Thread: How to install AUX port on factory XM and Navigation Radio

Hello everyone, after several months of owning my 06 Grand Prix GXP, I was frustrated that I had no way to play music from my phone through my stereo. I was determined to find a product that worked without buying a new head unit or one that costs lots of $$$. I was successful, and very pleased with the results. The product I purchased cost $85 and was from Ray Kawal (link below) who makes custom harnesses for the Corvette which shars the same NAV and XM receiver that we have in our cars. So to start, I emailed Ray who was extremely helpful, and soon had the answers as to if it would work on our cars. On is website, I chose the AUX 2 option because I wanted to mount the female port in my center console. So here is some pictures on my new AUX port.


Link: http://www.kawal.net/vettemods.htm

Link to AUX 2: http://www.kawal.net/auxinput.htm#Alternative 2


This is where I started. At the XM receiver in the back left hand side of the trunk by the taillight behind the side panel.

This is the cable you will be connecting the harness from Ray too. Its the only one so you can't miss it.
Then, after connecting it I made sure it all worked before I hid the wire in the car. All the harness does is bypass the XM antenna and then the receiver picks up from the phone. When and only when the phone is plugged into the end of the AUX cord. Once the phone is disconnected, The XM radio will begin to play again. (Great feature because you don't lose your XM radio) Sound quality is fantastic as well. All you have to do is plug in your phone and tap the XM1/XM2 button and you will hear your music playing.
The next step was to hide the wire. I just ran it behind the fabric panel in the trunk wall to the back left corner of the truck where the rear seats fold down.
Seat Down:
Seat Up:
Next I removed the rear back seat. Very simple, under the face of the seat at the center of the right and left bench seat, reach far under/up and you will feel a T-shaped strap that you pull and it will release the seat. It was hard to pull and get my hands under the seat so don't be afraid to give it a good tug.
With the seat removed, I had to take off the 2 door/floor panels so I could life up the carpet to slide the cable under. I also had to remove the center console. That was very simple, there are 4 bolts at the bottom of the console. You will have to have to seats all the way forward to get the first 2, and then all the way back to get the next 2. I ran the cable underneath the padding on the bucket seat to avoid any chafing, then I lifted up the carpet as best I could and kept feeding the cable under the carpet by the left side of the center hump. More pictures to come soon.

I had to cut the carpet just a little by the bracket the holds the console in place because it was too tight to fit the end through. When doing this, be careful not to cut to much (only like a 1/2 inch or so) because you don't want the cut to show past the edge of the center console. Next I fed the wire under the bracket so it was now in the center of the console. I wrapped it in tape to once again avoid and chafing.
The next step was mounting the port in the console. I decided to place the port between the Traction control button and the 12v charger port.
I just centered it between the two and used a 1/4 inch drill bit carefully drill the hole. Now, The only problem is that the threaded end of the port isn't very long, and the thickness of the dash plastic is just as think as the length of the end of the port. So there are no threads sticking out to screw on the lock washer. So, after drilling the hole. I used a bigger bit to carefully remove material from the under side of the console so that end would stick out more. Be careful because there isn't that much plastic there, and you don't want to come through the other side because the washer/nut isn't big enough to hide any mistakes. I had to use a chisel as well as the drill to remove enough material to make the threads stick out. Once that was done, I threaded on the lock washer/nut, and mounted in the center console and I was golden. Here is the finished product.
If you have any questions, please just let me know, I would be happy to help!

Originally Posted by Impala131

Very cool. I did something similar with my 04 Impala, except that I soldered the pins in the factory head unit to the jack, which I installed into the face of the unit. Your method is better in a way though... my install doesn't kill the XM audio when the aux device is plugged in. I need to tune my XM radio to the "0" station.

Ah, I see. I had read something similar about doing the exact same thing, but I was a little skeptical because when it comes to playing with wiring and soldering, that is not my strong suit. Ray actually offers for a bit more money ($95 I believe) a 3 foot cord the plugs into the back of the actual head unit instead of the XM Receiver in the truck. It does exactly the same thing, but it bypasses the signal at the radio so you don't have to run the cord through the car like I did. With the 11 foot cable he gave, I had about a foot of slack or so to play with.

I see he has an aux 3 option now, which is less wire running. As stated above it plugs directly into the back of the head unit. He's not sure if it will work, as the adapter plug might not be the same as the corvettes. Anyone installed the aux 3 option?

http://www.kawal.net/corvettemods.ht...ut%20Harnesses

I have never seen anyone install the 3rd option. I decided not to mess with the radio. I know the dash is easy to take apart, but he wasn't sure if it would work with my radio. I'm pretty sure we share the same radio set up as the corvettes, but I'm not certain. If you email him, he should be able to help you. He had me send the wire diagram to him just to be sure it's the same. He was very helpful and quick with communication.

Originally Posted by Paytonmsf

I have never seen anyone install the 3rd option. I decided not to mess with the radio. I know the dash is easy to take apart, but he wasn't sure if it would work with my radio. I'm pretty sure we share the same radio set up as the corvettes, but I'm not certain. If you email him, he should be able to help you. He had me send the wire diagram to him just to be sure it's the same. He was very helpful and quick with communication.

Thanks for the reply. I did email him, he really wants a skematic of the wiring to confirm first.