How to Unlock GM Navigation Radio? – 10 Steps to Do

Unlocking GM radios is a common problem among car owners. This happens when someone disrupts the battery of the car radio which triggered its Theftlock system.

However, getting this fixed might be costly especially if it is your first time having this because your car’s GM radio dealer might cost you more money to recover its functional state.

So, if you do not want to avoid any charges just for a retrieval code, continue reading this guide for you to learn how to unlock GM navigation radio for free.

Step-by-Step to Unlock GM Navigation Radio

What to prepare

Step 1: Turn your car on

The very first thing you need to do is to turn your car on so that the electricity could power your car radio.

Step 2: Turn the GM radio on

After you’ve successfully turned the car on, look for the power button or switch of your GM radio. Press and turn it on.

Step 3: Know the status of your radio

Most of the time when GM radios with Theftlock are triggered and locked, you will encounter “LOC” shown on the screen after you turn them on. But if you are seeing “INOP” instead, stand by for about an hour and the “LOC” word will eventually appear.

Those two words are not alarming and just normal but if you see none of these, you must reach out for professional help or connect with your car radio dealer.

Now before proceeding, make sure that your pen and paper are ready to take down the codes.

Step 4: Long press some buttons

Using buttons 1 and 4, do a long press until you encounter a code with three digits. If it happens that your radio’s keypad has only up to 3 buttons, use 2 and 3 instead of the first two mentioned.

A 3-digit code will be shown on your GM touch screen radio. Using pen and paper. write these numbers immediately because they will disappear after a couple of seconds.

Step 5: Press the AM/FM radio buttons

The next thing you need to do is to gather the second 3-digit code. Make this happen by just pressing the AM/FM radio buttons.

Similar to the previous step, a 3-digit code will be shown on the screen. Write down this second set of digits next to the previous code you got.

All in all, you have collected six numbers. Use them as the serial code of your radio and make sure these are ordered correctly (the first gathered 3 digits come first).

Step 6: Do an unlock request (2 ways)

To continue unlocking your GM navigation radio, you may take either of two ways. These are utilizing a GM radio hotline or contacting your GM radio dealer.

Utilize the GM radio hotline “1800 537 5140” to contact customer service and unlock GM radio for free. They will ask for your dealer’s access code which is one of the following.

• 106010
• 620529
• 139010
• 206053
• 202108

Try any of these numbers until you find the right GM dealer code to unlock radio. Usually, the first one is applicable already.

Upon the instruction of the agent, enter the 6-digit code you have gathered from steps 4 and 5. After which, ready your pen and paper because you will get the GM navigation unlock code which is composed of four digits.

Another way to satisfy this step is to directly contact your GM radio dealer if you have their number. They will readily help with your needs but most of them might charge you.

You may look for sources online that could give you GM factory radio unlock codes with better prices but make sure they are legitimate. Once you have successfully connected with any of them, provide the 6-digit code you got and you will then receive the 4-digit unlock code.

Step 7: Restart your GM navigation radio

Now that you have written down the code you needed, restart your radio to proceed with unlocking it.

Step 8: Press the “HR” button

To start, press the “HR” button. You need to match the number displayed on the screen using the initial two numbers of your unlock code.

Do it by just pressing the said button until matched.

Step 9: Shift to the “MN” button

To enter the next two digits of your unlock code, shift to the “MN” button. Press it and do the same process indicated in step 8.

You might be confused if the two digits you have are too big. Do not overthink and take your time pressing until you match the numbers.

Step 10: Press AM/FM button

The last step happens right after you enter the unlock code. Just do this by pressing the AM/FM button.

As a last reminder, these detailed steps are also applicable to unlock chevy radio locked models and GM radios with Autel scanner. Just make sure to deal with all the steps correctly.

Congratulations! You may now enjoy your radio again.

Some Notes When Unlocking GM Radio

Knowing how to unlock GM radios is an advantage but do not be complacent and remember the following tips when doing the guidelines above.

1. Know the status

As stated above, ”LOC” or “INOP” should only be the words seen on the screen when you turn on a locked GM radio and for you to proceed following the steps. If it happens that the screen is blank or there are other words, do not do the retrieval on your own and ask for help.

2. Write down the codes

The proper arrangement of the codes you need to gather should be done without mistakes so that you do not have to experience any further trouble. Make sure you are listing them down and avoid just memorizing them so that you have something to use as a tool to remember in case of future usage.

3. Do not do the steps for RDS and Snap-On radios

If you encounter the word “RDS” shown on your radio screen or snap-on scanner, do not do the steps above. GM radio unlock code list does not have the right codes that fit for GM radios with RDS and one with snap on scanner.

When these types of GM radios need to be unlocked again, it should be brought to the experts and dealers to fix them manually.

4. Ask for a professional help

If you have the budget, ask for professional help. You may look for expert GM radio dealers to aid your problem, especially for radio models that require very technical attention.

How Much Does It Cost to Unlock a GM Radio?

In most cases, you will get your GM radio unlocked for free. But you might be one of the people who will be charged by your dealer some fee.

If it happens to be more than 10 dollars, do an alternative by diving into the internet. Look for credible sites that offer cheaper General Motors radio codes and make sure that it is not a scam.

Helpful Tip

The best tip this guide could give you is to create a list of your codes and put it inside your car where you can readily access it. This will save so much time for you when you encounter the same problem because all you need to do is just re-enter the codes without doing the whole process.

You may also save the codes on your smartphone. There are a lot of mobile applications online you can download and you can write all of them with ease.

Conclusion

Just like most of the guides found online, our aim is to help our readers to save some bucks and educate them about technicalities through the easiest yet effective ways. So, I hope this guide has taught you all you need to know about how to unlock GM navigation radio on your own (or with help from other people).

Share this with your friends so that when they encounter this problem, worrying is not an option anymore.