Do i need the special chime thing with a after market radio on a 2003 without onstar

[Talon69]

Hi, i have been alot of searching and cannot find solid answers! i have a 2003 grand am GT and it does not have onstar. Now the chime sound comes from the driver side door speaker, so does that mean i need the special chime thing for my after market radio?

thank you for the help

link to the chime

http://www.ebay.com/itm/290636147858...84.m1423.l2649

[thephantom1492]

Yes and no.

Yes, you need the chime module because there is no accessory wite for the radio, so you will have an hard time to actually figure out how to make it turn on.

No, you can find an accessory wire somewhere in the dash... somewhere...

Save yourself the hacking and poking and probing and the pain and all, get a module. In bonus, the module expose all of the needed wires, so no splicing or hacking!

You can also find some cheaper modules, but those also have a bad habbit... like mine is a cheap one, I want to replace it.

The stock radio receive a serial data signal from the BCM. That signal include the chime signals, turn on/off and illumination. That signal is not compatible with third party radio.

The module do the chimes and provide 2 extra wires: accessory (radio on/off) and illumination (to dim the display)

As to why I want to replace? when it's very cold (about -20C and down), the engine is hard to start and the battery voltage drop too low for the module. The module reset and do not receive the signal (probably because it take too long to reset, so miss it). The result is that the radio do not turn on. To fix it I need to let the engine warm up a bit, then turn it off. Now the BCM keep the radio on for 10 minutes or until the driver door open (RAP function). So to make the BCM issue a "Radio off" signal I need to open the driver door. Now I can close it and start back the engine. Now the radio turn on... or not... depend if the engine is still too cold... Fortunatelly, thanks to global warming, those cold days do not happend often... Hence why I still hasn't changed it.

[Talon69]

ahh k thank you for the input, i did some searching and found that alot of people that have grand ams are tapping into the wiper fuse for the switched power.
But what you are saying is that my chimes will not work unless i get the module? and im guessing the one to buy is the one i posted? also will the chime still come through still come through the driver door speaker?

I will buy the same one at best buy tomorrow, if indeed i am better off with it

[thephantom1492]

The grand am do NOT have a chime module. The radio contain the chime module!

So if you remove the stock radio, no more chime at all.

The module actually contain the chime module, a small ampli and a speaker. So the chime will now come from the module.

[Talon69]

ok i ended up buying the module at walmart for $39.99 and it works perfect with no isssues

[thephantom1492]

The walmart one (scorche) is what I have. I want to replace it because it crash when it's too cold... too cold being -20C

The reason why it do so is because the engine is hard to start at those temperature, so it suck tons of current from the battery, which drop too low in voltage for the module.

If you never get those cold temp, it will be fine.

[skoronesa]

@thephantom1492

"The grand am do NOT have a chime module. The radio contain the chime module!"

Not so, at least not for all of them. Mine is an 00 and it has a seperate chime module. Drives me frickin nuts! I replaced the stereo and then it chimed that evening, I was so pissed.

Speakers run at 3-5 volts I believe. I am going to try and run an led off of the signal. The speaker will be 2, 4, 8, or maybe 16ohms. I have to check but the speaker will probably be marked. The Important thing to remember is that if you use a resistor with too little resistance you will allow the circuit to provide too much current, possibly blowing the led and the circuit.

I am going to try two red leds in series and a resistor that is a two or three ohms above the speakers rating.

[xeroinfinity]

who needs a chime anyway