[stewartce]

My Malibu is a 2015 2.5L with basic trim. I believe that's an LT though it doesn't say it anywhere on the vehicle.

I am trying to locate the factory amp. It is not in the trunk near the fuel modules like other years and it isn't under the front passenger seat.

I can't find any other location online of where this thing could be. There's some module in the trunk in-between the 6x9 speaker locations but I've determined that it is the OnStar module (though some people say it's the factory amp).

There's also an additional module near the driver side front door where the fuses are located. It doesn't look like the imagines of the factory amp that I've found but I still can't determine what it is.

What I'm trying to do is find the wire for the noise cancelation. I intend to cut it to get rid of the feedback I'm getting after I installed an aftermarket stereo.

Can anyone offer any guidance?

 

[repairman54]

 

[stewartce]

I looked up the part number on both of these and both say they are fuel control modules. Are you saying that this bottom one is the factory amp?

 

[stewartce]

Here's a better look at it. It looks nothing like the factory amps I've pulled up as well and the part number says it's a fuel control module.

 

[stewartce]

This one says it's a fuel pump power control unit. These are the only two things there.

 

[repairman54]

The diagram I posted was from my shop manual parts locator. Radio amp is behind the black fuel module in the front and not numbered. Part #3 is the amp module.

 

[stewartce]

Thanks for trying to help. But there is nothing behind that thing. To be sure, I even took it off though I could clearly see and feel that there's nothing else there. I know there's one somewhere in this car or else I wouldn't be getting this feedback in the speakers. I ordered a Haynes manual so I'll know something soon. I'll post here when I find it to help others that might be looking.

 

[DrivenDaily]

It may not have an amp. Sometimes they do that and have all of the noise come out of the HU.

 

[stewartce]

It may not have an amp. Sometimes they do that and have all of the noise come out of the HU.

What is the HU? Is that behind the stereo?

 

[campb292]

I tried looking for the answer and found the uplevel audio has the amp in the trunk. I find nothing referencing an amp in the base system. HU is Head Unit. Check for a loose wire somewhere at the connection to the radio or OnStar unit.

 

[stewartce]

Ok, thanks. Tomorrow I'm going to look for mics inside the car and take a look at their wires. The aftermarket radio has a built-in mic and I put hooked up an Echo Auto unit in it so if I have to cut the wire at the factory mic it should work the same I think.

 

[stewartce]

So it would appear that CampB292 was dead on. Despite the direction online searches were pointing me to, this particular model (2015 Malibu [LT] 2.5L) doesn't appear to have a factory amp. So where was the humming static coming from and why only the rear speakers like a noise cancelation feature would cause?

The solution is in the OnStar unit in the top center of the trunk.

I do not use OnStar in this vehicle so I simply disconnected all the connectors and my noise went away.

This suggests that the speakers were picking up feedback due to some feature with the OnStar unit. It's not just GPS. It's also designed to make it easier for OnStar and the passenger to communicate. So it may very well have a similar feature that does the same thing noise cancelation does.

For those of you that actually do use OnStar, you'll have to figure what each of those wires are for and determine weather or not it's safe to cut the suspected wire and still be able to use the OnStar feature. If you accidentally cut the wrong wire, you should be able to repair it like you would if you were splicing (as long as you cut a good distance away from the connector).

I hope this helps someone else. Thanks to those that assisted me or tried to assist me. Your feedback helped in getting me to my solution. I appreciate you.