what I would need:

Part No.                 Description
25897059        Nav CD radio (no DVD as I don't have the rear seat entertainment)
15255334        GPS antenna
15806901        Camera module
15806899        Backup camera
15806900        Camera bracket

I'll also need the Nav disk but haven't tried to figure out that part # yet.  So can anyone tell me if I'm on the right track with these part numbers?  I'm thinking about getting them through gmpartsdirect.com unless I can luck out and find the nav radio cheaper on ebay.  Looks like it would total about $1625 for the above through gmpartsdirect, then I'd also need to pick up the nav disk.

[dchillrat]

The Nav unit should come with a disk already one would think.

[Phazer_II]

Your radio number is off one digit from mine, which sounds correct since I need DVD for my RSE.

While an eBay radio would be cheaper, I've bought two...the first worked fine, but had the wrong lighting...the second had the correct lighting, but had the "Theftlock Activated" screen.

The only GM dealer we have in a thousand miles told me he'd need the VIN from the host car before he'd clear a locked radio.  These radios learn a part of the original VIN, and I suspect it will show up on the technicians tool...that might preclude using a VIN from a dealership.

If I continue along the path you're going,   http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/ will be my source.  The radio WILL not come with a nav disc...look for #25880099.  Another member said he got a free one from that disc upgrade site.

[loach]

Installation of the nav radio seems relatively straightforward and doesn't worry me too much.  There's a good tutorial on the Outlook forum here:

http://www.saturnoutlookforum.net/index.php?topic=294.0

The backup camera I'm less confident about:

1. Is there pre-wiring in the rear hatch for a backup camera on the '08s?
2. What does part #15806901 (Camera module) do and where do you install it?  Does it convert 12v to 6v for the camera?  Is this another part that is already preinstalled on the '08s or will I need to order it?

There's a good tutorial about retrofitting an '07 with the OEM camera by mmal4 in this thread http://www.acadiaforum.net/forum/index.php?topic=41.msg29075#msg29075 but since I have an '08 I'm hoping I don't have to go through as much trouble as he did.

It looks like from one of his previous posts that the camera module may be in the rear jack compartment.  I looked in there and there are certainly some wires and connections, but I guess I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for.  I see a blue harness that may be it, but I must admit I really don't have a clue.    Sorry for the rambling post.

[Jake_99]

My gallery photos on the Enclave forum provide some pictures of the camera module to include wire harness.

http://www.enclaveforum.net/index.php?action=gallery&g2_itemId=6065

If you don't have a dangling (unconnected) wire harness with the "green" wire, you may have to route wiring to the front.  I know the Acadia came with the towing harness with or without a towing package at purchase.  Hopefully that applies to all wiring.  The wiring was "Y'd" into set of wires to the very rear (toward tailgate - not toward the XM or Onstar unit, which are both towards the driver side back quarter panel) of the rear compartment.

I don't think my gerry-rigging (showed in the gallery) will support a rear camera install.

[loach]

My gallery photos on the Enclave forum provide some pictures of the camera module to include wire harness.

http://www.enclaveforum.net/index.php?action=gallery&g2_itemId=6065

If you don't have a dangling (unconnected) wire harness with the "green" wire, you may have to route wiring to the front.  I know the Acadia came with the towing harness with or without a towing package at purchase.  Hopefully that applies to all wiring.  The wiring was "Y'd" into set of wires to the very rear (toward tailgate - not toward the XM or Onstar unit, which are both towards the driver side back quarter panel) of the rear compartment.

I don't think my gerry-rigging (showed in the gallery) will support a rear camera install.

Yep, I actually stopped by a dealership tonight and looked at one that had the OEM Nav/Camera.  The camera module was right there in the jack storage compartment - just like your picture in the Enclave gallery.  It's about a 3" by 3" square metal box and has the part # right on it. It's not there in the '08s that do not have the Nav/Camera option (and therefore it isn't in mine).   I didn't see any dangling wire harnesses in that area of my vehicle when I looked earlier this evening, but I'll take another look soon.  My confidence in doing this myself is waning....

[loach]

Another part that would be needed would be the chrome GMC trim piece on the liftgate that has the cutout for the rear camera.  Don't know what that part # is.  Alternative would be to just modify the existing trim piece by cutting it yourself like mmal4 did in his write-up. 

[schaefsn]

Has anyone installed the Nav with the blue lights that you see all over ebay, etc?  The part number is 25816282.  If so, could you post a picture with the lights turned on.  I am thinking about biting the bullet on this one and saving about $1000 to go this route although I really don't want to.

Thanks in advance.

[Schram]

I have put the blue lighted nav in our car.  To me, it is very annoying, to my wife who drives the car, she doesnt care one bit.  It seems like it is aftermarket when lights dont match, but that is me.  Now as for the new feature, it is totally worth it.  I plan on adding the camera, but not until I have more money.  To save even more money, google Schram auto parts and call them and ask for the radio.  They can sell you the disc, antenna, and nav for about 800 dollars.  Tell them Chris Schram told you to call.  I am not related that I know of, but those people are super nice.  You get the blue buttons at night, but you save 1200 dollars.  The blue is soft, not as POW as the red, but if you wanna save, take what you get.  I can try to get pics, may take a while.
Schram auto
18002921032

10396714
25816282
638-00677
those are the part numbers...i know the disc is old, but works fine, plus you can call gm and get a new one for free if you want.

[Phazer_II]

That tutorial from the Outlook forum is great, but here's a couple minor points on the antenna installation that might be helpful for Acadia owners.

I tried just lifting the front cowl piece for the installation, and while I had room to fish the cable, there wasn't enough room to correctly position the antenna...so I took out the passenger side cover for the "A" piller.  I found that my fingernail popped out the plugs for the screws without making a mark...I only lifted the front piece as far as the instrument cluster, so there was no need to remove the drivers side.

The other guy removed the center storage compartment, so I did also...he showed fishing the cable in a straight line from that compartment, but my flexible nylon fish tape wouldn't do it.  I found a hole under the front cowl piece just right of center dash that was an easy fish to the antenna location...and that hole was a straight line from the right side of the radio compartment, so another easy fish.  I'd done two separate fishing operations and pulled in a piece of sash cord.  In my case, I tried one pull, so the loop that used to be in the middle of the sash cord was gone.  Unfortunately, the antenna cable was going around some obstacle that made the pull very difficult.  In retrospect, pulling all the cable to the center hole first, then pulling to the radio compartment would have been a breeze.

I also bought a tool for removing cowl pieces, and used a towel for protection, but somehow the towel got away and the tool scratched the charcoal dash...it's light colored underneath and showed up big-time.  I had one of those black color-cure polishes from Turtle Wax that had a chip-stick.  I rubbed the stick on the scratch, and it's hardly noticeable...at least, the wife hasn't mentioned it yet!

[loach]

Phazer,

Good tips.  Where did you end up getting your nav radio from?

[loach]

Well, after much painstaking research I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the factory navigation from JPCustoms.com.  I also ordered a chrome SwivelCAM backup camera.  Keep in mind if you order from JPCustoms you can't buy the Acadia nav from their web site - you have to call them to make sure you get the right unit with the red backlighting.  Don't be fooled by gmpartsdirect's prices - they look good until you see the shipping and handling charges.  After shipping and handling, jpcustoms was cheaper. 

My alternative (which would have been much cheaper assuming self-install) was going to be the Kenwood DNX5120.  Combined with the PAC OS-3BOSE and SWI-JACK, I could have installed that system and retained Onstar, chimes, RAP, steering wheel controls, rear audio controls, etc.  Would have lost the factory XM but didn't really care about that as we didn't use it much and let it expire.  The DNX5120 also has variable illumination, so you can set your button colors to match the Acadia's red lighting scheme. 

But enough about the system I DIDN"T buy - can you tell I wanted it?  Well, just couldn't get my wife over the hump on putting an aftermarket system in her new car's dash.  She really wants to stick with the factory look, and it was tough enough convincing her to give up her cd changer.  I will also be adding the CoastelEtech GMX-320 lockpick and the Scosche AXIPGMLAN iPod interface, so that "factory look" is really costing me. 

[loach]

Well, I installed the navigation radio today.  Thanks to Phazer's tip earlier in the thread, fishing the GPS antenna was easy as pie.  Thanks Phazer!  The chimes are now insanely loud - need to get to the dealer for reprogramming ASAP! 

Voice recognition does not work (yet).  JP Customs included a wiring harness that connects to the Onstar box and has two wires that are supposed to be pushed into pins 4 and 5 (which are supposed to be empty slots according to the directions) on the C1 plug at the back of the radio.  It only includes about a foot of wire because in Tahoes, Yukons etc the Onstar box is right below the radio, while in the Acadia it's in the rear jack compartment.  I was getting ready to extend it, but I noticed that pins 4 and 5 are not empty on my C1 harness.  Instead pin 4 has a pink wire connected and pin 5 has a pink/black wire.  No way was I gutsy enough to pull wires out of the harness, so I plan on calling JP Customs for advice before I do anything further on that.   

Next weekend I'm planning to install the GMX-320 lockpick, the AXIPGMLAN iPod interface and the SwivelCam rear-view camera.  I wanted to get the dealer programming done before installing any lockpicks, and since I'm using the GMX-320 for my rear camera input, the camera is waiting for now too. 

[loach]

Had the dealer programming done - chimes are back to normal.  What a relief.  Dealer charged me $100 for this service that probably took them 15 minutes on the computer  .  Just confirms for me why I will not likely be using the dealer for any service other than warranty work.

[loach]

Well, I installed the navigation radio today.  Thanks to Phazer's tip earlier in the thread, fishing the GPS antenna was easy as pie.  Thanks Phazer!  The chimes are now insanely loud - need to get to the dealer for reprogramming ASAP! 

Voice recognition does not work (yet).  JP Customs included a wiring harness that connects to the Onstar box and has two wires that are supposed to be pushed into pins 4 and 5 (which are supposed to be empty slots according to the directions) on the C1 plug at the back of the radio.  It only includes about a foot of wire because in Tahoes, Yukons etc the Onstar box is right below the radio, while in the Acadia it's in the rear jack compartment.  I was getting ready to extend it, but I noticed that pins 4 and 5 are not empty on my C1 harness.  Instead pin 4 has a pink wire connected and pin 5 has a pink/black wire.  No way was I gutsy enough to pull wires out of the harness, so I plan on calling JP Customs for advice before I do anything further on that.   

Next weekend I'm planning to install the GMX-320 lockpick, the AXIPGMLAN iPod interface and the SwivelCam rear-view camera.  I wanted to get the dealer programming done before installing any lockpicks, and since I'm using the GMX-320 for my rear camera input, the camera is waiting for now too. 

Well I got all the rest of this stuff installed and working this weekend, including the voice recognition - tapping the wires worked!  Learned a few lessons along the way.  Toughest parts of the install were:

1. Fishing the SwivelCam's rather bulbous connection through the wiring boot that goes from the rear hatch into the headliner.  Also had fun pushing it through the wiring grommet in behind the chrome GMC trim piece into the rear hatch.  Felt like I was trying to pull a golf ball through a garden hose a few times, but I got-r-done.

2. Pulling down the blue clip on the XM unit's wiring harness so I could remove it to connect the AXIPGMLAN.  It is extremely tight back there and I could not budge it with my fingers.  I finally was able to pull it down by wedging a tiny screwdriver under the clip.

3. I ran the AXIPGMLAN to the center console and cut a hole manually with a hole saw in the inside of the console similar to Miken and Jake_99 have described on other threads.  Lesson learned the hard way: do not use a regular hole saw meant for wood.  I spent about two hours trying to bore through when I finally wised up and realized there had to be a better way.  I ran to Lowe's, bought a bi-metal hole saw rated for metal, plastic, fiberglass, etc.  It chewed through it in about 5 minutes.  Doh!

My white-collar hands look like hamburger after all my wire pulling and work in tight spaces, but it's worth it to have everything up and running now. 

[schaefsn]

If you have a chance please post a picture of the camera mount.  Also, did JP Customs talk you through the wiring issues to get voice recognition to work?  How did the set up go?

[loach]

If you have a chance please post a picture of the camera mount.  Also, did JP Customs talk you through the wiring issues to get voice recognition to work?  How did the set up go?

Will post a few pics in a day or two. 

There really wasn't much to be talked through on the voice recognition wiring.  They just suggested tapping the existing wires in pins 4 and 5 of the harness, so that's what I did.  They provided the wiring harness, which was too short because the Onstar box is in the rear of the vehicle.  I just bought some 18 gauge wire and extended it to the front of the vehicle by running it from the jack compartment, over the wheel well (the 3rd row cup holder is right above the wheel well and just pops out with pressure clips), then under the plastic sill plates up to the dash.  I then removed the lower dash cover, then the front dash cover and routed the wire beneath the steering column over to the radio compartment.  I was careful to route the wires low enough that the tilt steering wheel would not contact them and zip-tied them in place across the dash. 

The Onstar box appears in this picture - the harness JP Customs provided plugs into the first empty connection just to the left of the other 2 connections:
http://www.acadiaforum.net/forum/index.php?topic=878.msg12003#msg12003

I used quick disconnects like these to extend the wires:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2104016&cp=2032058.2032231.2032283&pg=2&parentPage=family

Then I used tap connections from Radio Shack to tap into pins 4 and 5 of the wiring harness:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2998435&cp=2032058.2032231.2032283&parentPage=family

I ended up deciding I'd prefer to tap into the aftermarket GMX-320 wiring harness as opposed to the factory wiring harness, so I tapped the equivalent wires on the GMX-320.  I can't remember what color the wires were in the GMX but I'll post a pic later.  The wires were not pink and pink/black like in the factory harness.