GM Service Manual Online
For 1990-2009 cars only

Object Number: 868969  Size: B2

Playing the Radio

PWR (Power): Push this knob to turn the system on and off.

VOL (Volume): Turn this knob to increase or to decrease the volume.

DISP (Display): Press this button to switch the display between the radio station frequency and the time. The time can be displayed with the ignition on or off.

SCV (Speed-Compensated Volume): With SCV, your audio system adjusts automatically to make up for road and wind noise as you drive. To get to SCV, push the TUNE/AUDIO knob repeatedly until SPEED VOL appears on the display. Turn the TUNE/AUDIO knob to select OFF, MIN, MED, or MAX. Each higher setting allows for more volume compensation at faster vehicle speeds. Then, as you drive, SCV automatically increases the volume, as necessary, to overcome noise at any speed. The volume level should always sound the same to you as you drive. If you don't want to use SCV, select OFF.

Finding a Station

BAND: Press this button to switch between FM1, FM2, and AM. The display will show your selection.

TUNE: Turn this knob to select a radio station.

SEEK : Press the right or the left arrow to go to the next or to the previous station and stay there. To scan stations, press and hold either SEEK arrow for two seconds until SCAN appears on the display. The radio will go to a station, play for a few seconds, then go on to the next station. Press either SEEK arrow again to stop scanning. To scan preset stations, press and hold either SEEK arrow for more than four seconds until PSCAN and the preset number appear on the display. You will hear a double beep. The radio will go to the first preset station stored on your pushbuttons, play for a few seconds, then go on to the next preset station. Press either SEEK arrow again to stop scanning presets. The radio will seek and scan only to stations that are in the selected band and only to those with a strong signal.

Setting Preset Stations

The six numbered pushbuttons let you return to your favorite stations. You can set up to 18 stations (six FM1, six FM2, and six AM) by performing the following steps:

  1. Turn the radio on.
  2. Press BAND to select FM1, FM2, or AM.
  3. Tune in the desired station.
  4. Press EQ to select the equalization.
  5. Press and hold one of the six numbered pushbuttons. When you hear the radio produce one beep, release the pushbutton. Whenever you press that numbered pushbutton, the station you set will return and the equalization that you selected will be automatically stored for that pushbutton.
  6. Repeat the steps for each pushbutton.

Setting the Tone (Bass/Treble)

AUDIO: Push and release AUDIO until BASS, MID, or TREBLE appears on the display. Then turn the AUDIO knob to increase or to decrease. If a station is weak or noisy, you may want to decrease the treble. To adjust bass, midrange, or treble to the middle position, select BASS, MID, or TREBLE. Then push and hold AUDIO for more than two seconds until you hear a beep. BASS and a zero, MID and a zero, or TREBLE and a zero will appear on the display. To adjust both tone controls and both speaker controls to the middle position, end out of audio mode by waiting five seconds without making any changes. Then push and hold AUDIO for more than two seconds until you hear a beep. ALL CENTERED will appear on the display.

EQ (Equalizer): Press this button to select customized equalization settings designed for country/western, jazz, talk, pop, rock, and classical.

Adjusting the Speakers (Balance/Fade)

AUDIO: To adjust the balance between the right and the left speakers, push and release AUDIO until BAL appears on the display. Then turn the AUDIO knob to move the sound toward the right or the left speakers. A bar graph with indicators will show how the sound is balanced between the right and the left speakers. To adjust the fade between the front and the rear speakers, push and release AUDIO until FADE appears on the display. Then turn the AUDIO knob to move the sound toward the front or the rear speakers. A bar graph with indicators will show how the sound is balanced between the front and rear speakers. To adjust balance or fade to the middle position, select BAL or FADE. Then push and hold AUDIO for more than two seconds until you hear a beep. The indicator will be centered on the display. To adjust both tone controls and both speaker controls to the middle position, end out of audio mode by waiting five seconds without making any changes. Then push and hold AUDIO for more than two seconds until you hear a beep. ALL CENTERED will appear on the display.

Radio Data System (RDS)

Your audio system is equipped with a Radio Data System (RDS). RDS features are available for use only on FM stations that broadcast RDS information.

With RDS, your radio can do the following:

    • Seek to stations broadcasting the selected type of programming
    • Receive announcements concerning local and national emergencies
    • Display messages from radio stations
    • Seek to stations with traffic announcements

This system relies upon receiving specific information from these stations and will only work when the information is available. In rare cases, a radio station may broadcast incorrect information that will cause the radio features to work improperly. If this happens, contact the radio station.

While you are tuned to an RDS station, the station name or the call letters will appear on the display, instead of the frequency. RDS stations may also provide the time of day, a program type (PTY) for current programming, and the name of the program being broadcast.

Finding a Program Type (PTY) Station

To select and find a desired PTY perform the following:

  1. Press P-TYP to activate program type select mode. The PTY symbol will appear on the display.
  2. Turn the AUDIO knob to select a PTY.
  3. Once the desired PTY is displayed, press either SEEK arrow to select the PTY and take you to the PTY's first station.
  4. If you want to go to another station within that PTY and P-TYPE is displayed, press either SEEK arrow once. If the PTY is not displayed, press either SEEK arrow twice to display the PTY and then to go to another station.
  5. Press P-TYP to exit program type select mode.
  6. If PTY times out and is no longer on the display, go back to Step 1.

If both PTY and TRAF are on, the radio will search for stations with the selected PTY and traffic announcements.

SCAN: You can scan the stations within a PTY by performing the following:

  1. Press P-TYP to activate program type select mode. The PTY symbol will appear on the display.
  2. Turn the AUDIO knob to select a PTY.
  3. Once the desired PTY is displayed, press and hold either SEEK arrow, and the radio will begin scanning the stations in the PTY.
  4. Press and hold either SEEK arrow to stop at a station.

If both PTY and TRAF are on, the radio will scan for stations with the selected PTY and traffic announcements.

BAND (Alternate Frequency): Alternate frequency allows the radio to switch to a stronger station with the same program type. To turn alternate frequency on, press and hold BAND for two seconds. AF ON will appear on the display. The radio may switch to stronger stations. To turn alternate frequency off, press and hold BAND again for two seconds. AF OFF will appear on the display. The radio will not switch to other stations.

RDS Messages

ALERT!: Alert warns of local or national emergencies. When an alert announcement comes on the current radio station, ALERT! will appear on the display. You will hear the announcement, even if the volume is muted or a CD is playing. If a CD is playing, play will stop during the announcement. You will not be able to turn off alert announcements. ALERT! will not be affected by tests of the emergency broadcast system. This feature is not supported by all RDS stations.

INFO (Information): If the current station has a message, INFO will appear on the display. Press this button to see the message. The message may display the artist, song title, call in phone numbers, etc. If the whole message is not displayed, parts of the message will appear every three seconds. To scroll through the message at your own speed, press the INFO button repeatedly. A new group of words will appear on the display with each press. Once the complete message has been displayed, INFO will disappear from the display until another new message is received. The old message can be displayed by pressing the INFO button. You can view an old message until a new message is received or a different station is tuned to.

TRAF (Traffic): If TRAF appears on the display, the tuned station broadcasts traffic announcements. To receive the traffic announcement from the tuned station, press this button. Brackets will be displayed around TRAF and when a traffic announcement comes on the tuned radio station you will hear it. If the current tuned station does not broadcast traffic announcements, press this button and the radio will seek to a station that does. When the radio finds a station that broadcasts traffic announcements, the radio will stop and brackets will be displayed around TRAF. When a traffic announcement comes on the tuned radio station you will hear it. If no station is found, NO TRAFFIC will appear on the display. If the brackets are on the display and TRAF is not, you can then press the TRAF button to remove the brackets or use the TUNE knob or the SEEK arrows to go to a station that supports traffic announcements. If no station is found, NO TRAFFIC will appear on the display. Your radio will play the traffic announcements even if the volume is low. Your radio will interrupt the play of a CD if the last tuned station broadcasts traffic announcements.

Radio Messages

CAL (CALIBRATE): Your audio system has been calibrated for your vehicle from the factory. If CAL appears on the display it means that your radio has not been configured properly for your vehicle and must be returned to the dealer for service.

LOCKED: This message is displayed when the THEFTLOCK system has locked up. You must return to your dealer for service.

Playing a CD

Insert a CD partway into the slot, label side up. The player will pull it in. The CD should begin playing. If you want to insert a CD while the ignition or the radio is off, first press the eject or the DISP button.

If you turn off the ignition or radio with a CD in the player, it will stay in the player. When you turn on the ignition or system, the CD will start playing where it stopped, if it was the last selected audio source.

As each new track starts to play, the track number will appear on the display.

The CD player can play the smaller 8 cm single CDs with an adapter ring. Full-size CDs and the smaller CDs are loaded in the same manner.

If playing a CD-R the sound quality may be reduced due to CD-R quality, the method of recording, the quality of the music that has been recorded, and the way the CD-R has been handled. You may experience an increase in skipping, difficulty in finding tracks, and/or difficulty in loading and ejecting. If these problems occur try a known good CD.

Do not add paper labels to CDs, they could get caught in the CD player.

Do not play 3 inch CDs without a standard adapter CD.

If an error appears on the display, see "CD Messages" later in this section.

1(Reverse): Press and hold this pushbutton to quickly reverse within a track. Release it to play the passage. You will hear sound at a reduced level.

2 (Forward): Press and hold this pushbutton to quickly advance within a track. Release it to play the passage. You will hear sound at a reduced level.

4 RDM (Random): Press this pushbutton to hear the tracks in random, rather than sequential, order. Press RDM again to turn off random play.

DISP (Display): Press this button to see which track is playing. Press it again within five seconds to see how long it has been playing. To change the default on the display (track or elapsed time), press this button until you see the display you want, then hold the button until the display flashes. The select display will now be the default.

SEEK : Press the left arrow to go to the start of the current track if more than eight seconds have played. If you hold the button or press it more than once, the player will continue moving backward through the CD. Press the right arrow to go to the next track. If you hold the button or press it more than once, the player will continue moving forward through the CD. To scan CD tracks, press and hold either SEEK arrow for two seconds until SCAN appears on the display and you hear a beep. The CD will go to the next track, play for a few seconds, then go on to the next track. The sound will mute and SCAN and the track number will appear on the display. The CD will only scan forward. Press either SEEK arrow again to stop scanning.

BAND: Press this button to listen to the radio when a CD is playing. The inactive CD will remain safely inside the radio for future listening.

CD: Press this button to play a CD when listening to the radio.

(Eject): Press this button to eject a CD. Eject may be activated with either the ignition or radio off. CDs may be loaded with the radio and ignition off if this button is pressed first.

CD Messages

CHECK CD: If this message appears on the display, it could be for one of the following reasons:

    • It is very hot. When the temperature returns to normal, the CD should play.
    • You are driving on a very rough road. When the road becomes smooth, the CD should play.
    • The CD is dirty, scratched, wet, or upside down.
    • The air is very humid. If so, wait about an hour and try again.
    • There may have been a problem while burning the CD.
    • The label may be caught in the CD player.

If the CD is not playing correctly, for any other reason, try a known good CD.

If any error occurs repeatedly or if an error cannot be corrected, contact your dealer. If your radio displays an error message, write it down and provide it to your dealer when reporting the problem.