I am getting ready to put in two Kicker comp VRs, a Kicker DX series 1000 watt amp, and a pioneer HU. I was wondering if anyone knows the amp location in the 07s if my car had a factory amp. I looked on the rear deck between the 6x9s and there wasn't one there but there is a box behind the drivers side fender well under the carpet. If that isn't an amp is it something for the onstar system? I've never really installed an aftermarket HU in a car with onstar, but I have been told I need an adapter for the onstar to keep my door chimes etc. Before I got this car I test drove an 06 Monte and it had the stock radio in it but when you used turn signals the sound level on the stereo would decrease slightly then had an obnoxiously loud turn signal noise, do the adapters cause that if you purchase a cheap one? Does anyone know of a guide or know how the dash comes apart to get the stock stereo out? Sorry for the lengthy post and all, just want to make sure I know what I'm getting myself into before I begin.

 

buy the pac adaptor if you need it. the stock amp would be visibile from inside the trunk right inbetween the rear speakers. make sure u use 0 gaguge wire to that amp and be prepared to get some dimming...unless you got a beefy battery or alternator

 

the box behind the wheel well is the onstar thing.

you won't need to go with 0 gauge, that's going pretty thick for one amp that's going to do somewhere to 700-800 watts rms at the most depending how you wire it.

you would be good with 4 gauge wire that rated at about 1000watts rms, make sure you put that wire directly to the battery or else if you do it off the fuse box you may be looking at some diming.

you will need a harness for your car that accepts onstar and will have the chimes integrated.

 

If your car has a factory amp, it'll be in the trunk under the rear deck between your speakers. I don't know of any guide to taking the dash apart, maybe someone else here might know how to do it.

Couple things

I'm all for using 0ga. wire instead of just what will fit the amp you're putting in now, less voltage drop and room to upgrade to a larger amp in the future if you choose without having to pay for and run new power wire. Smart, smart choice However, it looks like your amp can only accept 4ga. wire so you're either gonna have to use a reducer<---Click me, trim the 0ga. until it fits or use a distribution block<---Click me. Of the above listed suggestions I'd suggest a distribution block. Reason being, it's almost guaranteed that you're gonna want to upgrade your interior speakers and amp them after you hear how badly the bass drowns your mids/highs out so if you got a distribution block you'd be good to go now and in the future when you upgrade. But if you don't think you're gonna upgrade, just get the reducer and save a few bucks.

Whenever you're deciding on what size power wire to get, making that decision based only on the amount of power your amp puts out is not the way to go. You need to also factor in other things like how long said wire will be (from battery to amp location), if said wire will be feeding one amp or if it's possible you will upgrade to at least two amps in the future. If your amp is going to be over 8ft. from your battery then it wouldn't be a good idea to go with 4ga. wire., you'd need 2ga. at least but that's hard to find so 0ga. would be your best bet. And if you have any possibility of adding a second amp in the future, you should be taking that into consideration right now so you don't have to spend more money to buy the larger wire then and have to go through that work to run it all over again. Running 2 amps off a single 4ga. wire is not advised in any way, shape or form so you'd definitely want to go with 0ga.

And please, no matter what you do, DON'T RUN YOUR AMP POWER WIRE OFF THE FUSE BOX, WIRE IT DIRECTLY TO THE BATTERY!

And please don't run that wire UNDER the rubber grommet in the firewall, take the time and do it right by running it THROUGH the grommet.

 

Like I said, go off the battery, the fuse box doesn't guarantee that you're going to get dimming but it is possible.

If you can't go through the grommet, you can go under it, you won't have problems with it, but it is a preference.

4 ga is rated around 1000 watts rms, depending on the quality of the wire that you buy, so that would most likely be plenty for your amp if that's all you're going to go with, and it also gives you space to do a small speaker upgrade if you decided to go that route.

 

I already planned on running 4 gauge directly to the battery, mostly just wanted the onstar questions answered. Not really planning on upgrading the speakers anytime soon unless someone knows of some speakers that sound good with nothing more than wattage supplied by a pioneer HU. I used to have a similar system in a 99 monte 6-7 years back but at the time I had a 1800 rockford amp. During the winter I would have battery problems all the time so I'm not sure I want to run 2 amps, this time around I'm hoping I can get by with a big 3 upgrade and maybe a better battery.

 

Excellent on going directly to the battery! While going off the fuse box doesn't guarantee that you'll have dimming (which wasn't even insinuated here), it does guarantee that the nice new wire you paid so much for won't carry as much current as it could or should since the fuse box gets its power from the battery via 8ga. wire.

Sounds to me like you have no intention on upgrading, but due in part to being unaware that your battery problem in the winter was not due to having an amp hooked up. You may have had something hooked up wrong that was causing the drain, likely even a weak battery, but just the fact that you had an amp hooked up was not the cause of the problem. I've had a system in my car for 6yrs now, two amps, almost 2000 watts, just the battery under my hood and no issues.

Just to clarify, if you're buying wire that shows a wattage rating, it's a cheap wire and shouldn't be considered. That's the same as buying an amp that boats of it's max power rating. Any good wire will be rated by how much current it can carry. But don't take my word for it.........

Recommended Power and Ground Cable Sizes & Speaker Wire Size and Length

NEVER go under a grommet Jmack, not a wise choice at all. A wise man once said "Just because you could, doesn't mean you should."

 

When I first installed my system in my 99 monte my brother criticized me for using 6ga wire, he said "my welder doesn't even use wire that size and it pushes more amps than your amp". He has an el-cheapo 300-600 watt amp that he bought from a pawn shop on 2 12 inch kickers and it actually sounds really good... for having the size of amp he has and a small box. when I had the system in the 99 monte all I had besides the system was a sirius radio that plugged into my cigarette lighter. It turned out to be a godsend because I wasn't driving the car for about a month and I left it on, it drained my battery so far that the trunk button wouldn't open the trunk. My car got broke into and everything was taken one night, the next night they came back for the subs (they were in a bandpass box with the front facing forward, the ports were in the top of the box so that was the only way I could give them breathing room). They couldn't get them out the first night since they didn't have a screwdriver so they came back, neighbors saw them and called me so I chased the bastard down and held him to the ground for 15 minutes while waiting for the cops to get there and walked 2 blocks home to find another kid in my backseat pulling wires off my subs. He ran straight into the cop car as he pulled into the driveway then quickly ran home lol.

Not arguing the fact when it comes to wire size, just stating a funny theory.

 

as far as getting the stock radio out, just take a flat head screwdriver/putty knife AND a crappy shirt or rag and pry between the plastic (dash) and the plastic surround by the stereo. the shirt is optional, but plastic that's scratched all to s*** doesn't impress anyone. behind that plastic there are 6 (9/32) screws to take out and you're ready to pull her on out. If i remember right, you've got to take the climate control unit out to get the radio out so heads up.

--As far as the grommet, i ran it through, sure it takes a little longer, and i haven't ran the wire under before, but i'd rather take 15 more minutes to do it right than have there me a puddle in my passenger foot well. Here's a picture of how i ran my power wire and fuse. . . . don't gotta do it this way, but it'll give you an idea. (4 gauge) -the yellow circle is my fuse

good luck, any more ?'s just ask (just got done with my system about a month ago so it's still pretty fresh)

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Ignorance is bliss