2006 Equinox No Power to New Aftermarket Stereo
 

First off, I'm sorry if any of this is stupid. I've tried Google and searching this forum, but I can't seem to find a clear cut answer. This is my first "new" car in my entire life. Prior to this every car or truck I've ever owned has been '69 - '89, so I'm completely out of my element.

All of my CDs were stolen last week, and the Equinox has no aux input, so I figured it was time to finally upgrade. I bought a JVC KD-X360BTS (I'm on a very tight budget; CDs were not the only thing stolen), and at the recommendation of the employee at the shop I purchased it from: a Metra 70-2003 adapter. Now, I understand it was probably just sales BS, but he claims he has installed an aftermarket stereo receiver to a '05/'06 before with this harness successfully, so he "knows it works." He mentioned that I would lose factory chimes.

I get nothing from the receiver. I've wired up stereo harness adapters before without issue, and have triple-checked that all wires go to their correctly-colored counterparts, but obviously the adapters I've wired up before were for significantly older and simpler configs. The harness adapter fits the factory plug without issue. I don't even get lights on the new receiver, so it appears I'm getting no power. I swapped the factory receiver back in and it works fine.

Now, that adapter clearly only supports the main 24-pin stereo plug for the receiver, and not the smaller plug. I'll be honest, I don't know what that plug does, but I've gathered that it is indeed related to the factory chimes and onstar (which I don't have anyway). I read somewhere on this forum that it could be related to turn-indicators as well, but that doesn't seem right. Some confirmation there would be wholly appreciated.

Does that second plug have to be utilized for the car to provide power to the new receiver? In all my looking I can't find a definitive answer as to what all it does, and if it's really necessary. I'm trying to find adapters that utilize both but it looks like I'm going to be paying more for the damned adapter than I did for the new stereo. The most common one I see is the GMOS-08.

Any knowledge is appreciated. Again, sorry if any of this is stupid, but modern cars are foreign territory to me.

Metra 70-2003 is the wrong harness. It can't work because one of the alignment slots is in the wrong location. The correct harness is Metra 70-2103. Because you said it worked/fit, I'll just assume you typed the wrong part number. The harness alone can only be used if you're willing to give up OnStar, warning chimes, and Retained Accessory Power (RAP - that feature that keeps certain accessories active after turning the key off). The factory radio is commanded to turn on/off by the BCM over a data connection and doesn't use a traditional switched +12V circuit that all aftermarket radios need. So it's up to you to find +12V source that is switched with the ignition switch and connect it to the corresponding wire of your new radio OR tap into the RAP +12V circuit instead to retain RAP functionality with the new radio.

You must use the Metra GMOS-07 interface if you want to retain chimes and OnStar (also retains RAP). If your Equinox has the factory amp with the subwoofer in the cargo area, you must use Metra GMOS-08 interface unless you bypass the factory amp.

The smaller harness is only used for OnStar, chimes, and the OEM satellite radio tuner.

Thank you for this info
 

I'm looking to go aftermarket so I'll have Blue tooth and a changer (if not unaffordable) your reply is surely informative and for that I say thank you. I have to depend on Best Buys to make my selection, so if you have a recomendation on a particular radio, I'd certainly appreciate it.