New Aftermarket head unit kit option

[whoanelli]

I've been following this thread from the beginning and certainly am excited to be able to put my 8100NEX into my '15 2LT. Question is this...I see from the photos there's a door lock toggle on the unit. I'm not familiar with other Camaro model years, but my door locks are actually on the door. Does this negate the factory locks on the doors, ie. do they become non-functional once the unit is installed? Thanks!

[Low Saturn]

Originally Posted by whoanelli

I've been following this thread from the beginning and certainly am excited to be able to put my 8100NEX into my '15 2LT. Question is this...I see from the photos there's a door lock toggle on the unit. I'm not familiar with other Camaro model years, but my door locks are actually on the door. Does this negate the factory locks on the doors, ie. do they become non-functional once the unit is installed? Thanks!

Your current locks switches will be unaffected and work as normal. You have the option to wire up the lock switch on the PAC unit to make it functional or just leave it.

[Big-T]

Is there a way to make the idatalink maestro thingie that allows you to get ODBII data on the head unit and still use the PAC kit, or does that thing only work if you use the Maestro kit?

[KalCorp]

Got mine installed. love it!

[Coop1701]

Originally Posted by KalCorp

Got mine installed. love it!

That looks great. What audio system did you go with....? Looks like one with CarPlay.

[opossum]

Hallo,

Has anyone already installed the replacement of the warning light switch. My dealer sent me this, but I did not have time to change that. My camaro is in the garage and holds winter sleep (seasonal from March to October). But between Christmas and New Year I will change it.

Best regards from Germany
Egbert

[FNG]

Originally Posted by patternpilot

Sorry gentlemen, but even with the new software, at least in my case the SWC program is not retained upon power failure. It has been my finding that even the convenience controls are lost. When you first set these up you select the aftermarket configuration. Upon power failure you go back in and have to reselect aftermarket selection and reset the convenience settings. I also and this is my case, am not able to get the PAC unit to program any SWC pertaining to the phone. I can program everything else but not these. I have better luck just letting it stay in default program mode. At least some of the controls work, I just cannot reassign them to how I want them to work. But never the less even those are lost upon power failure. PAC say's they do not understand why. Of course all you get when you call them is their call center which is only available to dealers on Saturdays. I thought I was making progress with them for a while but now get the feeling I am on my own. I have ordered the parking brake bypass cable to see if this will unlock additional controls in my head unit.

The fix for the hazards is a step forward I guess.

I pulled my head unit and PAC kit out of my '11 before I traded it in for a '12 ZL1... I updated the firmware with the PAC UP long before pulling it..... no power to the head unit and PAC for the 12 days it sat on a shelf 'til I could get them into the new car.

The only settings that were "lost" when I put everything in to the '12 ZL1 were the GM radio settings.... the factory / Aftermarket option was back to "Factory", door lock/unlock settings, light flashes, etc. were all wrong because the PAC unit doesn't retain those settings. When I reconnected the PAC UP and switched the setting to "Aftermarket", all of the custom SWC settings were set exactly as they were in my other Camaro. (no reprogramming needed)

[Big-T]

opossum

Based on your pics, you also switched from a MyLink to the PAC5. Did you have to use the microphone in the kit, or did it intigrate with the microphone that's already built in to the car on the MyLinks?

[rydahog]

Has anyone got this gasket and installed it? hard? whats the story..? haha thanks..

Originally Posted by patternpilot

Sorry gentlemen, but even with the new software, at least in my case the SWC program is not retained upon power failure. It has been my finding that even the convenience controls are lost. When you first set these up you select the aftermarket configuration. Upon power failure you go back in and have to reselect aftermarket selection and reset the convenience settings. I also and this is my case, am not able to get the PAC unit to program any SWC pertaining to the phone. I can program everything else but not these. I have better luck just letting it stay in default program mode. At least some of the controls work, I just cannot reassign them to how I want them to work. But never the less even those are lost upon power failure. PAC say's they do not understand why. Of course all you get when you call them is their call center which is only available to dealers on Saturdays. I thought I was making progress with them for a while but now get the feeling I am on my own. I have ordered the parking brake bypass cable to see if this will unlock additional controls in my head unit.

The fix for the hazards is a step forward I guess.

[Big-T]

So I got my PAC kit w/ 8200NEX installed, but the backup camera is not working... Has anyone else had this issue? The kit came with a plug with two actual leads in it that plugs into the factory plug, with a yellow video lead on the other side. I plugged that into the yellow video-in plug on the 8200NEX. When I go to the camera, the only options are "Mirror" and "Off."

[Big-T]

Some updates..

On the first question, PAC said I could use my OnStar mic but that they didn't recommend it... so I ran the one that came with the NEX to the top of the A-Pillar. Not sure which is better, I didn't want to have to go back and do it if the OnStar one didn't work well.

On the backup camera, you use the brown port on the back of the NEX, not the yellow video input (simple case of RTFM)

Also found out that you need a quality micro USB cable for Android Auto... an hour of troubleshooting to figure that one out, but if you're Android Auto isn't working then try using another cable. You also have to install the Android Auto app on your phone... which should go without saying, but while google searching for my problem I found a lot of that.

I had some issues at first figuring out where all the cables would go.. turns out there's plenty of room to stuff them both above and to the left of the radio opening. I also ended up taping all the A/V hanging cables flat to the back of the unit, as they were a pain to manage otherwise.

As noted in the very helpful Tampa Bay Camaros write-up, cut the brown loop on the harness you connect to the head unit (as described in the PAC instructions). That article is also just a generally good read for preparation.. they were installing a Kenwood, but most of the info is the same.

For me, the plug for the steering wheel controls (SWC) was easy to knock loose when pushing the head unit into place (you have to stick your hand under and behind to keep wires out of the way as you move it back), so if you're SWC doesn't work that may be a likely culprit.

The chime they provide is annoyingly loud... A small piece of tape over it made it much less piercing.

I'll also include links to the backgrounds I used. I couldn't find anything at all that would work for the AUX screen... really the only good one is the splash screen, which I found just scouring the net. I just threw a bowtie up on the home screen. If some of you have other options to share, please do!

Home Screen
Splash Screen

[Dahita]

Hi,

I have installed this kit and I have the exact same overall comments as anyone else:
- The factory look is awesome and priceless (I wouldn't have installed any other kit)
- The warning button doesn't function properly
- I could NOT use the factory mic (different plug, not usable with Pioneer NEX 4200)
- Android auto is also the reason why I upgraded from regular CD headunit (with B.A premium sound), it works flawlessly.

I have 2 issues:
- I can't get the Boston Acoustic amplifier to work. The sound comes from all 9 speakers, but it sounds a bit flat and at mid-volume it starts distorting, which makes me assume that the amp is not functioning. What anyone successful in using this kit with the factory B.A. amp?

- The temperature digital panel on top does not work, much like on pictures I see on Kalcorp's post #424

[JCunningham]

Dahita your radio should have a internal amp. You can tune it off and on. your might be turned off.

[Dahita]

Originally Posted by JCunningham

Dahita your radio should have a internal amp. You can tune it off and on. your might be turned off.

Thank you for your answer JCunningham. Isn't the B.A amp much more powerfull than any Radio internal amp? I'd rather retain the sound system the way it was and use the radio just to get the sound signal in