changing radio in 04 gp questions

[badfoot]

the lights for the clock in my gp don't work and lots of the buttons are scratched off. I want to replace the radio with a pioneer I already have.
I know lots of things wont work like steering wheel radio buttons and some of the dic functions wont work unless using an interface. ive read so many times the interface wont work
and they go bad too often. so I just wan to straight wire in my pioneer unit.

but my questions are this

do I need to get the unlock code and unlock the radio before removing it?...will the car start and run if I don't unlock the radio when I remove it?

I know I will lose the chimes and date...is there any other info you will lose on the dic?

thanks for your help

[SaukRapids]

Date is the only one I noticed when my radio wasn't in there.

You can run the car even with the cluster out, iirc. The radio and DIC can be off the dash for sure. It's just wires in back.

If you have Monsoon, there's the amp to consider.

[FriboRage]

All you really need to retain chimes is a gmos-04 from Metra to retain chimes. Other than that, the only things you'll lose are the calendar function as Sauk said, and you'll lose the steering wheel controls. There's also a unit you can add on to retain even the sw controls.

If you have the monsoon system you dont need to do anything special unless you're going to try to direct wire it like you said, then you'll have to worry about the amp and middle dash speeaker. Coming from someone who has put sound systems in a few GP's, I strongly recommend getting the harness for it. Especially if you buy from Crutchfield because you get it almost free.

[svanwormer]

I've had 3 GPs that I've changed the head unit in. 1 was Monsoon and the other 2 were not. I use crutchfield.com for the correct part numbers, but I have found that I can get the dash kit, wire harness, & antenna adapter cheaper on Amazon, assuming you have an account. I have also replaced all the speakers in the cars for the most part. Monsoon speakers are component-based, so you can't just throw a 3-way or 5-way 6x9 in the rear deck. It needs to be "Monsoon-style" and the woofer & tweeter are powered separately. Anyway, if you are just replacing the head unit, it is fairly easy. Just need the dash kit, the wire harness kit mentioned above to retain chime, and the antenna adapter. Good luck!