z120bt in 09 Tahoe LTZ

[ugadawgs311]

The mute wire is not yellow. Constant power is yellow.

I grounded the yellow/black mute wire off the A/V harness from the HU. I connected yellow to yellow, red to red, black to black from the RAP accessory. Is that correct?

I grounded all these wires together:

• Black wire from black harness from HU
• Black wire from RAP accessory
• Green parking brake wire from black harness from HU
• Yellow/Black mute wire from A/V harness from HU (this wire was also moved one slot to the left for the bypass)
• Black wire from GMRVD

If any of that looks incorrect, please let me know.

 

[ptwat]

That sounds right. Make sure the screw that you chose is indeed a ground. The green wire you grounded was the light green wire from the HU?
One way to troubleshoot this is to disconnect the SWIPS and the HU and reconnect the battery. I would leave the GMRVD disconnected while doing this because you don't have to have it. Turn on acc power with your key and see if any thing gets hot. If it does, recheck all your OS4 wiring. Call PAC if you can't figure it out, they seem to be pretty good about helping. You might want to call them anyway to see they think the OS4 is damaged.

Disconnect the battery connect the HU cables, reconnect the battery turn it on a see if anything gets hot. If it does there is something wrong in that part of the wiring.

Then, reconnect the SWIPS (after taking the battery loose) and try again.

If that all works, reconnect the GMRVD and check again.

You don't have to reconnect the battery each time and some people don't, but why risk it at this point. I know you are probably very frustrated right now but it is not the time to push your luck. Be methodical in troubleshooting and recheck all your wiring connections. Make sure everything is well insulated when you made up your harnesses.

Make sure any wires you did not use are taped up so that they do not short anywhere.

Let us know as you progress. What part of GA are you in?

 

[Modded]

Heu Ptwtat where did you ground your equipment behind the dash?

 

[ugadawgs311]

That sounds right. Make sure the screw that you chose is indeed a ground. The green wire you grounded was the light green wire from the HU?
One way to troubleshoot this is to disconnect the SWIPS and the HU and reconnect the battery. I would leave the GMRVD disconnected while doing this because you don't have to have it. Turn on acc power with your key and see if any thing gets hot. If it does, recheck all your OS4 wiring. Call PAC if you can't figure it out, they seem to be pretty good about helping. You might want to call them anyway to see they think the OS4 is damaged.

Disconnect the battery connect the HU cables, reconnect the battery turn it on a see if anything gets hot. If it does there is something wrong in that part of the wiring.

Then, reconnect the SWIPS (after taking the battery loose) and try again.

If that all works, reconnect the GMRVD and check again.

You don't have to reconnect the battery each time and some people don't, but why risk it at this point. I know you are probably very frustrated right now but it is not the time to push your luck. Be methodical in troubleshooting and recheck all your wiring connections. Make sure everything is well insulated when you made up your harnesses.

Make sure any wires you did not use are taped up so that they do not short anywhere.

Let us know as you progress. What part of GA are you in?

I'm in the Roswell/Marietta area. How about yourself?

Before I gave up yesterday, I reconnected the OS-4 and all other harness to the factory harnesses and to the HU. I turned on ACC power and nothing happened. The good news: no smoke, nothing got hot. The bad news: the HU never turned on. My guess is that the OS-4 is completely fried now. I took the OS-4 apart and looked at the circuit board, and everything, surprisingly, looks fine. I really can't even see any burn marks.

I'll probably just have to see if I can return the OS-4, maybe it was faulty. I just don't know of any way to test if it is still usable.

 

[ptwat]

Heu Ptwtat where did you ground your equipment behind the dash?

I grounded it on one of the silver sheet metal screws behind the black plastic at the back of the HU well against the bare metal support.

---------- Post added at 06:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:06 PM ----------

I'm in the Roswell/Marietta area. How about yourself?


I'll probably just have to see if I can return the OS-4, maybe it was faulty. I just don't know of any way to test if it is still usable.

I live in the Johns Creek area. You could take a volt meter and and see if there is any power on the OS4 yellow wire (battery) and the red wire (RAP). If they don't have power, it is probably dead. I would also check the fuses now and see if any blew (including the x920bt fuse). You could also put your OEM back in after removing the new stuff just to make sure nothing bad happened to your truck harnesses.

 

[ugadawgs311]

I checked fuses for my car and the X920BT, everything seems to be ok. I also plugged the factory unit back in and it still works, so thankfully, nothing happened to my vehicle or the stock nav unit.

The volt meter is a good idea. I'll try to get my hands on one tomorrow and hook it up and see if I can get any power coming out of the OS-4.

I guess I'll need to hook up the OS-4 to my factory harnesses to test the power won't I?

 

[ugadawgs311]

So I took the OS-4 apart again to take a look at the circuit board. The top of it is fine, but underneath is another story. One side of it is completely black. I'm sure the whole thing is shot now. I'll have to see if I can return it.

I checked, re-checked, double-checked, and triple-re-checked all my connections and I don't see one wire that was incorrectly connected. Obviously something went wrong though. I think I'm just going to take this to a professional installer and have them do it. I hate paying so much for the install, but I don't want to take the risk of ruining another $100 harness.

Also: the burn happened on the side of the OS-4 where the XM connection is made. Not sure if was this particular connection that made the whole thing fry up, but the burn is definitely near that connection. I have no idea how the XM connector could have caused this.

 

[ptwat]

ugadawgs,
I have been away for a while. Just checking with you. The only thing I can think if you have not taken it to a professional is that we can compare wiring. I can post a picture of the connections I have if you know which one you want to see or meet somewhere to compare.

 

[ugadawgs311]

Thanks a lot ptwat. I did end up taking everything to a professional. Got it all installed and everything is working well so far except for the auto night-dimming. My navigation map still stays white when the headlights are on. I'm taking it back to the installer tomorrow to see if they can fix it.

Also, the chime/blinker module from the PAC OS-4 is so annoying! Have you found any way to lower the volume or change the blinker noise? I really hope there is some other module out there that you could buy and plug in, because this thing is annoying.

 

[ptwat]

I have not found an alternative to the chime module. I have adjusted somewhat though. Mine sounds like I am getting sound from the HU plus the chime module. It does not bother me enough to try change anything at this point.
Glad to hear you got things ironed out.

 

[Brose]

I got a question I read on the sonic electronix site that the PAC OS4 retains the factory bluetooth? I really was wondering if I could retain my factory bluetooth because this would be great! I got the avh- P4200dvd unit

 

[ugadawgs311]

Not sure about the Bluetooth retention as I don't have factory Bluetooth in my Tahoe (mine is a 2007). The HU I bought has Bluetooth in it though, so if your HU has Bluetooth in it, then maybe you won't really need to retain the factory Bluetooth.

I also want to post some information about the products that I used in the install just so that other people would have a chance to if they work or not.

PAC OS-4: This little guy is great. It allowed retention of my factory Bose system (with factory amp), factory XM radio, factory OnStar, and my factory back up camera. The directions came with it were very helpful and it really wasn't too hard to set up. Now, having said that, I did screw my install up and my OS-4 smoked up. I have no idea how I caused this, but I got a new one and now everything works great. I was also able to retain the RAP setting (where the radio stays after you turn the vehicle off, but before you open the drivers side door). I also retained parking sensors and security chimes. My only complaint with this product is that the chime module that comes with it (which controls all security chimes, parking sensors, and the blinker sound) is really annoying. It's just a really loud, obnoxious beep. I definitely prefer the factory chimes, but you lose those when you take out the factory radio. Hopefully, someone will create a different chime module. All in all though, I definitely recommend this product if you have a GM vehicle and plan on retaining a lot of the factory settings.

PAC GMRVD: This allowed retention of my factory LCD screen in the back seats. The wireless head phones still work, and I can play any video (from iPod, microdisk, or DVD) on the front HU screen and the rear LCD screen. This was big for me because I did not want to lose the rear LCD screen and this product worked great.

PAC SWI-PS: This is the steering wheel control adapter that I used. It allowed me to retain all of my factory steering wheel controls. Installation is super easy with the OS-4; everything is pre-wired, so you just connect two ends and that's it. You do have to program the buttons though.

And I think that's all of it. The Pioneer X920BT is a really awesome unit. Tons of features and the iPod/iPhone integration is the best Pioneer has made yet. Thanks for all the help from everyone.

 

[ptwat]

Brose,
There are a lot features on the 120bt that use bluetooth (including bt audio) and I don't know how you would use the HU bt and the factory bt so I never tried using factory bt after installing the new HU. Supposedly you can use either but not both bt with the OS4.

ugadawgs311,
Glad things worked out for you. You can go to avic411.com to see the new features on the x930bt announced at CES if you are curious. Some of them will be available to the 920bt (and the 120bt) as an update later this year. The integration of "aha" radio is the one Pioneer seems to be proudest about.

If anyone is interested in an OEM '09 Navi unit, pm me.

 

[OMG its Jason]

Brose,
There are a lot features on the 120bt that use bluetooth (including bt audio) and I don't know how you would use the HU bt and the factory bt so I never tried using factory bt after installing the new HU. Supposedly you can use either but not both bt with the OS4.

ugadawgs311,
Glad things worked out for you. You can go to avic411.com to see the new features on the x930bt announced at CES if you are curious. Some of them will be available to the 920bt (and the 120bt) as an update later this year. The integration of "aha" radio is the one Pioneer seems to be proudest about.

If anyone is interested in an OEM '09 Navi unit, pm me.

PM Sent

 

[Brose]

I got everything hooked up still waiting on my steering wheel interface to come in but besides the avh p4200 sounds great and looks great. Ptwat the factory bluetooth worked but sounds kinda sketchy but contacted pac and waiting on a response.

 

[ptwat]

I have called PAC several times and their support has generally been great. If you don't get a response soon try giving them a call.
What do you mean by "sketchy"- noisy?

 

[Brose]

Well sounds like the sound is distorted not crystal clear. Im also trying to figure out how to get my xm radio not to play through the speakers in the rear while im listening to a different source. I left the rca xm audio jacks unplugged until I can speak with PAC.

 

[JENKS]

Sounds like alot of you guys are going with this unit. Must be a good one.

 

[ptwat]

Well sounds like the sound is distorted not crystal clear. Im also trying to figure out how to get my xm radio not to play through the speakers in the rear while im listening to a different source. I left the rca xm audio jacks unplugged until I can speak with PAC.

I never heard of that one before- it may be a defective unit. So PAC has not replied yet?

---------- Post added at 07:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:53 PM ----------

Sounds like alot of you guys are going with this unit. Must be a good one.

There was a newer version z130bt announced at CES last week. It has some new features that will be offered as a paid for software update to the z120bt and the z110bt except it will have HD radio built in.
As far as being good or not, I like the features except the navi is not what I would call state of the art. Kenwood has Garmin and Sony has Tom Tom as their integrated navi. But if the navi is not that important, it is a pretty good unit. It should be for the price, but deals can be found. Alpine announced a new unit at CES also and may worth a look (ina9001 if I remember correctly).
It really comes down to what features are most important to you and for me this was the most optimal solution at this time especially since it integrates well with the iphone.
Having said all that, I think there will be much better solutions in the near future (year or two) that have better internet interfaces allowing more realtime features.

 

[Brose]

Ptwat I checked and made sure all the connections were plugged all the way into the os4. Once I did the sound is much better must of been a loose connection. Question How did you resolve the issue concerning the factory xm hookup with RCA cables from the os4?