2000 Cavy Radio Myth Debunked

Hi All:

       I hope that this coming from a newbie to the board won't upset anyone, but I've been hearing so much from different people, that I thought I would offer an end to this Myth once and for all.  I spoke to an installer today concerning the wire harness and trim kit for my 2000 Z24.  He informed me that he has NEVER had anyone come back with problems due to removing the RDS head unit, other than lost door chimes.  I was still unsure, so I figured I'd call the source - GM.  According to them, you MAY loose your door chimes on a 2000, he didn't think that the door chimes went throught the radio until 2003, but that's neither here or there.  So, according to GM, if you remove your factory head unit, the air bags WILL work, the computer will NOT go into a frenzy, your ABS WILL work.  I hope this ends this radio being the brains of the car myth.  It does for me at least.  I thought everyone may find it interesting, and reassuing for us Cavy owners.

i'll still continue to use the GMRC-01 module......

as i 've always said, there's two ways to do everything and one of them is properly.....

Everybody’s right, and everybody's wrong.  Depending on the options your car is equipped with you may or may not need the adaptor. 

I talked to a (i cant remember his exact title) lead electronics technician at our local GMC/Chevy dealership and he told me this:  While some cars need the adapter, others do not.  It depends on the options in the vehicle.  However, none of those options are available on the Cavalier/Sunfire.  Monte Carlo, grandam and others may or may not have the options installed.  He told  me that there are some identifiers for the radio that would let me know if it needed the adaptor.  However, since i had the answer i needed i did not press for this information. 

This answer did not come easy; i had to try three dealerships and talk to maybe a dozen people.  Most of them had no idea what i was talking about ("an adaptor for what?").  They all told me there was no way that removing the radio would effect the airbags or antilock brakes.  As to what these options are, I don’t know that either, when i had my answer i felt that enough time had been expended on this install.

Would I put my life on the line with this information?  No.  Do I believe it?  Yes.  I'm pretty sure that guy didn’t spend 10min. with me blowing smoke up my ass.  I know that I put that deck in 4 years ago and the owner has never had a problem, in fact i have done 2 Cavaliers like that (no adaptor).

As to why they sell it...  It is necessary on some models, installers are not educated as to which cars need it and which do not.

i hope your liability insurance is paid up in case these customers vehicles are ever in an accident and some critical SRS feature doesnt activate because of an open circuit in the class II buss........ is it really worth potentially being sued over saving some bottom basement customer 80 bucks???

it's like the lazy a** installers who dont put the safety hood pin switch in when installing remote starters.... do it properly or dont do it at all......

i am amazed daily at some of the cheap a** people on this forum who spend hours trying to find the cheapest, cheeziest way to do something without spending a penny... if you put a dollar value on the time you spend looking for the backyard mechanic solution, you could have done it properly  twice over.....

the professionals here will understand what i'm trying to say.... time is money...... and there are two ways to do every job, one of them being properly