Navigation Unit GPS Antenna:
There are two HVAC ducts above where the radio installs. I mounted the GPS antenna to the top side of the right duct.
1. Peeled the plastic off the piece of metal that came with the antenna, and slightly pushing up on the bottom side of the I/P cover, I moved it as far forward as possible, and then pressed it into place on the top of the duct.
2. Positioned the GPS antenna to the metal plate. The antenna is held in place with the magnet on the bottom of the antenna.
NOTE: This will work for the GPS antenna, but will NOT work for XM.
Jumper 3 Serial Data wires:
This is dependent upon the revision level of the Peripheral adapter (if you are using another type of adapter, I cannot help). Older Peripheral adapters required you to splice together, with a jumper wire, the three purple Class 2 serial data wires that were in the two GM wiring harness connectors. Reason was the factory radio received the class 2 circuit and then passed it along to the XM receiver and the OnStar module. The Pioneer head unit does not do this pass-through. Therefore, if you have an older Peripheral adapter you must jumper the two purple wires from pins A1 and A1 of the 24-Pin (GM) connector to the purple wire from Pin G of the 12-pin connector. This allows the Class 2 signals to bypass the head unit and allow the factory XM receiver and the OnStar module the ability to continue communications in the bus circuit.
The latest revision of the Peripheral adapters does not require this jumper wire to be installed. The way to tell is look at the Peripheral 24-pin connector that mates to the GM 24-pin connector and see if there are two purple wires coming out of the connector and being spliced together, with a third purple wire going to the 12-Pin connector. If so, you do not have to jumper the wires on the GM connector.
The adapter I received from CarDomain.com was the latest revision, but the instructions to jumper the GM side of the connectors was included. I contacted Peripheral and they agreed, the jumper wire was not necessary.
Radio Face Plate Installation:
The radio faceplate from Schosche requires trimming of the top inside plastic. I trimmed off approximately 1/8 of an inch. Otherwise, when the NAV unit’s front cover opens/closes it will hang up against this plastic piece. (I used a file, but sandpaper or a Dremel would do the same job.)
I also snapped of the little plastic projections on the bottom of the face plate, to prevent any clearance issues upon installation of the center trim panel.
Pioneer AVIC-Z1 Head Unit Install:
Now the fun really starts…the Nav heat unit installation. This is the time to take a break, have a cold drink, relax, because you are about to shove a big NAV unit into a hole that is packed with more wiring than required by ten factory radios.
1. Position the radio onto the console, in front of the gear shifter; CAUTION, do not scratch the screen, use a towel.
Connect the Peripheral adapter to the 24-pin and 12-pin GM connectors.
2. Connect the pink vehicle speed sensor wire to the pioneer harness.
3. Connect the violet/white reverse signal wire to the Pioneer harness.
4. Butt end the camera ground wire to the grounds you soldered prior to installation.
5. Connect the ground wire to the crosscar beam brace behind the radio area. Just look in and you will see a couple 10mm bolts attaching a brace to the cross car beam. Loosen and slide the ground wire under the bolt, and then tighten.
6. Install the antenna adapter to the vehicle’s AM/FM antenna.
7. Install the microphone lead.
8. Install the NAV GPS lead.
9. Install the XM receiver power/ground connector and the XM signal wire to the XM receiver.
10. Install the signal lead from the XM receiver to the back of the Pioneer NAV unit.
11. Connect the camera’s hot lead to the fuse holder of the wire soldered to the adapter harness.
12. Connect the camera’s signal wire to the signal wire lead from the NAV unit.
13. I attached the chime module to the bracket just above the glove box with two-sided tape.
14. I positioned the super long, thick, XM receiver wire inside the left of the radio opening, just to get it out of the way.
15. I positioned the remaining wires and adapter below where the radio mounts, then slowly slid the NAV unit into the hole, and attached with four screws. If the bracket on the NAV unit does not fit, flush with the I/P, reach behind and move the wire harnesses around until it fits flush. Do not want to cut any wires.
16. Before reassembling the center trim panel, test the unit. Make sure all the attached components such as XM and rear camera operate. Until you call XM to turn on the box, you will get a preview on channel 1 and 0. Channel 0 also gives you the box ID number that you will need for XM.
Test the rear camera, but make sure you follow the instruction manual on setup. You have to turn the feature on via the NAV unit settings screen.
17. Once you feel that everything operates ok, install the center trim panel.
18. Connect all the connectors, and position the panel to the I/P and tap with your hand where the six fasteners are and it will pop into place. Make sure to align the two A/C ducts with the vents in the trim panel.
19. Install the kick panel and sill panel moldings.
Rear Camera View:
Installed:
These procedures are from the install on my 2006 H3, and from what I have gleaned from viewing the wiring schematics on 2006 vehicles and viewing some of the 2007 wiring schematics, all the wiring has remained the same. However, please understand that GM (as well as any manufacture) will sometimes change wire colors in the same model year, and in future model years. So, if you have any doubt, check for voltage at the wire before connecting a wire from the radio.
You can be pretty sure the wires between the factory radio, adapter and new NAV unit will be the same, since these follow a wiring code for radio power, ground, speaker, etc., wires.
The total time for the install was about 4 hours. I did waste about a half-hour on the wiring for the camera along the top of the frame rail, just to remove it and start over again. So, this install should take someone familiar with automotive wiring and trim panel removal about 3-4 hours.
Any questions, please feel free to PM me, and hopefully, I will be able to answer. For more technical questions, best to contact a professional installer.