Do I have to buy a special harness ? When I have my new Alpine HU and wire up my amp, if the installer uses the power wire that would normally run the stock HU, will I have the RAP feature still ? I guess i need to know this before giving the stuff to the installer.

Isn't there a easy place to get this RAP power ? I installed a amp in another gm car and just found a fuse that was RAP and tapped into it. Anyone know which one that is on a 02 C5 ?

Any tricks i should know too, I want this install to go as easy as possible for the installer....

I have read the FAQ's... and have made notes for the installer....

thanks Tim

PS what are some decent sounding , decent priced speakers for the doors and back speakers of a Z06....... I guess first the tweedlers replacement , leaving the bose bass. Is that just a easy swap, kinda cut and paste type install ? how about the rears ? As of know I'm going to be stock with a new HU and a Sub-box with a ARC audio 10".... i know I will want better sound soon and would like to replace the front stock speakers without running another amp if possible....

 

I went through the same thing when I changed out the Bose for my Alpine. I tried several different things and none of them worked. Finally I asked the forum and was told that Top Down Tech makes a device called The Accessory Valet that will do what you want to do. I bought one and it works great and is very easy to hook up. Top Down Tech is a supporting vendor and is listed on the side of the page. They are great people to work with.

 

What about tapping into the electric windows relay? They work after the car is off, and until the door is opened too ?

 

I thought that I could find the power wire in the electric window switch that would still be hot with the key off. I checked it out with a test light and could not find it, very frustrating. I got tired of trying to find it and bought the Accessory Valet for $100 and got it over with. The Accessory valet ties into the factory harness. It goes to an orange wire in the factory radio plug. There are two orange wires in the plug, one out at the end of the plug and one kind of in the middle of the plug. The one in the middle is the one you use. This is a data line and the Accessory Valet decodes the signal and supplies the the info to turn off the RAP. It is a very small unit and only like 4 or 5 wires to hook up, very simple.

 

I agree with bfhawki 100%

The problem with tapping into RAP in a C5 is that the BCM isn't really what controls the RAP power output. There is a serial data line in the car that is connected to all of the individual computers. When you turn off your car, but before a door is opened, one of those computers (I assume it's the BCM) sends out a signal to the others on that data line that RAP is supposed to be activated. Each individual computer then allows it's device to work until a door is opened.

If you still have the stock Bose HU installed then you can tap into a Bose amp power supply to power any aftermarket audio devices, but if you remove the Bose HU then you loose any RAP options that don't involve an aftermarket gizmo that 'listens in' on the serial data line.

Check out Post #9 of the C5 FAQ thread for more details, or check out the door schematics in the My Corvette Photos link under my avatar to try it out for yourself.

FYI, I'm also currently using the Accessory Valet, and it works great. And I also tried a cheaper one from a different company first, but it didn't work properly. The one I tried was made by Blitz (??? on the exact name, but I do remember that it was in a yellow box and it didn't work). If the $100 doesn't scare you away then the Top Down Tech product is the way to go.