The dealer got back to me and says they want to charge one hour at $140. I'm not sure that's worth possibly going from 3 speakers to 9 speakers.
Watching what this guy did, it seems fairly simple and I'm guessing the chip wasn't write protected. And it's a much older vehicle.
You don’t need to open it up to change the VIN. You just do SPS with a J2534 tool. As long as the part numbers are the same this works.
When the part numbers are not the same. Then you need to get creative.
The part numbers are the same. The manufacturing dates are actually the same too.
I wouldn't think it needs to be opened up to change the VIN. I'm just not sure what tool is appropriate. I know you mentioned J2534, but that threw me into a rabbit hole as it appears there are a lot of different ones. In the above video he uses a GM Tech 2, but I would think any diagnostic tool that writes/programs should suffice.
Then again, based on this thread. If a tool could do it why go through all this hassle?
I have had some people ask me about reprogramming the VIN number in the radio, so I thought I would write a how to guide that explains how to disassemble the radio so that the chip can be reprogrammed. For more information on upgrading to My Link, see this thread...
www.cruzetalk.com
I'm still kind of floored that this feels more complicated than it needs or should be.