i have a 2000 LS and was thinking about ordering a new key fob since the contacts on my old one are worn off to the point where only the alarm button works. I know you can program the fobs yourself through the radio, but I have an aftermarket pioneer radio. Is there still a way to program the new fob without going to a dealer? I still have the old radio but the cassette deck stopped working which is why I took it out. Should I hook the old one back up? Or is there a way to have both hooked up at the same time? I’d like to keep the pioneer one hooked up after I program the fob. Thanks

 

You need to hook up the original to program the new fobs. Plural. Do you really want to go to this much effort again the next time you wear one out?

No, you can't have both head units hooked up unless you want to run another wiring harness, and I don't know that the car puts out enough amperage to run both at the same time anyway. And why would you want to?

 

I figure I won’t ever have to program a new fob after this time because the car has 230,000 miles so it wouldn’t be as big of a deal to swap them just to reprogram a fob. Only reason I asked about having them both hooked up is because my steering wheel volume and channel buttons don’t work since I put the new radio in and every once and a while my security system gets tripped. I read somewhere (can’t remember where) that on some cars you can run the second radio to get your steering controls back and stop the security system from activating

 

So get an unlocked factory radio and solve all your problems at once. Unless your Pioneer has XM, it is in no way superior to the factory unit.

 

I can't be of any help with reprogramming fobs, but I believe there is a way to run both at the same time. Metra had a harness called a 2003T which allowed you to run your aftermarket radio up front and relocate the stock one somewhere in the back (although it's just a harness, so you'd be on your own for rigging up a mount). It let you keep all of the factory functionality, but also be able to run an aftermarket deck.

I only did a couple before they started coming out with the adapter boxes (gmos, etc) that eliminated the need to keep the stock deck, but they probably still sell them if you're interested in it. Just make sure you check their application guide before buying, I haven't done car audio in almost 10 years now.

 

I’ll definitely look into the Metra harnesses to see if I can try to rig something up and maybe I’ll post it on here somewhere when I finish it. It wouldn’t be a big deal to revert back to the OEM one except the Pioneer one I have now has satellite radio, so I don’t really want that subscription to go to waste. Thanks for the replies

 

I have one of these for my 02....






I was gonna just put my factory radio in the trunk. if I ever get around to it.