# Installing pac44 and removing floor pannels



## Cruzing14 (May 9, 2015)

Hey, been doing a lot of research on installing a system in my car and would like to double check what I believe. I plan on running the power wire through the gormet that has the 2 bolts with foam cover. I believe I read its the clutch cable. For the power wire I'm running an add a circuit from the fuse box. 

-For the pac is it a simple plug in, plug RCAs into it and run them down the other side? I've heard of several people having to splice to get stuff to work?

-How do the floor pannels come up? Can't find anything on them and want to know how they move for sure before I start prying.

Thanks


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## hificruzer226 (Mar 27, 2013)

For you 12v run that to your battery.
For pulling up your panel get a nice pry tool you just pull up except on the b pillar(the panel your seat belt goes through)
For the pac 








If you you are adding a amp just plug the rcas in it. Very simple


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## hificruzer226 (Mar 27, 2013)

Aa-gm44


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

There is nothing simple with that install so stop lying to the OP's Hifi ..
Just because you can put that POS Loc in with yer eyes closed .. you could atleast let them know that they will have to organize the pac on the sides of the H U in order to reinstall the H U .. 

And those leads are too short for comfort ..


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## hificruzer226 (Mar 27, 2013)

For a amp turn on I would recommend the green yellow wire on the back of our factory radio its the amp turn on wire. I use that for my cruze even though I dont have the Pioneer system. I think its pin 43


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## Cruzing14 (May 9, 2015)

I'm running the remote line from the fuse box, adding a add circuit. Will I still have to wire up the power and ground on the PAC? I read if you don't use the remote wire on the pac you don't have wire up the power and ground and the RCAs will still work.

-Is this true?

Edit:Originally typed on a malfunctioning phone.


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## hificruzer226 (Mar 27, 2013)

I would wire it up as stated in the manual.


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## Cruzing14 (May 9, 2015)

hificruzer226 said:


> For you 12v run that to your battery.
> For pulling up your panel get a nice pry tool you just pull up except on the b pillar(the panel your seat belt goes through)
> For the pac
> 
> ...


Quick double check to see if where on the same page. 

1A. If I'm only using the RCAs I don't need to ground or hook the power wire up on the pac?
1B. I've heard of people not grounding there pacs and having static or a buzz. Will I have that problem even if grounded properly? I can't and won't tolerate the buzz.

2. Instead of running another wire under my hood, am I able to hook the power wire up to fuse 7 with a add a circuit?

3. When grounding it can i just twist the two black wires together and ground them as one?

-Thanks


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## Cruzing14 (May 9, 2015)

brian v said:


> There is nothing simple with that install so stop lying to the OP's Hifi ..
> Just because you can put that POS Loc in with yer eyes closed .. you could atleast let them know that they will have to organize the pac on the sides of the H U in order to reinstall the H U ..
> 
> And those leads are too short for comfort ..


Thanks for not beating around the bush and being straight about it being a pain to install. I figured it would be from all the posts I've been reading. How did you power and ground your PAC? Do you have the buzzing issue?


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## Cruzing14 (May 9, 2015)

Installed pac and hooked ground and power wire up. Amp has power when I put on a power meter. But the status light is off and the sub doesn't play? Is the remote Wire not working? I ran it from the pac, and use the add cirrcut for the power wire.


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## Cruzing14 (May 9, 2015)

After taking a wire from the power to remote on the amp the light kicked on, but still nothing through the subs since the RCAs are not working either. Something to do with the pac. I'm grounded to the frame and power from the fuse box. What am I missing.


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## iedgar10 (Sep 25, 2014)

Cruzing14 said:


> After taking a wire from the power to remote on the amp the light kicked on, but still nothing through the subs since the RCAs are not working either. Something to do with the pac. I'm grounded to the frame and power from the fuse box. What am I missing.


did you make sure the volume levels on the pac weren't turned down? 

Also, if you're using an ADD A FUSE to power on your amp, you do NOT need to ground/power anything on the PAC. Leave the pigtail cables alone. I believe the power/ground cables on the pac are only needed if you're using the remote wire coming from the pac. 

Also, if you're using an add-a-fuse make sure YOU ADD A FUSE. When I bought my add-a-fuse I assumed I would use one fuse for both. No, the add-a-fuse has two fuse slots, you need to buy another fuse. Luckily, i happened to put my fuse where my amp lead was so I didn't realize this until a month later when my passenger power port wouldn't work.


GROUNDED TO FRAME AND POWER TO FUSE BOX
You're talking about grounding the amp to the frame of the car and your REMOTE power wire is coming from an add-a-fuse in the front, right?


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## iedgar10 (Sep 25, 2014)

Cruzing14 said:


> Quick double check to see if where on the same page.
> 
> 1A. If I'm only using the RCAs I don't need to ground or hook the power wire up on the pac?
> 1B. I've heard of people not grounding there pacs and having static or a buzz. Will I have that problem even if grounded properly? I can't and won't tolerate the buzz.
> ...


1a- you don't need to do anything to the loose pigtail cables on the pac if you're using an add-a-fuse for the remote on your amp.
1b- run your rcas opposite (and away from other live wires - passenger side) of your power (drivers side) and use quality rcas and you shouldn't have a problem with this. 
2- You ONLY need a quality power cable coming from under your hood. Some more knowledgeable people suggest you also run a ground cable, but it isn't necessary IMO. Ground somewhere in the trunk.
3-No. NO. NO. Don't twist anything back into the PAC. I think I remember reading something like that when I did my install but it didn't make sense then and it still doesn't make sense now. 

-run power wire WITH A FUSE within 12 inches of battery 
-run ground cable from ground pillar on trunk - be sure to scrape off paint 
-run blue remote wire from fuse 7 using ADD A FUSE - be sure to ADD a fuse! or just switch the fuse from one slot to the next if your amp doesn't power on and you don't have a second fuse 
--------------you're done with the power side. 

-install PAC LOC harness and remove casing off pac if needed and hide PAC behind mesh over glove box. You may need to cut the tape holding the LOC cables together. THIS IS THE HARDEST MOST FRUSTRATING PART
-be sure your volume levels are up on the PAC. I personally didn't touch them, i left them all the way up. 
-run RCA cables from either the FRONT or REAR side connections on PAC. Note that if you run from front, when you fade to rear on your stereo, your sub will cut off along with the front speakers, and vise versa. 
-run RCA cables to amp ....you don't need to remove anything past pillar B (the one with the seat belt)....i didn't. You can use tension to pull the cables into the trim and a wire hangar to run cables underneath seat. 
-plug in your RCAS, keep your gain low to avoid damage and adjust as necessary later once you have everything in place


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## hificruzer226 (Mar 27, 2013)

are you metering the remote line on your amp and getting anything above 9v?


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## hificruzer226 (Mar 27, 2013)

iedgar10 said:


> did you make sure the volume levels on the pac weren't turned down?


forgot that a couple times lol


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## KENSTV123 (Sep 21, 2014)

Verify you are getting the 12V at the pac, if you are then the pac is burned out on the remote turn on, I burned mine out and had to fix it, it's a transistor that opens, depending on which head unit you have you may have a remote lead, it's only on the pioneer equipped radios, the pac can be fixed easily if you have soldering skills


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## hificruzer226 (Mar 27, 2013)

KENSTV123 said:


> , depending on which head unit you have you may have a remote lead, it's only on the pioneer equipped radios


Actually its on both its what I am using and I have the non pioneer radio with mylink no nav.


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## KENSTV123 (Sep 21, 2014)

hificruzer226 said:


> Actually its on both its what I am using and I have the non pioneer radio with mylink no nav.


Yeah probably just firmware differences in those radios-besides the display, I opened the XM B&W display model I have and the circuit board is even stripped of the remote turn on, the pac just looks for the DC on the speaker lines and the transistor used in the pac is barely up to the task, one quick mis-probe and no remote out


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## Cruzing14 (May 9, 2015)

After trying 3 ground points of the frame and 2 ways of powering the pac I declared the item defective. Even with it grounded and power the pac would send no remote line power or audio through RCA wires. I tested this by removing remote line and jumping a wire from the positive terminal to the remote terminal on the amp, the amp powered up but played no music because of no RCA signal.

Have amp and sub installed properly. Got the remote line and the RCA siting in glove box. Might just buy a new head unit on payday and have my amp running in under 20 minutes. I don't think I'll order another pac, how would I install a LOC would it be worth not getting the new head unit?


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## KENSTV123 (Sep 21, 2014)

Cruzing14 said:


> After trying 3 ground points of the frame and 2 ways of powering the pac I declared the item defective. Even with it grounded and power the pac would send no remote line power or audio through RCA wires. I tested this by removing remote line and jumping a wire from the positive terminal to the remote terminal on the amp, the amp powered up but played no music because of no RCA signal.
> 
> Have amp and sub installed properly. Got the remote line and the RCA siting in glove box. Might just buy a new head unit on payday and have my amp running in under 20 minutes. I don't think I'll order another pac, how would I install a LOC would it be worth not getting the new head unit?


Something wrong with this picture here, your saying you have 12V at the pac power lead in (yellow) and ground is connected (blue/black OR black) ---do you see the red led light ??? if you have power and the led does not light you do have a defective pac, burned mine out with one quick probe short without even a spark, the transistor used to switch the remote lead on is rather small, you can replace it with a more robust one with the right skills, more important is you say still no signal with the amp turned on, the pac is a passive device as far as the line output conversion so it should work even without power and you will get signal to amp so you MUST either have a pinched or bad rca cable or the slide switches on the pac wrong--what do you have them set at ???


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