• The site migration is complete! Hopefully everything transferred properly from the multiple decades old software we were using before. If you notice any issues please let me know, thanks! Also, I'm still working on things like chatbox, etc so hopefully those will be working in the next week or two.

Retrofitting the DIC into another car. Edumacate me alittle please!!!

G

ghettocruiser

New member
Hey all.

My name is Justin. Just breezing through some of your threads over here. Did some searching, decided some of you guys might be able to help me out.

Im looking to fit some sort of DIC into my 86 Trans AM. My car has the ENTIRE drivetrain and most of the wiring from a 2002 Trans AM (LS1 T56). So, for all intents and purposes, its a 2002 Trans AM. Since its a pontiac, I want to keep everything red...so obviously finding a DIC that is already red will help.

I like the ones found in the newer Grand Prix's. I believe they are referred to as either a 3-button or a 5-button unit. If I understand correctly, only the 5-button unit will show compass and temperature..?? Am I right?

So, lets assume I got a 5 button DIC unit. From my reading, Im gathering that the compass module is separate from the actual unit. Unlike some overhead console versions. So I would need to aquire a compass module, and the ambient temp module..??

Does anyone have GM part numbers for the modules/sensors... How about wiring harness? I think I found a link here going to buy.com for a harness that would atleast give me the part to plug into the unit. Would I be looking at just using that and basically making a pigtail out of it?

Can anyone give me the display dimensions of the DIC? Just the rectangular part that has the info, not any surrounding parts.

I might be spinning my wheels. Honestly...if the only thing that works is the compass and temp display, Ill be happy. If I can somehow hook into my DTC wire for some of the other functions to work...cool. But Im not banking on it. Just looking at my options!!

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can shell out! Sorry for just sort of barging in with a huge request for my first post! haha.

Justin
 


I have a 3 button for a 2002 in the F/S section Its lights are Red. Still has a warranty as well. I dont have an idea about the wiring though.
 
no it does not do compass or temp, the 97-03's did not do that function. Our rear view mirror display did that

It looks like this
dic.jpg
 
Ah. Yeah Im looking for the newer style. I guess 04+??

3-button...

!BQgj-Yg!mk~$(KGrHgoOKiUEjlLmWrB3BJ5QjV6-yQ~~_1.JPG


5-button...

1e85_1.JPG


Im not even sure if the 3-button has the compass/temp... Tryin to figure that all out.

So far I know I can get the display unit from ebay. The temp sender is GM 25775833, and the compass module is GM 15236913. That module is pricey...I might check the junk yards first. But if thats all I need to get the thing functioning, I can make the harness. Im sure a company like mouser would have connectors. Or maybe I can track down the actual harnesses. Ide like to keep the project under $200 if possible.

I still need the dimensions of the display though. If that isnt an acceptable size, there is no need in burning my brain out any more.

J.
 
Last edited:
Ok...found some pictures of GP interiors. I printed them out, used the CD slot as a base, and used my scale to sort of get an idea of the size of the display. The number I came up with was something like 66.7mm by 26.7mm. Thats off a fuzzy print out and guess work. That got me in the ball park.

That display is small..which would be PERFECT! I have plenty of wiggle room if the actual display is bigger. Printed out the box and taped it where Im planning to fit it.

Photo0376.jpg


You can see the outline of the area that Ill be removing, and fitting the GP display. Right now, its useless thumbwheels. I just see no use for them. Just a gimmick from the 80's.

Again..just a rough estimate of the display size.

If you guys get tired of me buggin ya let me know haha....

J.

Anyone have access to the wiring diagrams or pinouts for either the whole car or just for the DIC system? I have a line on the display, compass module and temp sensor, with plugs...so a pin out would be awesome.

EDIT: A buddy is letting me use his alldata account. Ive got all the wiring diagrams and pin outs needed I believe. It looks like the DIC doesnt use the BCM at all..? Thats awesome if thats the case. Still looking into it though. So now all I need to do is start buying parts and hooking things up. See what comes out the other end.

If anyone needs the diagrams, Im going to save them and try to put them into one big PDF file...since I cant seem to locate them online. Might help someone else out.
 
Last edited:


so lemme get this straight, u want to take a 04+ DIC and put it into ur TA? hm...could work I guess if u rigged it all up right. if u dont have the newer monsoon radio, it probably wont display time ( since I got my aftermarket HU, no time will display. guessing it runs off the factory radio ) I cannot comment on the 3-button but my 5-button defently displays temperature and compass. other buttons include, tire inflation monitoring system, oil life, boost level, miles ( and 2 trips ), compass calibration, battery voltage, trans temp, current MPG, Avg MPG, temp. compass...maybe alil something else but thats basically it. sorry only diagram I have is uninstall/reinstall 04+ dash :( try some junk yard for the DIC and maybe some of the wiring, sensors, compass ( in the dash right against the windshield. the yards around me will cut u loose and dig thru the cars :)
 
Haha...you got it straight. Im not 100% sure what all the display will show. The guy that I got the unit off of said it was one without the tire sensors. 04-06 didnt or something like that. Either way...

I got my parts from Ed Morad. Saw his name mentioned on here a couple places. I called and they sent me the 5-button display from an 04, the temp sensor, compass module, and all of the connectors with wire from the same car for a really reasonable price. I should have everything on Tuesday, and will start testing things out.

Ive gone over the wiring diagrams. I have Alldata so I pulled everything I need off of there.

After looking at them, it appears as though the temp/compass should work fine without anything other than the modules. It should also display when the rear defogger is on since it hooks into the compass module. The unit then uses the Class 2 data signal from the PCM for the trip functions. Then it uses outputs from the BCM for things like door ajar and what not. The BCM feeds into the same Class 2 data wire that the PCM uses. SO....what this means is the unit itself has a logic circuit to take the info and decode it. Which means it should be smart enough to work independant of the BCM.

Will it work with my 02 LS1 PCM's data wire..?? I dont know. But I plan to find out!! haha. Im not sure why it would need the radio to display the date/time...unless the radio splices into the data wire somewhere...which I dont understand why it would.

If it goes good, and I get the display to show me something...and if I get it to read from my PCM, I might go a step further and wire in a BCM. Either from a 02 f-body, or from the Grand Prix. It just takes a series of inputs and turns them into data output. So it can be wired and set up to work in another car.

Basically, I like trying to make weird things like this work. Not too many people have tried it or made it work. And if you saw my car, you'd realize that making parts work in cars that they arent supposed to work in is something I enjoy haha. Gives me something to goof around with here in the apartment, since I cant do much mechanical work here. I can work on the overhead console and display in the living room...I didnt tell my finacee that yet. We'll see how that goes. :th_lipssealed2:

Ill let ya know.
 
i know 06 does have tire sensor. sorry cannot give u any more help, just wait for someone with alil more insight on this neat project, I hope u get it going alright. and it's just a known fact for the time/date display when u switch to aftermarket on our cars, they dont display it after that. maybe something to do with the new GM harness with those lil boxes for the radio. but good luck
 
Haha...who knows. GM does some funny stuff. So when you say it doesnt display...does nothing at all show up? Or the wrong time/date? If nothing shows up at all, thats not a big deal. I have date/time on my HU. If it keeps popping up with the incorrect date/time, that will bug me. So Ill have to figure something out.

We'll find out in a few days!

J.

Hmm...looks like the factory radio does in fact have a class 2 data output. What happened to the good old days? haha. Thats why changing the HU causes people so many head aches. I wonder if there is a workaround for this. Like...I wonder if a logic circuit can be built, to provide class 2 data that the DIC would decode...Now I have something to do this afternoon. haha.
 
Last edited:


Huh...interesting.

I learned that the radio uses the serial data for theft security too. In the past, you entered a code to unlock a radio. Now you need a scan tool. The radio actually stores the VIN, and verifies it before it will work. Interesting...

So has anyone gotten around the issue with the date/time not displaying after an aftermarket HU was installed? My parts come in today! So ill have them hooked up on the kitchen table today after work and see what I can get out of them.

J.
 
Got my parts. Interesting....

I wired the DIC to the temp sensor and the compass module. Then I hooked up my 12v power supply to the power/ground wires, and tried to fire it up. Nothing. The only thing it would do is display the miles if I pushed the one button. Thats it.

So...on a hunch...I took it out to my TA, hooked up the power wires, and plugged the data wire into my comm connector. Still nothing. Fired up my car, and VIOLA! Got the welcome display "WIDETRACK GP". Then it cycled through EVERY warning symbol it had haha. No abs, no traction control, no fuel, etc etc.

So I hit some buttons, and got it to the screen where its just --------- --- and the temp and compass. So....the temp and compass works. I was really disappointed with how small the temp and compass display were though...they could have made them alittle more prominent.

I can cycle through everything, settings, date set... But the only thing that seems to work is the run time, compass, and temp. Im not sure if avg speed works, because I wasnt moving. But it showed 0.0.so maybe it'll work. None of the trip stuff works, Im guessing because my PCM doesnt handle the odometer like the other car did. I got ERROR on all the trip computers.

Im going to play with this some more. I mean...it does what I want, even though its disappointing at how insignificant the temp/compass display is. They put all that effort into having a comp module and a temp sensor and extra wiring...and they put tiny little numbers for each.

Do anyone else's turn on without the motor running? Or do you have to fire the car up for it to work?

Ill mess with it again in a few days maybe. Gotta tape up the wires and secure the display so I can drive and see what it does.

J.
 
That will be the fun part :)

Ive been giving it some thought...and took the housing apart last night to play with it. I think i might need to get a piece of PC board and mount the actual display screen...because it uses holes in the board to keep the "bezels" snapped down, and the screen parts together. There are a few layers in there for proper display.

So...Im thinking about remote mounting the display on a PC board, and using CAT cable of some sort to "re-connect" it to the main board. This is all assuming I cant just fit the entire board up in my console...I dont think I can.

The nice thing is the buttons are on a totally separate board, and have a cable that connects the two. So remote mounting the buttons is as easy as lengthening the wires, again with some cat cable, and re-mounting them someplace.

Im going to do some more testing with the unit before I go through all that though. Because if I decide its not worth it, Ide like to be able to sell the display to someone that wants to upgrade. Instead of ripping it apart and then just having useless junk.

Ill keep ya update though. Once I wire it up alittle better and get my data connection more stable, Ill take some pics/vids of how it behaves now. Its kinda hard to leave my car idling in the complex at night for an extended period of time too...the noise will make the natives restless. haha. Im also toying with the thought of calling Ed Moray back up and getting a BCM...see if I can get some more functions from the display. But it seems that there is enough difference between an 04 GP PCM and an 02 F-body PCM to not communicate perfectly. That will be a hurdle that I have no clue how to get over.


J.
 
good times - ive got a 99 GP and the stock DIC is annoyingly simple - i would love to one day be able to get something better in there than just "door is ajar" lol
 


yeah goodluck and stay updated. there's plenty of ppl on here with 3-button DIC that i'm sure wouldn't mind having the 5-button, just in case ur project fails on ya ;)
 
Whats up everyone.

I didnt forget about the project. I just got sidetracked. My car needed some attention, and I sort of lost interest. I had my mounting solution figured out, and even got most of the functions to work with my PCM.

However, Im abandoning the project for now. I just got engaged, and I have some things to buy for my motor, so I figured I would just take this on at another time. **EDIT: I was typing up the for sale thread...and I had a change of heart haha.. I want to hold on to the stuff for a little longer. Sorry bout that.**

Just fyi...

Justin
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top