problem with pac oem-1 and '98 grand prix

I searched and read many posts after buying my riocar 20G, and it appeared that the pac oem-1 would work with my factory bose amp and speakers. I finally got everying together today, and the volume is WAY too low. At 0db can just hear music a little louder than a whisper. I turned the gain all the way up on the oem-1 and it barely went any louder. Has anyone run into this problem? What do I need to do? Did I waste $80 on this stupid thing?

Does your 98 grand prix actually have a factory amplifier? The PAC OEM-1 only works when there is a factory amplifier already in the car. Without a factory amp, the OEM-1 becomes, essentially, the tiniest, weakest amplifier in history.

Yes it has the "uplevel" audio system consisting of 8 speakers and some sort of bose amplifier. I have no idea what the specs are on the amp. My only thought is if the "amp on" wire isn't connected properly would this prevent the amp from providing power? I will double check that tomorrow.

My only thought is if the "amp on" wire isn't connected properly would this prevent the amp from providing power?

That might do it, yeah. That's what happened with the install I did. I had to connect both the amp and antenna wires to the empeg's blue amp remote wire before it worked.

Of course, in that situation, it made no sound at all until the blue wire was hooked up...

Which plugs did you get with the OEM-1? There is a plethora of "A" and "B" harnesses available, which ones did you get?

If you used an AMP-UNV cable check this http://www.go2pac.net/pdf_files/oem1-2/oembull7.pdf

I used the amp-gm21 and rad-rca cables. I checked the amp turn on lead this morning and it is wired correctly, in fact on the amp-gm21 harness the antenna and amp on leads are connected together.

I have a sneaky suspicion you need an AMP-21B not AMP-21. Email PAC directly to confirm. I got this info on their website. My Denali also needed a "special" GM cable. This just means that some of the GM BOSE systems are wired differently I think because of different options, amps etc. So all the harness are 21 pin but the wires are not all in the same positions.

I'm not sure how different this cable could be. The speakers work but are low, so the speaker out lines are connected properly. The only other wires are accessory power, memory power, amp on, and dimmer. These are connected to the right spots.

There must be a reason why you require a "special" harness (atleast I think you require one). I have all the wiring info at home for my system. I'll check tonight to see what was wired differently for my BOSE system. You could probably get a better answer by asking PAC what the difference between the 21 and 21B is. It should be fairly easy to rewire the harness. Atleast it can't hurt to inquire.

If you do happen to email them could you do me a favor and ask them when there Onstar adaptor is coming out. I've been harassing them enuf

Could you post the email address? The pac web page isn't loading properly for me and I can't find any contact info.

techsupport@go2pac.com

Sent email to pac and have the gm21b cable on order. I'll let you know when I hear/get anything new.

Well PAC was worthless in their reply, so I called the place I bought it from, tune-town in sandusky, OH. They said the gm21 is for '88 and up, while the gm21b is for '98 and up. It sure would have been nice if the gm21 was labeled '88-'97. Anyway, I got the gm21b and the volume is still way too low and also only the rear speakers work. Nice step backwards. I'm afraid I may have to bite the bullet and buy an amp.

Has anyone used the audiolink powerdriver for this type of install? Is it better than the pac oem1?

Sorry to here that. You may want to try to get them to replace the OEM-1 unit to make sure its working. For the price you think they would do that.

Well I've found the answer to my problem. The "premium" 8-speaker system in my car is powered entirely by the stock delco stereo with an additional amp that adds some power to the rear 6x9's only. Therefore replacing the stereo with my riocar will require a new amp. Nuts.