You can retain your steering wheel radio controls (SWC) with an aftermarket radio, assuming your HHR is equipped with SWC. PAC is one manufacturer of SWC adapters. Your first choice is to select an aftermarket radio supported by one of PACs boxes. You also need to decide how the PAC will communicate to your new radio. There is a universal box that uses an LED to transmit the controls to your new radio. This module requires that you 1) have a radio with a remote control, 2) you program the module with the radio's remote, and most importantly 3) you must mount the LED in a location which directly points at your new radio. Due to where the radio is mounted in our HHR, you don't have may places to mount this LED.

I took option 2 and selected a radio that has a wired SWC input. For my Kenwood KDC-X790 I selected the SWI-ALP box. The X790 has a Light Blue wire with a yellow stripe that connected to the SWI-ALPs blue wire with e yellow stripe. The black wire from the SWI-ALP connects to ground, and the red wire to a switched ignition source (or retained accessory power). To connect the SWI-ALP to the factory SWC controls you must wire directly to the factory wiring harness. The green wire connects to the blue wire in position 11 on the radio's 14 pin connector. You then need to connect the white wire with a brown stripe in position 14 on the radio's 16 position connector to the same switched ignition source used for the SWI-ALPs red wire. That's all you need.

My SWI-ALP was already programmed for the X790, hence all I needed to program was which SWC control performed which function on the radio.

Good luck!

 

I was a bit confused about what to do when there are two wires out of the radio. I already had the GMOS LAN 04 and PAC SW1-PS for my existing aftermarket radio but it had the 1/8" plug. I searched everywhere, but no one seemed to know what to do with 2 radio wires. But I found that the SW1-PS 1/8" jack uses tip for signal and ring for ground. Sleeve is unused. Since everything is grounded I just connected to the tip. For the two SW wires, I decided to try SWC1 and it worked.

I now have a new awesome 7" touchscreen DVD, CD, usb, aux, BT, reaview camera Car stereo that cost me less than $100.

It's a Milion F6060B but the wiring is the same for most of this type.

 

Glad a 9 year old dead thread helped!

 

Sometimes that old information is priceless. I just did the passenger seat armrest addition to mine from a 2008 post.

 

I know, that's the awesome part!!! Oldies but goodies!!

 

wait so I have to buy another thing to be able to use my SWC? I have an aftermarket radio with the 2 wires out the back for the SWC and ground. I thought all I had to do was splice the wire to the SWC1 in the 11th position slot???

I have done radios before and thought I had it down pat but this HHR is proving to be a pain. I bought the wiring harness but yet after attaching all correct wires I'm STILL missing a place for the red ACC/12 volt wire to go as well as the SWXC wires from the back of the new radio

 

I guess if your radio is setup to interpret the signals from the SWC. It is one wire, signals vary by a voltage, 0-10V. 2 wires connect one is 10V ref the other is signal.

There are a lot of places to get ACC, the fuse box is right there. Probably be smart to use the RAP (retained accessory power) so the radio stays on until you shut the door.

 

Oh boy RAP... I think I'm in over my head here. Which one is RAP?

 

Whoever sold you the harness should also supply direction. crutchfield.com has a lot of stuff online.