Just wanted to know if anyone could explain to me the procedure for removing the radio in a 2002 tl-s? I don't want to break anything in the process.

 

Aquamans,

As far as pulling this stuff apart, it really is not that bad. The car is well engineered in that things come apart and go together very nicely. There is never a need to force anything apart (if you are you’re doing it wrong). I really would not worry about breaking things, just take your time and study the pages I uploaded so you know where each type of Fastener is. The seats do not have to come out but you will need a very short Philips screwdriver to get between the seats and the two screws on each side of the rear console. Just move the seats until you get the most amount of room to work the screwdriver in there. The first time I took it apart I would say it took me about 20 minutes, and a little less to put it back together. I can now do it in ten, you get the idea.

Take a gander at these:

treat 1
treat 2
treat 3
treat 4

This from Southbound:
"You have to remove (in order) the bowling ball trim, the rear console, the driver's underdash panel, the two side panels on the center console, the seat heater switches, the switch assy, the trim ring around the shifter, the front console assy, and finally the radio itself. The second time would definitely be easier, but some of the clips might not fit back quite tight. I had to spring apart most of them to make them feel right on the first re-assembly. I did manage to pull it all apart and put it back together and only cause two small 1/4inch scratches on the front AC control panel

The pain, was working on the harness and taking the radio in and out without scratching up the shifter plate area. Use whatever you can to protect things in that area. "

Also,
Take a look at this:

radio pics



Good luck,
Iggy

 

Thank you. I really appreciate it.

 

Hi,
I'm trying to install an Alpine CHA-S634.
I don't have the activation code for my head unit, will I have to disconnect it from battery, or I can just plug in the cable, and that's it.
Any harm on the changer if I do it without disconnecting from the battery?
Thanks,

 

if you can get your hand behind the radio to connect it to the cd changer port then you will not have to disconnect it... i dont see you causing any problems by leaving it connected..

 

If the diagrams scare you, try carstereohelp.com. They have all the steps with nice pictures.

 

How can I keep the audio form the Nav and Onstar when I change to a aftermarket unit? On the stock 03, Looks like there are 2 mute lines. 1 for Nav and 1 for Onstar. But the Onstar is feeding aucio to the stock radio.

 

BTW, the comment about getting your hand back there to plug into the AUX port - how small is your hand?

Tried to do that last night to plug a Blitzsafe connector in and its extremely tight back there!

Looks like I'm going to pull the radio and plug it in unless anyone has suggestions on how to get to the AUX without having to do that - I think knowing exactly where the AUX is so you can do it blind would help.

George