Thread: trying to stay stock, need some advice...

So long story short, car had minor leak and became very wet inside while I was out of the country for about 6 months which among other things has apparently damaged the radio and it keeps popping the fuse. It's not the monsoon system so the radio/cd player is the only thing on the circuit. I want to stay stock for a few reasons.

1) Steering wheel controls might get lost with aftermarket
2) DIC definitely will no longer display date
3) to most buyers stock is preferable versus aftermarket (have had this debate like 50 times in the past week so I know audiophiles might disagree with this assessment)
4) seems it can possibly be done cheaply
5) I hate buying things made in China

I've found an electronics repair shop and for a $25 bench fee they opened it up, the problem seems to be I believe he said a power diode. $90 IF they can get the part. I volunteered to go to the junkyard and start cracking open radios to find one, they tell me AC-Delco radios are not standardized at all and because mine used to be a fleet car the likelihood of finding the right board is minimal.

So here are my questions:
1) Is there any way to code another GM radio to my VIN for a reasonable price without the dealership being involved?
2) Can anyone help me out in terms of finding the right radio/board to salvage parts from? I can provide VIN and picture of the board within a few hours.
3)If I do go aftermarket is there any way to get the DIC to display date/day of week/make all my steering wheel controls work?
4) can anyone suggest a website from which to buy minor electronic odds and ends where I might possibly find this diode?

Thanks in advance,
Bill

just get an aftermarket radio and have them hook up the wheel controls to it. stock radios suck

You'd have to buy an aftermarket radio with a remote, but zzp sells the interface for 55$.

Thanks for the advice everyone, this has turned out to be an interesting little adventure. Cost and functionality are the two main things. The car is most likely going to be sold within the next month or so and when the average person gets in I think they're going to appreciate being told the date and day of the week along with having the steering wheel controls work properly more than better sound. After popping open quite a few j/y radios it turns out AC-Delco started making radios quite differently somewhere in the early 2000s and of the radios I did open all of them were insanely different inside. Sooooo... time for a new thread.

http://www.grandprixforums.net/wante...tml#post655759

oh, also if I end up going aftermarket is there anything special I need to look for that will make the unit compatible with the zzp interface?