Monsoon HU install in a 98 gagt

[steveromine72]

I've looked everywhere for a double din HU that has xm and mp3, but as far as i can tell they dont make a double din that has mp3 capabilitys. I got to looking at my moms car today which is a 04 gagt w/ monsoon mp3 and it looks like it just might fit, im just wondering what some pitfalls might be when trying to install this, I really like the stock look and the fact that it has xm. The wiring wont be a big deal as long as theres nothing out of the ordinary security wise. The other question i have is if it will fit or not, I dont have the balls to pull her head unit out to check and theres no yards in town that have wrecked ga's with that hu in it. I still might just go with a good after market 1.5hu i just wish i could keep it stock looking.

[sunrunner_pei]

If you do a search on this topic, you will discover that there are too many roadblocks to make this happen. The install is not feasable.

[steveromine72]

well i guess its time for me to start looking for a 1.5 HU that will match the red lights in the car. God i hate having a non-stock look. Oh well, thanks for the reply.

[JoeyK]

The only way to make it feasible is to go w/ the whole system AND the stock wiring harness & even w/ that the harness put into a pre '99 could be a headache. So in all reality do you really wanna put yourself through the agony?!?:lol: Sorry, I know what you mean, I don't care for the aftermarket/ufo look either but it really would be a pain unless you had alot of time & patience.

[sunrunner_pei]

Even the factory wiring won't work, as the monsoon HU ties into the BCM.

[birdhouse]

Alpine makes QUALITY decks that have an "amber" setting that matches our red dash illuminations perfectly. See if you can find any Alpine CDA-7894 around on Ebay or any local shop that still might have one laying around... It's MP3, and has the amber illumination and is XM ready. There's other Alpine decks out there with the amber illumination, you're just going to have to read the specs. on the deck to see if it has that option or not.

[Silver99SE]

Check out the CDE-9845. It plays MP3 and WMA cd's and I think it also has 4 different illumination colors. The great part is it retails for around $200.

[JoeyK]

Originally posted by sunrunner_pei
Even the factory wiring won't work, as the monsoon HU ties into the BCM.

Yes, but that is just for the chimes, isn't it?

[99GrandAMSE]

Originally posted by JoeyK
Yes, but that is just for the chimes, isn't it?

... actually, I think the Monsoons are programed to the actual BCM meaning they will only work on the car they came factory installed in; although, I may be mistaken in what I have read :shrug:

[sunrunner_pei]

Originally posted by JoeyK
Yes, but that is just for the chimes, isn't it?

Unfortunatly no. The BCM not only sends the warning chimes to the Monsoon system, it also turns the radio on and off. On top of that, the Monsoon HU will not turn on (Theftlock) unless it reads the vehicles VIN from the BCM. While it's easy to wire in an aftermarket HU in it's place with the right parts (data retention harness, relocation harness, etc), it is a different story altogether to install a monsoon in another car not designed for it. You can't just supply a ground, constant and switched 12V source. :(

[Silver99SE]

It would be cool if someone made a "dummy" bcm module for it to connect to and fool it into thinking it's in a later model.

[steveromine72]

Well thanks for all the replies, i wasnt sure if it was possible or not. Maybe some day I'll get a group of my techie friends together and figure out a way to make it work.....Theres ways around everything, its just a question of how far people want to go to get what they want.

[sunrunner_pei]

My point exactly. :thumbup2: