[spdrcr5]

I installed my Sirius Starmate Replay this weekend. Here are all of the items I had to gather so I could hardwire it into my Element.

1. RCA Cable from Radio Shack. I went with this because it is the only cable I could find that had a 90* bend at the 3.5mm plug.
2. PIE HON03/PC-SON. This connects to the CD Changer plug on the back of the factory Radio, the RCA cable plugs into this.
3. Add-A-Circuit plugged into #18. This is where I will get the power to power the Starmate.
4. Bell Power Socket. This is connected to the Add-A-Circuit. The Cig adapter from the Sirius plugs into this.

 

[spdrcr5]

Continued...

The mod that Genom did of hiding his Satellite Antenna's was a great idea and because I was on the phone with him when he was doing his, I decided to do this as well. Sounds easy enough and he already figured out how to remove the roof plastic so I didn't have to open my service manual. lol

To perform this install I bought the following:

1. 4x4x1 block of styrofoam from Michael's Craft Store ($0.99)
2. A "Strong-Tie" in the building materials section of Home Depot. This si used to tie wood together in building a house. It is galvanized so it shouldn't rust too fast. ($0.49)
3. GE Silicone II Window & Door, clear. I decided to get a fresh new tube and it was easier to control that using a tube of caulk with a caulk gun. ($2.49)
4. Sand paper
5. Duct tape

 

[spdrcr5]

Continued...

 

[spdrcr5]

Continued...

I cut the styrofoam into a basic wedge shape as Genom described. I then sanded it until I got it small enough and low enough where the Sat antenna would fit and the plastic roof piece could slide back on without hitting the antenna.

Once I had the antenna in place I had to run the wire to the dashboard. Others have posted the path they followed and I basically did the same thing, but I got the antenna into the Element a little different. There are 2 plastic plugs just above the rear bumper on either side of the tailgate hinge. I previously used the right one for my hitch wire, so I used the left one for my Satellite cable. I removed the grommet (will replace it when I get a new one). This allows me to run wire into the Element without risk of pinching it under the gasket.

I then ran the wire under the spare tire floor, and down the left side tucking the wire under the plastic. When I got to the door sill I lifted it up and pushed the Sat. wire into the channel with the other wires from the Element. It ran like this right to the end of the door sill. From there I tucked the wire under the rubber gasket heading up to the dashboard.

 

[spdrcr5]

Once the wire was behind the dashboard I then diassembled the dash. I removed my painted instrument cover, removed the instrument gauges and had full access to behind the dash. I worked the wire up to the instrument area and to the left of the radio.

I disconnected the battery since I knew I would be wiring things, plus I didn't want my alarm to go off or ruin something. lol

Next I wired in the Add-A-Circuit and my Power Socket. From previous posts I knew that Fuse #18 was what others had used so I used it as well. Those little fuses are near impossible to get out... for some reason either the Element doesn't come with a fuse puller or I couldn't find one! Note to self, purchase a fuse puller!

Next I removed the radio so I could get behind it and install the PIE and the RCA cable. I still can't stand the stupid design of the radio trim U shape piece... a pain in the a$$ to remove! Once it was off I could remove my Bracketron and Panavise brackets. I had my iPod on the Panavise on the left side and an old cellphone used to be on the Bracketron. I moved the iPod to the right of the radio on the Bracketron and the Panavise would hold my Starmate Replay.

I next ran the Starmate power cord from the power socket up behind the dash and into the instrument cluster opening with the antenna. I had the RCA cable there as well. Next step would involve some trim work of the dash panel to make room for the cables to come through. I wasn't going to drill a hole or anything, since it would have been an ugly mess. I decided since the wires were fairly thin I would just trim a slit on the far right side until the cable fit. Once I did this I discovered that the dash panel actually sat in a channel that would pinch the cables, so I needed to trim this as well. This piece is actually part of the dash itself, it is just in front of where I have the wires zip-tied to the dash.

I used a sharp knife for all of this cutting and trimming, as I didn't feel the need to break out the Dremel.

Now that I had my 3 wires in the general vicinity of where the radio would be I installed the Starmate mounting plate to the Panavise and installed it temporarily for the first of many test fittings. I only wanted enough wire sticking out of the dash to allow me to connect/disconnect the Starmate. So this took a handful of fittings, removing the dash panel, zip-tieing the wires, etc. I finally got it to the point where I am very happy with it.

I connected the PIE and RCA cable together and installed the CD Changer cable to the PIE. Then I tucked the PIE above the A/C duct behind the radio so it was out of the way of the radio. Put the radio in place and reconnected all of the cables for it.

 

[spdrcr5]

Continuted with the last one.

Once I got this all buttoned up I reconnected the battery and turned the radio to the CD Changer (after first putting in my radio code). Turned to Channel 184 and went to grab my laptop so I could activate my Sirius radio! Took all of 5 minutes and I was up and running.

I know... long winded, but it was a fun install.

Only problem of any major consequence I ran into... My Viper alarm stopped working because I disconnected the battery. lol Have to get it reset during lunch today. Will find out how to do this on my own because my battery will be getting disconnected on many an occasion throughout the year.

Got to enjoy Howard's first show on my way to work... loved it!

 

[Genom]

Very nice work Larry, and a much more in-depth write up than mine (my admitted weak point). I think yours is the first reported install of a PIE adapter to the factory radio involving an alternate music source. It is often spoken of and/or recommended, but no one seems to follow up on it.

It looks like you have all of your roof garnish clips intact...roughly 50% of mine died a miserable death when I originally tried to lift the garnish instead of sliding it like I should have. Now I and we all know better.

My JVC line-in adapter is scheduled to arrive via UPS on Tuesday, so I'll most likely take pictures of that procedure and add it to my install thread.

I managed to listen to roughly 35 minutes of Howard this morning on my way to the office.:grin: (Did you catch his new phone number?)

Again, awesome install and write up Larry.

 

[spdrcr5]

Thanks.

When reading through it and putting the pics up with it, I realized how many pics I should have taken and probably will fill in tonight or some time this week. I never showed what the cables look like coming from behind the dash and how clean it is. Also should have shown the complete wire path from rear to front... easy enough to show that. I'll do that and when I start the other things we have discussed I'll put it all there.

I actually messed up the first piece of foam because of the cold weather Saturday. The silicone didn't stick to the metal but it did to the foam! lol Had to toss it and make a new piece. I then molded the foam Saturday and siliconed the metal to it over night in the house... Sunday I went out with the weather nice and warm and finished the install.

 

[mbaha]

Larry-

I like your install, can you post more pictures of the mount you used for the reciever and link to where you got it?
Thanks
Marco

 

[spdrcr5]

Marco, it is a Panavise mount that I had bought on eBay over a year ago. It was holding my iPod.

It connects to one of the 4 screws holding the stereo itself in place. Then yuo press the radio surround back in place. I actually dremeled my radio surround out a bit for a little cleaner install... need to redo it though, not happy with how I did it.

I'll snap some more pics later tonight when I get home if it is light enough out, otherwise I'll take them tomorrow during lunch. My camera will be with me for the 40,000 roll-over. lol

 

[lwclancers]

Nice job Larry. I tried to use an A-A-C and the same Bell 12v outlet this weekend in my Envoy for my SkyFi2.

I must have had a bad A-A-C though cause I could not get the thing to fire. Even running the recommended test by Littelfuse (remove fuse from box, add new circuit to A-A-C, then insert into fuse box...make sure existing functionality still works) nothing worked. I tried Parking lights, power doors, wipers, everything. If I turned the A-A-C 180 degrees and tried again still nothing. Id remove the A-A-C insert fuse and the items worked fine. To me it had to be the A-A-C. Nice waste of $10:roll: I even considered using the splicer that came with the Bell 12v plug...but I could not find a verified hot wire under the dash to use the connecter with...made me nervous

What made it worse was that the interior fuse box in my Envoy is under the rear seat so my hot wire ran from the front all the way to the back. I just left it unplugged until I ever get around to buying a new A-A-C. Oh well. Luckily I found a way to hide almost all of the 12v wire to one of my plugs. I have 3 on the front console anyway so its not like I dont have anymore to spare, but wanted a cleaner look. Ya know, I was telling my wife, it would be nice for automakers to start putting hidden 12v plugs behind the console/dash/glove box, etc...so those of us who want a clean look, will already have the 12v plug there.
The A-A-C worked like a charm on my E when I added my Dash lights though.

 

[mbaha]

It looks like they have lots of options....
http://www.panavise.com/nf/comm/indash/index.html

here is the element one
http://www.panavise.com/nf/comm/indash/instruction.html?partn=751171003

and I just ordered it from
http://www.panaviseonline.com/
I just called in and gave the part # from panavise. The price came to $32 with shipping. The same part is on ebay for $23 + shipping but I wanted to order from some place that will take returns

 

[outpost4]

I like it, Larry, like it a lot. I'm really glad you used James' trick. I think the hidden antenna is destined to become a standard Element mod, much like Shen's blinking side marker mod or de-oranging the front head lights. The sandpaper was a nice, added touch. For what it's worth, a piece of galvanized metal under the cladding will undoubtably outlast the vehicle.

I'd also never seen your orange dash. I might steal that one. OK by you?

 

[spdrcr5]

I like it, Larry, like it a lot. I'm really glad you used James' trick. I think the hidden antenna is destined to become a standard Element mod, much like Shen's blinking side marker mod or de-oranging the front head lights. The sandpaper was a nice, added touch. For what it's worth, a piece of galvanized metal under the cladding will undoubtably outlast the vehicle.

I'd also never seen your orange dash. I might steal that one. OK by you?

Thanks for the compliments.

Steal the painted dash idea... wasn't mine to begin with.

I'm not happy with my paint job, but I did a pretty darn good job of body work on it with bondo, etc. Going to have it repainted by a friend who owns a body shop when I have the rear spoiler painted. It'll look much better.

I have been searching and searching... I sent you a link already and now I am wondering if I forgot to post the finished pictures I took. lol I'll repost them once I get it redone, but suffice it to say I painted the 5 dash pieces as well as the 2 trim pieces on the steering wheel. I also plan on doing the 2 pieces at the window controls... for some reason I just think those should be body color as well. Not going to sand them glass smooth like the dash, will only rough it up and prime it and let the body shop paint it with the other pieces.

 

[Genom]

On my way to the office this morning I was behind two Elements on the expressway and what did I catch myself doing?...looking for satellite antennas.:twisted: Yep, the silver one had an antenna stuck to its roof with the wire all exposed (maybe he was in a rush to install Sirius before the 9th).

The more I think of it, it looks as though we have a good thing going on here.

 

[spdrcr5]

I agree James. Very happy with this install. Only had the Sat cut out on my twice yesterday; both times were driving under the LIE, but then it got the signal back within a second or two of having the antenna exposed to the sky again.

I really wish streaming audio wasn't blocked at work... I wanna listen to Sirius online dammit! I gave my account info to everyone in my family and they are now all listening online for free coast to coast. lol

 

[ElementalFox]

NICE INSTALL!, i know nothing about stereo installs, i am at the mercy of the pros prices

 

[spdrcr5]

Here are a few other pictures showing how the wires look behind the Starmate Replay entering through the dash. I will be picking up a small piece of 3/8" fluting to make the wires look better and clean it up a bit.

 

[valkokir]

Larry, Looks really good, your Sirius is mounted right where my PDA sits for my GPS. I'll probably put my antenna under the cladding but I may do it near the front of the vehicle. Think about using shrink tubing to clean up the wires, corrugated tubing is too bulky. and probably won't let you get the wires between the panels like you have. Shrink tube typically shrinks to half it's diameter so the size of the connectors shouldn't be an issue. Then you can lose the ty-rap also. Good Job.

 

[spdrcr5]

Larry, Looks really good, your Sirius is mounted right where my PDA sits for my GPS. I'll probably put my antenna under the cladding but I may do it near the front of the vehicle. Think about using shrink tubing to clean up the wires, corrugated tubing is too bulky. and probably won't let you get the wires between the panels like you have. Shrink tube typically shrinks to half it's diameter so the size of the connectors shouldn't be an issue. Then you can lose the ty-rap also. Good Job.

Thanks.

Shrink tubing wouldn't fit over the 3 plugs and still shrink enough to make it look any good. I actually like how the corrugated tubing looks. I wasn't looking to tuck anything under the dash with the ires, just butt it up against the dash. Once I get it tweaked I'll post a few pictures of it. I will also be removing the zip-ties after I am done with it.