# 2005 Pathfinder - Sirius Sat?



## swdude987 (Jan 7, 2005)

Does anyone have the Factory Sirius Sat installed on their 2005 PF? Where is the antenna placed? Any pics?

Also, who has installed an aftermarket Sirius Plug & Play unit? Where did you put the antenna and how did you wire the unit into the radio? Did you use the PAC device?

Thanks!! Bryan


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## TurboedMSP (Feb 14, 2005)

Someone correct me if I am wrong but the back of the radio should have a plug to plug in the satellite receiver of sirius or the xm module, no need for the pac device. The antenna should be able to mount anywhere even possible to mount in the car somewhere if needed.

I wanted the sirius option with my new pathfinder but the sales guy didn't know anything about it and it was late closing the deal on my new pathfinder.

Anyone know if where I can buy the sirius receiver for the 2005 pathfinder bose system??

Thanks


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## tlrmax (Apr 8, 2005)

I jus bought the sirius receiver from grubbsperformance.com for 284 plus shipping and they have them in stock. I have asked the delaership and grubbs where to plug in the receiver and I get different answers. The dealer says it is the dash by the hood release for the plug.Grubbs says its in the back on the drivers rear c pillar. I receive my satellite receiver tomorrow and I guess I will have to take it apart and try to find the plug.


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## swdude987 (Jan 7, 2005)

On the 2005 PF I know there is a connector on the back of the radio for the Factory Sat. What I was looking for is where the dealer installs the Antenna. Two different dealers gave me different answers.

Plus I was thinking of going away from the Factory and getting an aftermarket PNP model. So I would need a PAC for that since it does not plug into the radio.

I hope this helps to clarify what I was asking.


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## TurboedMSP (Feb 14, 2005)

tlrmax said:


> I jus bought the sirius receiver from grubbsperformance.com for 284 plus shipping and they have them in stock. I have asked the delaership and grubbs where to plug in the receiver and I get different answers. The dealer says it is the dash by the hood release for the plug.Grubbs says its in the back on the drivers rear c pillar. I receive my satellite receiver tomorrow and I guess I will have to take it apart and try to find the plug.



The satellite antenna should plug into the satellite receiver that you just purchased and then run the cable with the antenna to your mounting spot (wherever you choose.) I had to install a satellite receiver in my mazda to a kenwood satellite ready radio and this is how the install was. so I am thinking it shouldn't be much different. It was really easy.


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## tlrmax (Apr 8, 2005)

I already installed my sirius sat receiver in my 05 pf. I found the plug under the dash on drivers side. It is a rectangular white plug taped to another harness. Then I put the antenna in the back on the roof on left side and I ran the antenna wire along the top inside of headliner. I had about 6inches of cable left. Total time to install and call sirius to activate is one hr time. Also when you activate tell sirius that you qualify for 3months free and free activation.


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## swdude987 (Jan 7, 2005)

Which antenna did you use? Any pics? Thanks!!


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## swdude987 (Jan 7, 2005)

Has anyone used the Sigma Antenna - Interior Glass? Does not go on the outside at all.


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## tlrmax (Apr 8, 2005)

I used the little kenwood sirius antenna. Iplaced on the roof in the back on left side. You wont notice unless u look for it and youre taller than the roof line. I know they sell a micro antenna which is smaller but I couldnt find it and it costs more.


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## millermt (Jan 19, 2005)

*Sigma Antenna and Sirius in 05 Pathfinder*



swdude987 said:


> Has anyone used the Sigma Antenna - Interior Glass? Does not go on the outside at all.



I purchased the Sirius Tuner Kit and Sigma on glass antenna from mynissanparts.com. The price for the tuner was $274 and the antenna was $67 even. I had overnight shipping and I received it today. The installation was fairly easy. I have a 05 LE with Nav and DVD. 

There have been concerns about how big the Sigma on glass antenna is and I can say that it is not obstrusive at all. It fits perfectly in the meshed part of the windshield surrounding the rear view mirror. I stuffed the cable carefully into the headliner and pushed some adhesive in every few inches to keep it in place. In my vehicle the HU was prewired for Sat radio and the connector was located by the parking brake where it was taped up with another bundle of wires. 

The tuner unit itself is about 7 x 4 and about 3/4 thick. The antenna cable terminates into a small fiber like connector which clips into a splitter which then runs into the tuner with antenna inputs for Sat and terrestial signals. Getting the cable down the door pillar was fairly straightforward. I removed the handle from the pillar by prying the small clips open and then removing the two screws holding it to the frame. The pillar trim could then be pulled out slightly allowing the cable to be fed thru. I also pulled away the door seal from the body allowing access behind the lower door frame trim. 

The only real dilemma was where to put the unit. I had to make room for the parking brake to have free and clear travel and not bind any other cables. I eventually tie wrapped the unit at the outside of the swivel point mechanism for the parking brake. This allowed the unit to be out of the way and be reasonably secure. There was really no other choice since the unit was to big to fit anywhere else and the cable was not long enough to run to another location. Total installation time was only about 1 hr. although 20 min was spent just getting through to a cust. service rep @ Sirius to activate the account. Once activated it took about 10 min. to have the unit download the channels. The sound is excellent.

The user interface on the NAV display could be improved but it is tolerable. The CAT/FOLDER buttons serve to change categories such as ROCK, POP, JAZZ, etc. Once you change categories, pressing the SEEK/TRACK buttons will fast forward the channel selection to the first channel for that GENRE, from there you can use the tuner knob on the dash to increment the channel by 1. The seek track buttons will only forward / rewind to your next / previous preset channel. The radio presets work as they do for AM/FM and are easily configured for Sirius. 

Overall, I was impressed by the ease of installation. My dealer qouted me $600 for the installation and parts and said he could not get access to the parts for at least 3-4 months. I found the parts in an afternoon and thanks to mynissanparts.com was able to have them the next day. BTW, don't purchase the Sirius tuner bracket for $3. It is not neccesary and actually won't fit if you are trying to mount it near the parking brake pedal where I had to.

One last thing, the acquisition time is great, no major delays when starting the car. Almost as fast as the CD player spinning up. I have had no dropouts so far, but that will be put to the test as I am driving to the mountains of NC this weekend where there may be some obstructions to the sat and terrestial antennas. I will let you know my results. 

If anyone would like pics, post a reply and I will see if I can snap some post-installation pics for you.

millermt
05 Pathfinder LE


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## TurboedMSP (Feb 14, 2005)

I would like to see pictures.

Thanks


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## cwescapexlt4x4 (Feb 18, 2005)

TurboedMSP said:


> I would like to see pictures.
> 
> Thanks


As a protential buyer of the PF and possible Sat. I would also love to see pics if possible.
Thanks! :thumbup:


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## Fartknocker (Sep 21, 2005)

cwescapexlt4x4 said:


> As a protential buyer of the PF and possible Sat. I would also love to see pics if possible.
> Thanks! :thumbup:


I have seen so many posts about installing Sirius/Xm in the 2005 Pathfinder but no one has ever gone into detail or provided instructions to do it...so here goes!

I don't have pictures but I did find the instructions online for the 2005 Pathfinder sirus radio install and have installed the until myself last night.

*SIRIUS INSTALL INSTUCTIONS for 2005 PATHFINDER W/ BOSE:* 
http://www.leeparts.com/instructions/2005pathsat.pdf 

I bought the tuner from Grubbs Performance for $219: 
http://www.grubbsperformance.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=999U9

I bought the Terk-Mini antenna from Amazon for $33:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...ref=sr_1_1/102-1342843-6052958?_encoding=UTF8

I bought the tuner bracket from mynissanpart.com for $14.50:
http://www.mynissanparts.com/pc-711-78-satellite-radio-hardware.aspx

All of these vendors had quick shipping. Both Grubbs and MyNissanParts shipped the same day I ordered and had the parts in 2-3 days via UPS.

Here are my instructions for the install. 

1. Start with the antenna. I placed mine on the roof directly in the rear of the truck in the center (follow directions with the antenna for lead length/adhesive. etc). I pulled some of the weather stripping away from the rear door so I could run the antenna into the car. USE ELECTRICAL TAPE around the metal edges underneath the weatherstripping so you don't cut the wire. From there I just tucked the antenna wire under the plastic trim on the inside of the car, leading to the driver side. Keep tucking the antenna wire into the top most trim all the way to the driver side pillar and then down to the emergency brake.

2. Follow the PDF directions and remove everything they say (it is all needed). You will have to remove some kick panels, an electrical box, unclip a large wire strand and unwrap the bus cable.

3. Attach the bracket to the tuner. I wish I had pictures for that because the pdf picture is not correct. The tuner label will be on the OUTSIDE and the inputs to the tuner are DOWN. The largest bracket goes on the RIGHT side.

4. Get and 12mm ratchet and a utility light and crawl under. The right nut is very hard to see. It is on the driver side high above emergency brake. Feel around for it. Take that nut off. The other nut is easier to see but is VERY tight to get into. It is located right where the electrical box is that they had you unscrew. Take off that nut. 

5. Place the tuner on the exposed bolts (remember label out/inputs down). Tighten up the nuts to secure everything in place. 

6. Attach the antenna and bus cable to the tuner (there are two inputs for a harness but the bus cable only fits in one. No idea what the other input is for).

7. Put everything back together and back outta the garage. Call sirius/go online (I do it online) to activate and you are good to go (took 2 mintues online and had channels in about 1 minute)!

All in all it took me about an hour to install the tuner (if you have the right directions) and maybe 15 minutes for the antenna. If you enjoy farting around on cars this is an easy project. If you don't have the install directions for the bracket I can guarantee you will NOT figure this out. I had the directions for a 2004, not 2005 (Thanks Grubbs!) and nothing matched and I couldn't figure where to mount the thing. Finally found the 2005 directions online and then it all went smooth.

My wife has had a FM modulated XACT radio in her car and that works pretty well. I have used her unit in the pathfinder on long trips and it also worked fine. The major drawback is having to change the FM channel A LOT due to interference. In the city you never have to change it but traveling you almost always do. 

As for the clarity. There is no comparison between the direct plug in and FM modulated...the OEM direct is much clearer than the FM version. 

The controls are OK. Press the radio button once and you are there (FM-->SAT-->AM). The Category button lets you browse the categories and then press seek to go to that category. Use the tune button to change channels. Press the tune button to change the display (channel name/artist/song, etc). You can then use your ABC presets to keep you favorite channels. 

The only thing I like better about the XACT controller is you can browse what is playing before actually changing the channel. 

good luck! :thumbup:


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## thrbek (Oct 27, 2005)

TurboedMSP said:


> Someone correct me if I am wrong but the back of the radio should have a plug to plug in the satellite receiver of sirius or the xm module, no need for the pac device. The antenna should be able to mount anywhere even possible to mount in the car somewhere if needed.
> 
> I wanted the sirius option with my new pathfinder but the sales guy didn't know anything about it and it was late closing the deal on my new pathfinder.
> 
> ...


Not sure about the plug on the rear of the head, but I DO know that you need to have the BOSE 6-Disk head in the 2005 if you want to add the factory Satellite radio package. You should be able to control everything through the head. As soon as you hook up the factory Satellite radio box to the head, a "Sattelite" option will apear along with the FM1, FM2, AM, etc. functions on the Radio button.

Good luck...I'm thinking about adding Sattelite...just in the early stages of research.

-T


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## thrbek (Oct 27, 2005)

TurboedMSP said:


> The satellite antenna should plug into the satellite receiver that you just purchased and then run the cable with the antenna to your mounting spot (wherever you choose.) I had to install a satellite receiver in my mazda to a kenwood satellite ready radio and this is how the install was. so I am thinking it shouldn't be much different. It was really easy.



I've seen diagrams...(can't remember where now)...that show the installation of the antenna on the rear of the vehicle above the rear window, on the roof...just behind the roof-rack.

They show running the wiring up the front-left pillar, then along the roof trim on the driver's side, then across the trim above the rear window...then out through the weatherstrip in the center of the rear-window...and out onto the roof.

Good luck.

SEND PICTURES WHEN YOU GET IT INSTALLED.


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## Fartknocker (Sep 21, 2005)

thrbek said:


> Not sure about the plug on the rear of the head, but I DO know that you need to have the BOSE 6-Disk head in the 2005 if you want to add the factory Satellite radio package. You should be able to control everything through the head. As soon as you hook up the factory Satellite radio box to the head, a "Sattelite" option will apear along with the FM1, FM2, AM, etc. functions on the Radio button.
> 
> Good luck...I'm thinking about adding Sattelite...just in the early stages of research.
> 
> -T



There is no plug on the head unit. There is a n-Bus cable the runs from the head unit to the parking brake (wrapped to a large bundle of wires). It is very easy to see.


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## Coltfan18 (Jan 4, 2006)

*Thanks for the info - question*



Fartknocker said:


> I have seen so many posts about installing Sirius/Xm in the 2005 Pathfinder but no one has ever gone into detail or provided instructions to do it...so here goes!
> 
> I don't have pictures but I did find the instructions online for the 2005 Pathfinder sirus radio install and have installed the until myself last night.
> 
> ...


Do you know if it's the same for the 06s'

Thanks,

:thumbup:


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## kitchenboy (Jan 11, 2006)

My wifes 05 pathfinder has the Bose 6 disc changer in it, does this mean I acan easily add the factory sirius. If so how can I tell for sure?


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## thrbek (Oct 27, 2005)

kitchenboy said:


> My wifes 05 pathfinder has the Bose 6 disc changer in it, does this mean I acan easily add the factory sirius. If so how can I tell for sure?


Yes. 0NLY works w/BOSE system. Follow the instructions above.


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## Triffid (Aug 25, 2005)

I have the Nissan XM Sat Radio on my '05 Pathfinder... The Sirus system installs the same way but has a different ant.... See my pics below... Hope this helps... The cable to the head unit (N Bus) is already there if you have the Bose System..........Triffid


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## FastMover (Jan 23, 2006)

Triffid said:


> I have the Nissan XM Sat Radio on my '05 Pathfinder... The Sirus system installs the same way but has a different ant.... See my pics below... Hope this helps... The cable to the head unit (N Bus) is already there if you have the Bose System..........Triffid


Triffid Very cool web site :cheers:


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