NEED HELP! Wiring a Monsoon
NEED HELP! Wiring a Monsoon Ok, "non-stereo guy" here. I'm a speed addict, not a sound guy, and usually the factory system is good enough for me. In fact I think this is my first post ever in this forum.
Anyway, I picked up a Monsoon head unit from a '00 Z28 to slap it in my wife's '00 B4C. Being a B4C, it came with the base model am/fm cassette junk. We wanted a simple, low-cost way of getting her the ability to play CD's.
I was thinking, hell, I bet GM has the same wiring harness for both stereos to save on production cost. (you know, F-bodies with manual seats are wired for power seats, etc. etc.) Well I was WRONG. Naturally the base stereo wiring does not have the 4 small connectors for the powered Monsoon speakers, but what messed me up is that the main connector is different as well. My dreams of a 5 minute install were shattered.
Anyway, who can direct me how to properly wire the monsoon in?
For instance:
Wiring diagrams, so I know what wire does what?
Are there harness adapters readily available? Where do I get one?
etc. etc.
I figure there has got to be at least one person here who has swapped in a Monsoon in place of a base stereo. Hook me up. I have friends that are stereo enthusiasts, so they can help me decipher any directions you give me here.
Anyway, I picked up a Monsoon head unit from a '00 Z28 to slap it in my wife's '00 B4C. Being a B4C, it came with the base model am/fm cassette junk. We wanted a simple, low-cost way of getting her the ability to play CD's.
I was thinking, hell, I bet GM has the same wiring harness for both stereos to save on production cost. (you know, F-bodies with manual seats are wired for power seats, etc. etc.) Well I was WRONG. Naturally the base stereo wiring does not have the 4 small connectors for the powered Monsoon speakers, but what messed me up is that the main connector is different as well. My dreams of a 5 minute install were shattered.
Anyway, who can direct me how to properly wire the monsoon in?
For instance:
Wiring diagrams, so I know what wire does what?
Are there harness adapters readily available? Where do I get one?
etc. etc.
I figure there has got to be at least one person here who has swapped in a Monsoon in place of a base stereo. Hook me up. I have friends that are stereo enthusiasts, so they can help me decipher any directions you give me here.
todd, i don't know that there is an adaptor that goes from base-->monsoon. personally, i think you would need to either buy a unit for a non-monsoon setup or do a bunch of splicing. i would highly NOT recommend the latter, though. perhaps there is someone who does have an adaptor and someone on here knows about it; i haven't heard of one, unfortunately.
The Monsoon head unit does not have a amp in it to power the speakers. It would be a pain to change it over. You would have to buy the Monsoon amp that goes with it and then run more wires from the headunit to the amp. Which is near the right rear of the car. If I were you I would just buy a nice aftermarket CD player. It will be a much easier install. You would have to pull alot of your interior out to change form the base system to the Monsoon. Just to run the wire's.
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 398
Likes: 0
From: Long Island NY
Originally Posted by skewba98z28
The Monsoon head unit does not have a amp in it to power the speakers. It would be a pain to change it over. You would have to buy the Monsoon amp that goes with it and then run more wires from the headunit to the amp. Which is near the right rear of the car. If I were you I would just buy a nice aftermarket CD player. It will be a much easier install. You would have to pull alot of your interior out to change form the base system to the Monsoon. Just to run the wire's.
As for installing it in your car, Metra makes an adaptor harness for it. Go to any high end car stereo shop and they can get one for you.
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 11,328
Likes: 346
From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
Rogue Leader is correct - the Monsoon head unit is no different from any other GM head unit in the way it works. The "Monsoon" part is the external amp and different speakers.
However, there is no need for a wiring adapter. The Monsoon HU will plug right in to the existing wiring harness. All GM models except Bose in the 90s and early 00s used the same standard wiring harness connections. Newer models with OnStar and RDS have completely different connections. Older models (e.g. 80s) had the same basic connections but different shaped plugs - there are adapters for these.
However, there is no need for a wiring adapter. The Monsoon HU will plug right in to the existing wiring harness. All GM models except Bose in the 90s and early 00s used the same standard wiring harness connections. Newer models with OnStar and RDS have completely different connections. Older models (e.g. 80s) had the same basic connections but different shaped plugs - there are adapters for these.
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Originally Posted by WhiteBird00
However, there is no need for a wiring adapter. The Monsoon HU will plug right in to the existing wiring harness. All GM models except Bose in the 90s and early 00s used the same standard wiring harness connections. Newer models with OnStar and RDS have completely different connections. Older models (e.g. 80s) had the same basic connections but different shaped plugs - there are adapters for these.
I need to emphasize again, this is the BASE model stereo/cassette that came on a fleet order B4C car. I'm trying to replace it with a Mosoon HU.
Thanks guys, I will check a few stereo shops for the Metra adapter.
Appreciate the help, I'm one of those "a big heavy stereo just slows you down" type of speed freak and know very little about car audio.
Last edited by TWS; Feb 8, 2005 at 09:16 AM.
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Verdad Gallardo Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 11,328
Likes: 346
From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
You should look again. What may look like different connectors could just be positioning. The Monsoon radio connects to two 10-pin connectors that are placed back-to-back and plug into a single 20-pin socket. It's quite possible that your radio uses the two plugs in separate sockets so they would look different. According to every manual, parts book, stereo installation guide, or other information I've ever seen, all GM models used the same connectors on the radio wiring harness. If you go to Crutchfield and look up the wiring harness adapter you'll find that they list only one GM harness from 1985 up.
Originally Posted by WhiteBird00
You should look again. What may look like different connectors could just be positioning. The Monsoon radio connects to two 10-pin connectors that are placed back-to-back and plug into a single 20-pin socket. It's quite possible that your radio uses the two plugs in separate sockets so they would look different. According to every manual, parts book, stereo installation guide, or other information I've ever seen, all GM models used the same connectors on the radio wiring harness. If you go to Crutchfield and look up the wiring harness adapter you'll find that they list only one GM harness from 1985 up.
OK, here's the ground truth. It works. The base model radio harness required just one slight modification, trimming a tab off of it, to plug into the socket on the back of the Monsoon. The Monsoon is in the car and works perfectly. And, it may be my imagination, but it seems to sound better even though I didn't do anything about the crappy base model speakers. I tried virtually all functions on the Monsoon, and so far everything works. 
Not that many people are going to do this, but I thought I may as well post up the outcome.
Not that many people are going to do this, but I thought I may as well post up the outcome.
