Thread: 1998 Grand Prix GT audio DISASTER please help

.. Alright firstly id like to say that I just bought this car for 1000$, the out side is a bit rough but hey its a nice looking car. anyways, When I went to look at it I saw that there was no stereo, so I asked the lady what happened to it and she said she took out her aftermarket stereo and the original one was in the back seat (and it was) so I get home and im about to put the original one in and all of a sudden I look and I take a second glace.. there is no plug that goes into the back of the stock stereo. So I presume instead of undoing the wires she just simply cut the wires to take the stereo out. So now where am I able to find an original plug/wire harness that I can connect to the wires that are just hanging there now. also I counted the wires, There are 19... some are the exact same darn color.. and lastly, how do I know what does to what. I have been struggling with this for some time now and am getting frustrated but I do not want to pay 100$ (with out parts) to have someone install the stock stereo, also I have a 1998 Black Grand Prix Coupe, I can only see 4 speakers (2 in the front on the door panels and 2 in the back between the rear window and the head rest.) hope to find my answer here thank you for reading!

[QUOTE=Prophet1990;375824]she just simply cut the wires to take the stereo out. /QUOTE]

What a dumbass

try looking up: gm stereo wire plug - Google Product Search maybe

yea im a bit pissed. and iv been trying to google it for days now and nothing seems to come up. maybe im looking wrong? and im thinking of just going to a junk yard and cutting out the plug with a good couple inches of wire off of it to wire it back together,

Well I found out what the wires do, its more or less I need the plug that goes into the stock stereo and I dont have pictures at the moment cause im having the car looked at by my mechanic just to triple check everything is ok.

METRA 71-1858 1988 and Up GM Car Stereo Wiring Harness looks to be what I need, but when I count the pins that are on the stereo (the part that the plug plugs into) there are 20 pins. im so damn confused

yea I know haha iv been calling all over to find one and cant...

thanks turbotrav but I found that out while I started searching, I called the local GM dealer and they said id need a new wiring harness (500-800$) and just cut the stock plug off and wire it on to my current harness, is this correct! or is there one I can buy instead of searching through junk yards or buying a new harness!?

i would just search the junkyard... that price is way wrong! it wont cost 500 bucks for that my god! that or just put an aftermarket deck in from a pawn shop or something and buy a wire harness from walmart... done deal

This seems like alot of hassle to get the stock radio to work. I think I would just get a new head-unit from Crutchfield for around 100$ and wire it up.

Should sound alot better than the stock radio too.

I have an after market head unit. but to use the adapter, one end wires to the new stereo's wires and the other plugs into the original wire harness. Im missing the original plug part. unless its able to be wires from the new stereos harness to the original wires, which dosnt seem doable because well there are 19 wires some of which are doubles.

alright sorry for this but I did a little painting to help show what the problem is, (id have actually pictures but the car is not home at the moment)


http://img37.imageshack.us/i/howitisnow.jpg/

So you now have to play "match the wire"

I can scan you a copy of the wiring diagram if you want it.

Originally Posted by matt5112

So you now have to play "match the wire"

I can scan you a copy of the wiring diagram if you want it.

This will be the best solution. Just wire an aftermarket radio into the stock wires. Most aftermarket head units use a plug system as well, so you don't have the whole radio hanging there when trying to wire it up either....

alright that scan would most likely save my butt here. the only thing is I counted 19 wires. What do I do if some do connect to the Aftermarkets harness OR there are two of the same color (cause there are like 3 wires each has a 2nd one the exact same color)

Here is a scan of the harness you get from Crutchfield. It might help with some identification. These wires on the harness get wired to the aftermarket radio harness. Mine is a 2000 GTP, so I assume this should be the same harness you would get if you ordered one.

Here you go!