Well I had been trying to troubleshoot my original stereo system and ended up replacing everything. The factory system had bad speakers, one in the rear was dead and the other side only had 50% power plus some static. So I decided to order 4 new Pioneer speakers from Cruchfield since they offered factory direct fit connectors, I did not want to cut into the harness. I started there that solved some of the issues but I was still having less power to the left side and the static remained, now I had to look into replacing the head unit. Once again I didn't want to hack up the factory wiring harness so I searched high and lo. I could have gotten one of those retro sound units in the correct 1.5 DIN size but they did not offer a CD player and IMO are way over priced so I considered a 1 DIN unit with direct fit connectors but decided it would look like it did not belong and would be IMO overly complex. After many hours of searching I found a Delco Pontiac 1.5 Din CD unit Fully refurbished with Bluetooth added that was from 1995 - 2003. luckily my Bird came with the newer 20 (or 21) pin harness so this was a direct plug and play installation, their was lots of back and forth to confirm this before the purchase. Now not only does the system function 100% but it is a big big upgrade over the original equipment. First the old unit (yes I saved it for future refurbishment) The second is the new CD unit with upgraded Bluetooth. Gotta have tunes, life is good

 

Great stuff! I love the fact that you sourced a Pontiac unit. What year is your car? My radio and speakers work great but the cassette is dead - am looking to revive it.

 

My Formula is a 1989. You have to be careful because in 89 GM was transitioning from a 12 pin to 21 pin radio wiring harness plug. Mine just so happened to be the upgraded 21 pin so the newer (later model) head unit was pretty much a plug and play. And yeah, I had to have a Pontiac unit especially since they are the only ones with the reddish backlighting. It's a bonus that it actually says Delco Pontiac right on the faceplate. I'll tell you this unit is a serious upgrade over the old cassette, not just because of it's a CD player with Bluetooth but mainly because the internal amp is much better. I would suggest replacement of your OE speaker's to modern speakers with the cones made out of polyurethane. I used crutchfield to source mine out there were direct drop-in replacements and they supplied all of the necessary wiring adapter so you do not have to splice anything. They know their stuff. If you want me to forward you the contact information to the person I purchase this unit off of just let me know I'll be more than happy to give you a helping hand.

 

Your cassette deck is a Oldsmobile head unit,...... a Custom Cruiser or Cutlass probably.

If there was 1 thing Pontiac radios have in common it's that they all ( seem to ) have red backlighting.

 

Actually it is a Pontiac unit. It says it right above the display on the upper left corner, and yes the back lighting is red just like all of the instruments.

 

To be clear, John was referring to the cassette deck, not your new cd player. I concur with John, that's not a Pontiac Cassette Deck - note the color on the faceplate, all Pontiac radios in that era were gray, not black faceplate.