Copypasted from the cobaltss forums where I posted this not too long ago, maybe it'll help someone on here (it's really specific, so probably NOT, but your how-to section is empty so!). Pretty long read. You're not afraid to take a dremel tool and cut metal out of your are are you?
This is my experience installing the P3300BT pioneer headunit in my car. I was a nub at it, but I'll be damned if I was paying for a professional installation and you shouldn't either (you will do a better job than they do, you care more about your car). It took me 12 hours, countless calls to sonicselectronix tech support (which was amazingly helpful, they know their stuff and will do their research if necessary) and a sacrificial goat or two. But it was worth it. I am now a mobile rave, with music videos bumping dubstep everywhere I go. So, let's get started.
Step 1: Shopping ListNeeded:
Head unit - Pioneer AVH-P3300BT
Harness - Scosche GM13SR
Mounting Kit - Scosche GM1599B
Antenna Adapter - Scosche MDA1B/MDA1
Steering Wheel Adapter - Axxess ASWC
Firstly, living in southern California, I ordered from sonicselectronix (which is based in Valencia, allowing me to drive and physically pick up the merchandise. I highly recommend them for reasons you will soon see). I bought the Pioneer AVH-P3300BT because I wanted an SD card input, and I wanted to play AVI music videos while I drive. They suggested scosche parts listed above to help with the install (you will need all of these). The harness retained chimes which is really for the 07+ models, so I really should have gotten the cheaper Metra harness, but the blue box also sends an A-OK signal to the car so your car doesn't freak out and think your headunit got stolen. I do not know if Metra does this, but other people have used the metra harness with no problem so go with that one. It's much cheaper. Hell, the blue box may not even be necessary, but I went the uber legit route. This guide still applies, so read on.
Step 2: Soldering and Prep Work (9 hours appx, 4 of them calls and research)Don't expect to do this quickly. With this guide it should be easier for you, but my trial and error took forever. I do things legit. Don't even think of using twist caps or silicone, unless you hate your car. You have subs, your car vibrates. Nothing less than solder and heat shrink will give you a timeless, solid connection. If you're not willing to do it right, just take it to a shop.
Here is a picture of the harness they send, they have pieces for the 05-06 as well as the 07+. The 05-06 piece is taken and assembled to the blue box module as shown.
Now, I did not do my system entirely legal. WARNING AGAIN. I DID NOT WIRE MY SYSTEM LEGALLY. The harness has a green wire that you are supposed to wire to the parking brake, so it senses when you are in park and only plays DVDs when in park. I wired a switch so it plays DVDs whenever the hell I tell it to, because I am its master. The switch is easily hideable if you get pulled over. You don't have to use it illegally, but I don't recommend splicing your parking brake wire either. It's up to you.
Here's the switch. Three-pronged. I soldered the power to ground, the ground to power, and the load to the parking brake wire out of the harness, ultimately. Finding this didn't work, I switched around the load and power (so, I switched the parking brake wire and the ground) and it worked. You have to remember you're tricking the car into thinking your parking brake is on, thus this switch isn't wired traditionally. I recommend testing before soldering the switch to the wires you have prepared for it. But I get ahead of myself; right now, we have the switch with ample wire ready to go. Solder, heat shrink over each individual wire, and then a big piece of heat shrink for the whole thing.
You'll notice I twist together a total of FOUR red and black wires when I solder the red from the scosche harness, and the red from the aftermarket pioneer radio harness. The extra red and black wires will be for the switch and the steering wheel controls adapter (which I did not finish installing but I will explain the install anyways), hence why I explained so much about that switch earlier. Also notice I solder the reds and blacks together before soldering all four together - more solid. Use flux EVERY time so the solder sticks; I've forgotten the flux before and it breaks the connection. Trust me.
With the reds and blacks all connected. Easy peasy. Drink a beer now, for morale. It's about to get tedious.
Here is the steering wheel adapter. See how I use electrical tape to close off all unused connections? DO THIS. The chevy cobalt-specific instructions for the adapter use only two wires off the harness, all other wires are unused. Download the specific instructions off the website; they are very weird but follow them. Trust me. It requires soldering INSIDE your car, though, which is why I never got around to doing it.
Here again, we have the antenna adapter. Moving right along.
Notice I chopped the RCA adapters off. With the 05-06 this is necessary. Probably for the 07+ too but don't quote me; the RAs are used only if you have a Bose system and we do not. Even if you CAN use the RCAs, chopping them off and soldering is still more legit, so do it. You will need to peel the two wires going into the RCA apart, and this is a LOT of tedious soldering and heatshrinking. Yes, I made a word up there.
You guys are lucky, I had to find this out the hard way. When I installed my headunit the first time, the sound did not work. Awful feeling, trust me. But anyways, after calling and so forth, I found that the blue/white amp power wire in the harness goes to the wrong wire in the car. SO, you need to carefully take the pin out of the harness and relocate it so it connects with the PINK wire coming out of your car. If this is too hard, you can solder it to the pink wire, but the harness swap is more legit.Just be careful, the pin is easy to break (I did not break it, but I was warned of this).
Part 3: The Install (A few hours, give or take)Now it's time to put that bad boy in. Take your covers off, there are other threads for these so I will not explain them.
It is out. Let's do this.
The switch got threaded through to the ashtray where the trunk button is hidden. I did not want to drill any holes, and I also like being able to hide the switch if pulled over. Up to you. Notice on the right in the picture, you can see electrical tape and zip ties? I made sure the wire ran along the metal bar under the steering wheel and STAYED AGAINST THAT BAR. If your wires get tangled in the steering column you will be very unhappy. Not a huge danger but we do things legit here, so use zip ties and tape. Also, though you may not believe me, because it is secured so well the switch never falls out of the ashtray when closed. And I didn't even give it a lot of room to hang in the ashtray in the first place. As for looks, close the damn ashtray. You just switch it off and on when you start the car to enable video. It NEEDS to be able to switch off and on, they want the parking brake to be applied, released, and applied so they know you didn't simply ground the parking brake sensor wire from the radio. Pioneer is smart, but so are we.
This is me switching the wire around because it didn't succeed the first time. I recommend testing before soldering the switch in. Also make sure you have enough wire to run to the ashtray, or wherever you want to mount it.
Here we go, bolting the mounting kit to the radio. I hate mounting this radio on the cobalt, and you will soon see why. But don't worry, I'll walk ya through it.
Here is the wire running from the steering wheel area to the radio ... area. Also notice I ziptied/taped the microphone for my bluetooth behind the DIC buttons (it works very well, by the way). But wait, Derke, you may say. There's this piece of plastic behind my radio, and I can't seem to fit my radio in it! Well, I would reply, take a dremel tool and cut the damn thing out. You've come this far, no piece of plastic is your master. And yes, I felt very bad cutting into my car. There's a metal bar behind the plastic I also had to cut, but I ended up only cutting the left side and bending it back (the right side has a bolt that is accessible; the left side kind of does, but it's a pain so I cut the thing out).
Out.
And in.
Now, when I fist put the radio in, it fell through. There's no support on the bottom! It's supposed to be supported from the back and the front. The problem is, the front is a snap on that easily comes off, and the back I just dremeled out (did I need to dremel the metal? I couldn't fit it in with the metal there, so I will say yes. This mounting kit hates us). What to do? We are broke at this point.
Well now. Styrofoam to the rescue! I put some in the back too, because it's not very snug back there.
Put it in carefully..
And victory is ours. Plug the harness, antenna adapter, and in my case microphone adapter in the back, and you're in business.
Hope this educates someone. It was hell for me, and hard to find good information on how to do everything. So maybe this makes it easier on you do-it-yourselfers.
