How can you add a direct aux input to a 2003 Pontiac Montana with factory radio that has am FM CD and factory DVD?

Answer 1

By "direct", I assume you mean you don't want to use any type of FM modulator to connect to your Montana's sound and Rear Seat Audio system.

I had a similar goal which, after some trial and error, I was able to accomplish.

I have a 2003 Pontiac Montana which came with a factory AM/FM/CD and Rear Seat Audio (RSA) and Rear Seat Entertainment (RSE) DVD system. What I wanted was the ability to listen to an MP3/IPOD device on the van's speakers, while at the same time, allow my children to watch a DVD on the Van's RSE system and listen to it on their wireless headphones. I already knew that Montana owners (with RSE DVD systems) could listen to any external audio source - so long as "Track 99" is displayed on the Radio's RDS display - but to use this feature, I would have to connect the device to the RCA input jacks on the DVD player and change the source. This however would prevent my children from also watching a DVD on the RSE System at the same time. I wanted both - the ability to listen to an MP3/IPOD on the van's speakers and at the same time, have a DVD play on the RSE system, with sound coming from the wireless headphones).

I recently accomplished this, so the following information may be helpful to you.

The only aftermarket external aux device that would provide the functionality I was looking for was the PAC AAI-GM12. I now have two externally mounted RCA female jacks that I installed just below the coin holder located on the center floor console trim. The AAI-GM12 also required that I have access to its separate toggle switch which I mounted, unobtrusively, inside the same coin holder.

The result is that I can now connect - but not control - my mp3 player (or an IPOD) directly to the van's speaker system, using a 3.5mm Audio to RCA male-to-male cable (or an IPOD Docking port to RCA cable). The sound quality is excellent.

Please note: The AAI-GM12 device will not allow you to control the MP3/IPOD player, other than muting and volume controls. You will not be able to turn the device on/off or switch songs using the steering wheel or radio controls, nor will you be able to use the radio's Radio Data System (RDS) display to view MP3/IPOD song information. From what I understand there is no easy solution that will provide this level of MP3/IPOD functionality for a 2003 Pontiac Montana (without, of course, replacing the factory radio).

What follows is not a difficult undertaking; I am a novice (I didn't know what a Trim Tool, Multi-Meter or a Fuse Holder were before I started this project) and after some trial and error, I was able to accomplish the task with very good results.

This information will be mostly/only relevant to "novice DIY" Montana owners (like myself) that have the RSA and RSE factory-installed DVD player - and want to install an Aux input device without losing any of the existing factory radio, RSA and DVD's functionality . I cannot confirm that these steps will work or even be necessary for model years other than 2003 (as there may be other/better aftermarket products to choose from).

The main issue I had was that, in order to keep all of my van's existing factory (Radio, DVD) functionality, I was very limited to what aftermarket external Aux input products would work. If I didn't have a factory-installed DVD player (or if I had a newer Pontiac Montana), I likely would have had other, simpler or better auxiliary input device options to choose from.

Installation Steps

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1. Getting the right Auxiliary Input Device

I found several promising devices on the internet and purchased a few, which I subsequently returned when they didn't work as expected / advertised for my specific vehicle configuration.

I tried both the PIE GM12-AUXV2 and PAC AAI-GM24 devices which both seemed ideal on paper. The 2003 Pontiac Montana is listed as a compatible vehicle for the PIE GM12-AUXV2, and the packaging states that it will work with a Rear Seat Entertainment System. However after connecting the factory DVD to the female 12 pin receiver on the GM12-AUXV2, I was unable to switch between the DVD and the MP3 signals; Only the DVD could be heard through the van's speakers. No combination of Track-up/Track-down sequences would cause the signal to change from the DVD to the MP3 device. I contacted both the manufacturer (PIE) and the vendor (Crutchfield), and although they thought it should work, they were stumped. Crutchfield did send me two replacement PIE GM12-AUXV2 units, thinking that perhaps the devices were faulty.

The same problem existed for the PAC AAI-GM24 device (which I knew at the outset may not work from the conflicting vendor/review comments I read). Again, although everything installed fine, only the DVD signal could be heard over the van's speakers. I was unable to switch between the DVD and MP3 signals using the Track Up/Track Down radio buttons. Fortunately in both cases, I was able to return the devices to their respective vendors for a full refund.

Finally I tried the PAC AAI-GM12 device, and this worked as I had hoped. The downside is that switching between the two signals (DVD and MP3) is accomplished using a hard-wired 3 position (and unattractive) toggle switch, which I installed out-of-sight inside the coin holder of the center console. But the result is still great: The sound is excellent and although I usually leave the toggle in the MP3 position, it is a simple thing to reach inside the coin holder and move the toggle switch to broadcast the DVD or the MP3 sound onto the van's speakers.

2. Removing the factory radio

You will need to remove the factory radio, but it isn't as hard/daunting as it may first sound. You just need to have the right tools and information before you begin. You'll need to find or purchase a fully illustrated Master Sheet that shows you step by step pictures on how to remove the radio from a 2003 Pontiac Montana. This is available from Crutchfield ($10 I think), and possibly other places as well. The Master Sheet doesn't specifically cover removing the factory DVD section, but it is pretty obvious what to do by looking at the Master Sheet.

There are three sections of trim that need to be removed to get at the radio.

You'll need a Trim Tool to remove the bottom face trim. Do not try to remove it with a screw driver. You'll need a proper (metal) trim tool and is only used to remove the bottom trim. If you find that the other 2 trim pieces are not coming away from the console easily, it is because there are still some screws remaining that you haven't removed.

You'll also need a 7mm ratchet spinner to remove the remaining screws. As you remove each screw, put it in a labeled zip-lock bag so you'll know what goes where - as the length of screws differ depending on where they came from. I even took some digital pictures before/after removing each trim piece so I would know how to reassemble them when I was finished. I never did need to refer to them, but it was nice to know that I had them available.

3. Connecting the PAC AAI-GM12 to the Radio and DVD

Once you have the radio out of the dash - you never completely remove it because the antenna wire will still attached - remove the 12 pin wire harness from the back of the radio. This is the wire harness that connect the RSE (DVD, etc) to the radio. Connect the PAC AAI-GM12 male 12 pin harness to the back of the radio and connect the DVD male wire harness to the female wire receiver on the PAC AAI-GM12.

4. Making the electrical connections - Ground Wire

The PAC AAI-GM12 has a very short grounding wire that may or may not need to be connected (see below regarding "Ground Loop Issues"). Because I decided to connect the ground wire, I took a 10" long piece of 18 gauge automobile wire and connected it to the top screw on the back of the radio. The other end I eventually connected (using a wire butt connector) to the brown ground wire on the PAC AAI-GM12. This supplied a solid ground connection, which I confirmed with my multi-meter. The additional length of wire allowed me sufficient room to tape the AAI-GM12 device to the back, right side of the radio cavity (not to the radio itself).

"Ground Loop Issues"

According to the instructions, you shouldn't connect the AAI-GM12's brown ground wire if you will be powering your MP3 player using the car's electrical system (i.e. a cigarette lighter which also supplies a ground). This is so you won't experience a Ground Loop Issue (static, noise) which is caused by having multiple ground connections. In my case, I decided to connect the brown ground wire, because I will usually run the MP3 device using its internal battery and not off the vehicle's power. If I later decide to concurrently charge the MP3 device from the car's electrical system - which will mean there will be a second ground connection available to the AAI-GM12 - I will add an RCA Ground Loop Interrupter to prevent any resulting static or noise. If you are certain that you will always be connecting your MP3 accessory device to the vehicle's power, then I suppose you should not connect the AAI-GM12's brown grounding wire.

5. Making the electrical connections - Power Wire

Although you might be tempted to connect the AAI-GM12 to the radio's conveniently located thick Orange Power wire (located at B1 on the radio's 24 pin wire harness), don't! Don't do this for two reasons: First, you will be compromising the integrity of the existing wiring harness by splicing or tapping into the power wire. Second, the radio's power wire is Constant Power, not Switched or Retained Power. Constant Power is always on, even when the vehicle is turned off. There is no reason to have this device draw constant power from the battery - especially since there is a hardware toggle switch that determines the source of the DVD or MP3 signal.

The easiest and best way to connect power to the AAI-GM12, is to source it from the fuse box (found inside the van, beside the passenger door). Buy a Fuse Holder that turns one mini-fuse slot into two. It is a fast and clean way of installing and protecting additional accessories without splicing or cutting. Insert the fuse holder into the fuse slot that protects the powered Rear Vents. The Rear Vents have retained power and use a 10AMP fuse which is perfect for what you need. Insert the existing 10 AMP fuse in one slot to protect the Rear Vents and buy and insert a 1 AMP fuse in the other slot to protect the AAI-GM12. The fuse holder fits perfectly into the interior fuse box and it does not interfere in any way with the fuse box cover.

The benefit of using this particular fuse slot is that you will be getting Retained Power for the AAI-GM12 device - it will only draw power when the vehicle is running, in Accessory mode or for approx 2 minutes thereafter until the doors are opened. In other words, it will draw power only as long as the radio is drawing power.

Using several feet of 18 gauge electrical wire, connect the fuse wire coming from the new fuse holder, and string it along the underside of the passenger dash compartment. You will need to use the Trim Tool to remove the three trim plugs from the underside trim below the glove box, which will reveal the existing wiring, and expose a suitable path to string the new electrical wire.

Using a multi-meter, confirm you are getting 12 volts at the ends of the power/ground wires. Remember to put the ignition into Accessory (as the wire is connected to Retained Power only). If no connectivity, check the Fuse Holder - it may have been inserted in the wrong direction.

Once you have fed the power wire to the back of the radio cavity and tested the voltage, connect it to the Orange Power Wire of the AAI-GM12, using a butt connector. Connect the Ground Wire (that you attached to the back of the radio, see above) to the brown ground wire of the AAI-GM12 using a butt connector.

6. Interim Test

With all the wires connected to the AAI-GM12 and accessible(and with the trim pieces still off the console), now is the right time to verify that the AAI-GM12 is working as expected. Connect an MP3 audio device to the AUX1 RCA female connectors on the AAI-GM12. (I left the AUX2 RCA connectors empty - I saw no benefit to having both AUX1 and AUX2). Place a DVD disk inside the DVD player and turn the vehicle ignition to Accessory. Place the AAI-GM12 toggle switch in the center position. Turn on the radio, and using the CD/AUX button, switch the van's speakers to the DVD. Now flip the AAI-GM12 toggle to the AUX1 side (if it doesn't work, flip it to the other side). You should be able to hear the MP3 signal clearly over the vehicle's speaker system.

Now, moving to the van's back seat and using the wireless headphones, press the RSA button on the rear seat console. You should be able to hear the DVD on the headphones, while the car speaker's are playing the MP3 signal. Verify that all the factory RSA functionality still exists. One bonus: depending on the RSA setting, selecting Channel B on the Wireless headphones will allow the rear seat passenger to hear the MP3 player on their wireless headphones, even if you decide to listen to something else on the van's speakers.

If the above doesn't work, check the wiring using a multi-meter.

7. Installing female RCA ports permanently into the vehicle trim.

This is the step that provides a "factory" look to the aux input connection. You could just skip this step and have 2 RCA cables (and one toggle switch cable) dangle loose out of the trim, but I wanted a near-professional look.

Once the interim test is completed successfully, attach a 3 foot RCA male-to-female extension Cable to the AAI-GM12. I wrapped the AAI-GM12 device in thin soft insulating material. I then taped the wrapped AAI-GM12 to the back right side of the console cavity out of the way of the radio to eliminate it bouncing around and making noise inside the dash.

Drop the 3 wires (1 black toggle wire and 2 RCA cables) inside the cavity behind the radio and have them come out near the floor where the DVD and cigarette lighter wires harnesses are located.

Using a pair of "chassis mount RCA jacks" (one red, one white), drill 2 suitable sized holes right underneath the center of the coin holder. Do not drill the holes too low as it will interfere with the support bars of the DVD player below it. If you can purchase screw-on mountable RCA connectors that are female on both sides, great, because it will save you some time/money/hassle by avoiding the need to solder wires in the next step.

Because I could only easily find mountable RCA jacks that had to be soldered on the backend, I didn't want to directly connect the RCA cables coming from the AAI-GM12 to the mounted RCA jacks that are installed onto vehicle's trim, as this would make it difficult to completely remove the trim in the future. I therefore purchased speaker wire that that was terminated with male RCA ends (Speaker wire allowed for easier wire splitting and soldering to the RCA jacks). I cut about 8" from each end and soldered the +/- wires of each RCA wire to the back of the two mounted RCA jacks.

I then drilled a third hole about 5" inside (right wall) of the coin holder for the AAI-GM12 toggle switch. It is an unattractive switch, and there was no reason to expose it on the dash.

8. Test again

Repeat the tests to confirm that the soldering was successful.

9. Replace the Trim, using the Master Sheet from Step 1 (in reverse order).

10. All done.

Knowing what I know now, and assuming I had all the tools and parts before I started, I believe I could accomplish all of the above steps within 2-3 hours, start to finish. The total cost was less than $100CDN (which would have been much less if I shopped in the US).

How to Listen to an MP3/IPOD when there is no DVD in the player

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As owners of the Pontiac Montana (with factory RSA and DVD) already know, the only way to switch to the DVD signal is if there is a DVD disk already inside the player - or - if there was a game system previously attached to the three DVD Player's front RCA jacks. The latter would cause "Track 99" to show on the radio RDS display. Only if the DVD player senses a VIDEO (not just audio) signal, will the radio "CD/AUX" button cause control to switch to the DVD, which is needed for the AAI-GM12 to work.

This poses a minor issue when I wanted to listen to my directly attached MP3/IPOD device. If there was no DVD symbol on the radio's RDS display, I was not able to switch to the MP3 device, since the CD/AUX button will not switch to it.

There are two possible workarounds. The easiest workaround would be to place a DVD inside the player and leave it there. Unfortunately this will likely mean that the DVD disk would be continuously playing even if no one was listening to it (because the AAI-GM12 toggle switch was set to AUX1).

Another, less convenient but perhaps preferable solution, is to temporarily connect a video source (such as a game system, or an IPOD with a video cable/signal) to the DVD player, in order to get the DVD symbol and "Track 99" to display on the Radio RDS display. Once you see the DVD symbol and Track 99 on the Radio RDS display, it will remain there "forever" until you insert a DVD disk. "Track 99" will even remain when you disconnect the game system or IPOD from the DVD player's RCA jacks and even after you turn off the vehicle. The point is that once I had "Track 99" displayed, I no longer needed to have a DVD inserted into the player before the CD/AUX button would allow me to switch to a DVD (and MP3) source.

Either way (DVD Disk or "Track 99"), once I had the DVD symbol displayed on the RDS display, I could now switch to the MP3 Player by pressing the CD/AUX button on the radio.

Installation Tools Needed

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I purchased all the required tools and supplies from Canadian Tire, The Source by Circuit City and AutoValue. Items from "The Source by Circuit City" can also be purchased from Radio Shack in the US, using the same product numbers.

Trim Tool (Powerbuilt #648544) - Canadian Tire

Multi-Meter

Ratchet set (including spinner with at least 7mm socket)

Wire stripper

Soldering gun/solder

Drill and drill bits

Supplies Needed

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1. PAC AAI-GM12 Auxiliary Input Device (purchased from Matrix Trading in Canada). If you are in the US, you have more sourcing options to choose from.

2. 18 Gauge wire (Buy orange to indicate that it will be carrying power. 10 feet is more than enough).

3. Fuse Holder ("Parts Master Tapa-Circuit #00505" from AutoValue).

4. RCA (male to female extension cable #4202353A from TheSourcebyCircuit City).

5. RCA Speaker Wire (Product #4202445 Speaker Cable with male RCA ends from TheSourcebyCircuit City).

6. Chassis mount RCA jacks (Product #2740852A from TheSourcebyCircuit City).

7. Tape - I used black Gorilla-brand Tape.

8. Electrical tape.

9. Wire Butt connectors.

10. Ground Loop Interrupter (Optional) available from various sources, including Crutchfield - "PAC SNI-1").