How to keep the date on the DIC with new head unit

I hate to tell you... But yellow, brown, lt. and dk. green are speaker wires. Specifically right front and left rear. Idk how you had those wires left over, because when i installed my head unit in my '96 there was none left over, besides the usual remote power wire. I can't see how speaker leads have anything to do with the date function of the DIC.

I never thought of that. I just used a plug-in adaptor. I spose there's just empty pins on the headunit side of the adaptor, so i didn't even notice on the car side. I should try this, because i miss my fan/temp speed. Radio i don't care about. Thanks for the correction.

Has anyone besides B.Fan done this with their stereo's? I don't care much about the date feature but I am curious if the fan/temp controls actually do start working again, it seems that was still in question...

This thread requires pics!!!!!!!!!

Yeah man, get some pics, then sticky it, for all those future Aurora owners lookin to pimp out their sound system.

^^ man of few words ;D



sorry, just couldn't help myself

i thought we had figured this out already. man we need a sicky on this because it comes up so often.

i relocated a factory indash to the trunk to retain the steering wheel controls for the hvac and the time on the dic before i posted that a while ago.


95 dic's have an internal clock so all 95's will not lose the date and the eta on the dic. starting in 96 the dic uses the clock from the radio for the date and the eta.

god we have been over this a million times, we need to get our stickies together. really.

the 95 dic is not compatible with 96-99 due to the internal clock. i have tried it. it didnt work. or should i say i tried a 97 DIC in a 95 and it didnt work. so the internal clock thing is a definite for 95's. and is missing in all 96-99 DIC's.

i fel safe in saying that all 95's must use a 95 DIC. and will not lose the date or the eta.


We all kno that the steering wheel controls are routed thru the radio, and than to the hvac.

the all the buttons are wired to the same wire that goes thru the clock spring. the buttons all have different resistance values which are used to identify the functions. the radio measures the voltage drop and than either responds accordingly or serial datas a command to the hvac unit.

to maintan the date and eta on 96-99 models we must either relocate the factory radio, which i have done before using a 04 tahoe radio relocation harness. and yes it was a hassle but it worked and still works fine.

or we must disassemble, to a point unknown, the factory radio and leave it semi functional to do its measure and relay duties. but the problem is were to stash the disassembled now ready to cause an electrical short, and possible fire, radio behind the dash.

i for one am not to keen on have a disassembled radio stashed in my dash. its not clean and if my tech buddies were to see it i would never here the end of that. to boot i dont need an electrical short waiting to happen behind my dash anyway.

even tho its a pain i say install the tahoe relocation harness and move your radio to the trunk when you install a aftermarket head unit. or go sans eta or date. this idea is great and all but not many classic owners are going to be willing to accept the risks of this proposition.

pros:
cheap
less labor intensive
did it yourself feel good feeling

cons:

hack job
possible electrical shorts
were do you stash this thing
you will need a new factory radio if you ever go back stock
possible fire hazard


like i tell everybody pick your poison.

the tahoe harness was about 200 buxs. but that was a year ago the prices should of dropped by now. but prob not by much.

The radio must be disassembled to the point of only having the main circuit board which is where the face of the radio plugs in and you must have the face which allows you to set the clock. This isn't too hard but it is a little bit of a job, there's a million and one tiny screws to take out to remove the cd player and other motors and junk.

As far as where to put the thing when it's done, it can placed behind the ashtray and under the radio on the floor. This area is accessed by removing a medium sized panel on the passenger side of the ashtray at the bottom. So if you where seated in the passenger front seat it would be to the left of your feet. There's enough room in there, that's not a problem and the chances of it causing a fire are pretty slim, in my opinion, as long as you properly connect the wires with either crimp connectors or wire nuts and electrical tape. Mine has been in there for about 3 years now and I've had no problem at all.

I should mention that if anyone does this mod, they should be aware that if the radio guts lose power (most likely from disconnecting the battery) you will need to open up the panel and gain access to the radio face so you can reset the clock to the correct time. This is only a slight hassle! ;D

i no this is a old thread but i just did this on my 99 and the hvac controls work along with the date. am currently building a thin plastic box to mount the circuit board in.

I have a 1996 Aurora...to keep the computer display working I went to a junk yard and purchased a 2nd radio connector and wired it into the harness minus the speakers. I placed the factory radio under the center console near the firewall. It is accessed by the kick panel on the passenger side. Works like a charm until you have to deal with time changes. So 5 minute twice a year is nothing.

And you said "If I had known better I wouldn't have cut them in the first place." What do you mean, or recommend for us people JUST now installing an aftermarket headunit/cdplayer for the first time to keep our DCIC/Steering Controls in tact, and where exactly did you connect the cut wires too? To the old factory head unit, but what happens once it's taken out again, just a bit confused on that if you could help clarify both questions, thanks!

ALSO: I do not know about the HVAC steering wheel controls, but most good headunits/dvd players now adays have wires that can connect to your factory steering wheel volume & seek/programmed station buttons! I know ebay carries a bunch for under a hundred dollars easy!