2003 Chevy Express install

Hi all, I installed a new head unit, pre-amp, and amp in my Express van and all is cool except my rear blinkers don't work. My fronts work fine but flash double-time as if the bulbs are out. I've seen some folks mention the door-chime & headlight warning loss (no biggie to me), but I haven't seen anyone else with this specific problem. I hooked up a 1x3 fuse box and ran seperate +12v lines and hooked the existing (dash) +12v to my accessory line. Any help would be greatly appreciated because I'm sure Bloomberg can't wait to give me a ticket for not signaling. ;-) Thanks, Patrick

Thanks for the reply, bberman1. It's a bare bones cargo van that had an am/fm tuner in it with two front speakers. I ditched it altogether and installed a JVC head unit, a Rockford Fosgate PA-2 and a Radion 200 watt MOSFET amp. I am using the factory front speakers for the time being and I'm using a pair of Kenwood 3-way speakers (pickup style- front firing 12" and top firing mids and tweeters). Not my first choice by any means but I can keep them hidden well (and that's a priority). I mounted a 1x3 fuse block in the engine compartment (1 being battery positive) and ran my 3 new lines seperately to the battery line on the head unit and the +12v ins on the eq and amp, respectively. There was a line showing constant +12v on the existing harness so I fed that to the accessory line on the head unit. I did purchase an adapter for the factory harness but it was the wrong style (thanks best buy!), so I spliced it out and wired the new head unit directly. I hope this helps and thanks again. Patrick

i thought the express used the 60 dollar relocation harness?? looks like a similar gm harness. but has like 20ft of wire and a speaker.

Ok first off I'm pretty sure that the van uses a class 2 data bus system which means that you should use a relocation harness / wiring kit http://autosoundgear.com/tek9.asp?pg=products&specific=jopoenq8 , if you do chose to use the harness which is what I suggest, you should put the factory radio harness back together. Connect the aftermarket harness which will give you all the connections you need for your aftermarket radio as well as allow you to relocate your factory radio to assure the databus system works correctly. If you chose not to use the relocation harness you can still successfully hookup your aftermarket radio. As it stands now it sounds to me like you have the radios wiring messed up. For the power on the head unit its self your need a constant - constant 12volt supply, Switched 12volt - switches + 12volt on and off with ignition, And your ground. Above you said "I mounted a 1x3 fuse block in the engine compartment (1 being battery positive) and ran my 3 new lines separately to the battery line on the head unit and the +12volt on the eq and amp, respectively. There was a line showing constant +12v on the existing harness so I fed that to the accessory line on the head unit" this is telling me that your getting the constant +12 directly from your battery and your switched + 12 volt from the constant on the radio harness. Which means that you are feeding the switched a constant 12 volt, now if your accessory is getting a constant + 12volt then your radio will never shut off. If you have a class 2 databus system your radio harness dose not have a switched 12 volt. in order to get a switched + 12vot you will need to tap into the pink wire in the ignition harness and connect it to the red / accessories wire on your aftermarket head unit. Then the wire you said was constant in the factory harness (double check to see if it has 12 volts with ignition on and off) needs to be connected to the yellow /constant on your aftermarket radio. And the ground to ground, now that should give you the power connections you need for the aftermarket head unit (you do not need the constant from your 1X3 to the radio) or the eq. Now as far as hooking up the eq you should use the same constant and ground from the head unit and use the radios blue/white as your switched/ remote wire for the eq. Now on to the amp you will want to get the + 12volt directly from the battery. I would use at least a 10 gauge wire fused with a 20 amp fuse within 18 inches of the battery. run that wire directly to the amps + 12volt input, for the ground you will want to find a good solid metal surface., sand it down to bare metal and connect a 10 gauge cable no longer then 18 inches from the amp to your grounding spot. Then you will want to connect the blue/white remote wire to the remote/ switched 12 volt to the amp. This will give you all the proper power connections you will need for your audio components. So just a brief over view your radio and eq get their constant from the factory radio harness, the accessory wire on your head unit gets its power from the pink wire in the ignition harness, the eq and amp get their switched +12 volt from the remote wire on your aftermarket head unit. And your amp gets its + 12 volt constant from a fused cable from the battery. Now as far as your speakers and rca cables etc go, tell me what you have and how you want them hooked up and I will go over that with you. If you have any questions or don’t understand anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Wow. okay. That seems totally do-able. I've done quite a few installs in the past but this data bus system had me totally stumped. It's a good thing I learned the hard way on my own truck or my ego and credibility would have suffered immensely. ;-) Thanks again for all the help and, trust me, if i need any more help I won't be shy. Ya'll ROCK! Patrick

Your welcome!