Hello,

I am in the process of removing the radio from my 2000 XJR in order to service it. On the back of the unit are two cable harness connections and a third block wire that I'm pretty sure is the AI-Net connector. This black wire, unlike the harness wires, is hard-wired to the unit and therefore cannot be disconnected from the unit.

I traced the black wire and it goes deep into the dash and ultimately ducks behind a small opening (gee, thanks Jaguar). I suspect that there is another end to this cable behind the opening that contains a connection to some sort of AI-Net extension cable that in turn goes to the amp in the trunk. But in order to see the part of the black wire that is now hidden, I must remove the right-side panel that flanks the transmission control knob housing.

My photo (attached) has an arrow to the part I wish to remove (I photographed the left side even though I actually need to remove the right side--it's just I didn't have enough light on the right side to take a good image).

I can't for the life of me figure out how to remove this part and I don't want to crack/break something by simply pulling.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you,
Jon

 

Hi Jon

Those "flaps" on the sides of the centre console don't come out, you'll need to take out the whole console. I've not done this myself, I've only gone as far as you have currently, ie removed the ski slope veneer. You can however pull the flaps out a little bit and get your hand up between the flap and the transmission tunnel but obviously you're going by touch as you can't see anything. The AI-NET connector is just a pull on, pull off type, so even if you can't see it, you should be able to pull it apart.

I've had my head unit out before and I've played with the AI-NET connector (the big fat one you're referring to) and the cable is only about 12 inches long then there's a connector you can uncouple..... so it sounds like yours has got tangled up or hidden somewhere and you can't see the connector ?.

Just curious, what "servicing" are you getting done to your head unit ?

 

Hi SARC,

Thank you for the information... What you say makes sense. The black cable sort of disappears behind those "flaps" (I like that term better than "cover") and I was sort of able to pull those flaps away (thankfully, they give way) but I wanted to post here before possibly pulling too much and causing damage.

Now to what I'm up to...

It's a looooong story, but here is the abbreviated version: My radio has been "acting up". The symptoms are odd... When I enter the vehicle and it's cold (for example, it's been sitting overnight), the radio and tape work fine. But after about 20 minutes, the sound from both sources degrades into a sort of white noise (it's actually too bass-heavy to be white noise, but it is static nonetheless). Once that happens, the system usually cannot be enjoyed any further until the car sits idle for a few hours. This suggests a heat problem.

One would THINK that this is an amplifier issue, but I don't think so. First of all, when the "white noise" appears, the audio from the navigation system continues to work PERFECTLY even though the tape and radio do not. Second, the amp's fan works and it feels cool to the touch when the noise appears.

Thinking that the amp might have a separate amp circuit for only the nav audio, I removed the amp from the car and opened it up completely. I thought I had identified the culprit because I observed a powdery white film around a capacitor on the inside. But the capacitor had not leaked, so I was not sure from where this film came... Anyway, I cleaned that film up and re-soldered all the component solder joints the film seemed to have affected. I was sure I had found the issue because under high magnification the solder joints appeared to be damaged (chalky).

But that wasn't the problem. The situation did not change in any way after that procedure.

Then I was demo-ing the issue for a colleague and the static appeared. At that moment, I wanted to show how the tape also was affected, so I inserted a cassette and, voila!, the sound went back to normal! When I then ejected the cassette, the radio too was normal. But then the sound degraded into that "white noise" moments later, and then both tape and radio were no longer usable even after inserting/ejecting a cassette.

The fact that doing something physical on the head unit caused the sound to re-appear tells me that the amp is not the issue (even those with AI-Net I realize that information travels between the head unit and amp when switching sources).

I am taking a gamble and ordered a used radio for my vehicle. I am betting that this radio will work...

This brings me to two additional questions that you (or someone else) might be able to answer:

1) If you look at the photo here (http://tinyurl.com/jagradio) you will see the back of the radio from my vehicle (this is not my image nor is it my radio). I am almost 100% sure that I do NOT have a black cable coming out of the right-rear, as shown. My back AI-Net cable emerges from the LEFT side of the back of the unit. In the image, you can see a "hole" there but I can't tell what is in that hole (if that "hole" is for AI-Net then what is the black wire that is pictured in the aforementioned image?). I'm quite sure that my wire is hard-wired there--with no connector. The unit I ordered supposedly has no wires at all, so I am already wondering how I am going to connect my existing hard-wired AI-Net wire to this unit but I suspect that I can open the unit and solder or otherwise attach it. Was Alpine so annoying that they provided a hard-wired wire on the back of their Jaguar radio units?? Does this Jaguar-Alpine madness never end?

2) The face-plate under the transmission control shaft (with P, D, R, 2, etc.) just barely clears the radio when you remove the radio. There is a large Torx-type screw on the face place. I did not remove that screw but I think I will try to do that so I don't scratch it or crack it when I try to fully remove the radio in order to swap-in the new one. Do you have any experience removing this plate? Are there any online exploded views of our vehicle I can consult?

I am going to use my CD change for that Aux-In feature we had previously discussed but I did not mention at the time that my CD player was not working. It was reporting "NO DISC" even when a disc was in each of the 6 slots in the cartridge. So, yesterday, I opened up the CD changer unit, removed all sort of springs and gears, found the issue, put everything back together, and now it is working PERFECTLY!

Now I am eager to add the Aux-In cable but will SOLDER it to the connector inside the CD Changer rather than cut wires. The solder points are within easy reach and should allow me to continue to use the CD player if I want--as well as an Aux-In source. (I will post my solution in that thread once I implement it.)

But before I do anything, I want to see if my guess is correct and the replacement head-unit solves the "white-noise" issue. If it doesn't, then I suppose it must be the amp. At that point I may just replace the whole system with a new audio system--but I'm trying to keep as much original equipment in the car as possible...

When all this is done, I may upgrade the speakers. I will have some questions about that but I will start a new thread at that time.

Regards,
Jon

 

Hi Jon.
I pulled the radio out of my 2000 XJR this week (and put it back in). I was able to disconnect the radio completely. Nothing was hardwired. I had to wrestle with the AC head unit and radio a bit but once I got the radio out a bit, the connections in the rear disconnected easily.
I don't have the NAV unit, so we may not be dealing with the same thing but I can't imagine anything hardwired to the radio.
Steve.

 

I'm not sure what the AI-Net is, that you are referring to (I know, I'm a rookie) but....
Looking at the back of the radio, the hole on the lower right was where the antenna plugs in. I had no problem removing it.

My questions are:
How to separate the radio from the plastic mount that surrounds it?
Where can I buy a placement mount? (mine has a broken flange where you screw it to the dash.
Where can I buy the various dash light bulbs? My seat heater buttons, Fog and Trip buttons have expired,

 

Hi Jon

You win the prize for the weirdest stereo fault of the year contest ! As you say, the symptoms do suggest a heat issue and or connection issue (because of the tape insertion symptom) and I'm sure you're right about it being the head unit and not the amp. Another way to confirm it is to play your CDchanger (now that you've fixed that too!) As per the other posting on aux inputs, on the premium systems the CD Changer is connected directly to the AMP, and NOT the head unit, so again, if your CDchanger sound holds up ok even after everything has warmed up, it's definitely the head unit.

Which brings us to our next fun part... as FloridaXJR already stated, the hole visible on the left of your picture is for the aerial. Do you know if the replacement head unit you ordered was from a car with premium sound or not ? I'm worried that there could be a difference with the head unit connectors as we know that for example the CDChanger on the non premium system connects directly to the headunit and not the amp. Anyway, I guess you'll have to wait till it arrives to see whats what.

Glad you're going to try the Aux in method, and I'm interested in your proposal to solder directly to the connector (and not cut the wires) Would this mean that when you played music down the connector from your aux source it would go "backwards" into the CDChanger read head ?? (As well as going the correct way to the head unit) I don't know if this would cause any issues ?? The main thing about the cutting method was that it isolated the CD read head from the aux source. Maybe nothing to worry about... any thoughts ?

I didn't remove the gear selector plate, I just covered it (and the leather around the side of the console with that blue 3m painters tape. That provided the necessary protection and it comes off easily and doesn't leave any goo behind.

@FloridaXJR --> I only know the lights for the A/C display, etc ie..

http://www.skjagtech.co.uk/support-p...nel-lamps.html

Go to the dealer and get them over the counter. My local dealer is pretty good at working out which parts are what. I went in about my A/C display lights (before I'd found the link above) and he managed to give me the correct ones. Do ALL of the bulbs while you're there.... they've all been on for the same amount of time, so if one goes, they're all going to start failing, and you don't want to be ripping your console out every other weekend to replace them one at a time.

I'm not sure how to split the head unit and the surround plate..... or where you could get a new plate from..... perhaps if you ask Jon500 nicely he could give you the one from his old head unit ?!

 

Thanks for the link SARC.

 

@FloridaXJR and @SARC:

Thanks for the great feedback. A few things:

1) I would happily give you my radio frame--however--I think I did exactly what you did! When I removed the radio I noticed two screws at the top-left and top-right--and one under the AC control console (by the way, thanks for the tip--I will loosen that console when replacing the radio so that I have more "play" when wiggling the radio out of its slot). But even though I eased the unit out most carefully, I heard a "snap!", and the upper-left part of the radio frame containing the plastic screw hole had broken off. Arrrrgh. Because of the forces involved, I am quite sure that Crazy Glue or Epoxy will not do a great job in holding that piece, should I try to re-attach it. Still, my radio frame may be in better shape than yours... Is this how yours was damaged? Once I remove the radio completely from the car I will see if there is an easy way to remove this plastic frame...

2) Thanks for explaining about the antenna. Based on what SARC said, I'm now officially confused. So I guess the black wire on my unit is the AI-Net cable (as I had thought) and the empty hole is for the antenna. (The AI-Net cable is a proprietary Alpine technology that carries data and sound.) I noticed only the AI-Net wire and not an antenna wire but I am sure my antenna was doing its job, so perhaps when I pulled out the unit I had unwittingly pulled off the antenna wire? I will look again when I swap radios and I will place a light in the car while I work (I stupidly worked at night in a dim garage and the lighting was poor).

3) @SARC: Well, I thought of that too but, believe it or not, the CD sound is ALSO affected. It really is not an easy troubleshooting process because radio, tape, AND CD are all affected--yet the Navigation sound is absolutely perfect (I have fallen in love with that woman's angelic voice, so I am probably biased--she has rescued me from many a wrong turn over the years). But, seriously, the Nav sound is fine. Since all sources AND NAV feed into the same amp, I had a difficult time believing that the amp is at fault--especially because doing something physical on the head unit (such as changing sources) occasionally causes the sound to temporarily correct itself (I did try the ol' tap & bang method of radio repair when I had the chassis out--to no avail--so I really don't think anything is "loose"--I believe an electrical component has reached the end of its life inside the radio… I will absolutely open the radio once the replacement is here just to take a look and if I see a leaked capacitor, for example, I'll replace it and see if that fixes it. Meanwhile, I'll bite the bullet on the replacement radio expense if it works and just consider this whole thing an academic exercise...).

Another reason I think it is the head unit: Even though the CD changer attaches directly to the amp, the head unit is involved in several ways. First, it receives and sends data from and to the CD changer (current disc number, track number, etc.); second, the volume control for radio/tape/CD is SEPARATE from the volume for NAV (it is the same physical volume knob but the Nav volume is adjusted separately using the Mode button), suggesting that the head unit has separate circuitry that determines the pre-out level of sound that is sent to the amp for amplification. If something in the head unit is wrong, I believe it is the circuitry that is involved in determining the pre-out of the radio/tape/CD sources.

Finally, I believe the replacement radio I ordered is for "premium sound" because it has the Nav and CD buttons on the front of the unit and I do not believe the non-premium units have those.

4) Excellent point regarding soldering the wires versus cutting them. I will consult on an electrical board to see what the experts think. My thoughts are that there are "Y" cables widely available to share sources of sound. For example, you can go to Radio Shack and get a cable that will let you take output from two different MP3 players and merge them into a single headset jack. You would think such cables would present imminent danger if used improperly as sound from one MP3 player would "back up into" the other player--but this doesn't happen. It's a great question, though. When I took basic electronics, I learned that current is like water flowing through a pipe. If you have one pipe attached to, say, a showerhead, and you weld another pipe onto it that also has flowing water, the result is that the water will merge together and flow out of the original showerhead. There might be some "backflow" but it would be negligible, I would think, unless perhaps the pressure of the second pipe is very strong. That's my concern… If I crank-up the MP3 output, could I overwhelm the CD internals and cause the back-flow you're referring to? Once again, this is a great thought and I won't do anything until I have a definite answer! I will post back here with my findings. So--thank you so much. You might have spared me a new headache in which I unwittingly would fry the internal electronics of the CD changer!

5) @FloridaXJR: With respect to bulbs, I haven't needed to replace any of those bulbs yet but if the switches are expensive you can probably open them and replace them yourself. Before I came to my senses, I allowed a Jaguar repair shop (the one I used in the past with that moronic service tech) to charge me $365 to replace the bulb under my transmission control shaft. Instead of replacing the bulbs he ordered the entire assembly, including the plastic housing, etc. When I later examined the old part I became physically ill when I saw a few LEDs soldered to a PCB. I'll bet I could have replaced those for less than $5.00. I understand that many techs won't go to the trouble to fix a part that can be replaced, but this particular tech knows I am a techie guy and I felt he could have given me a money-saving pointer considering I had used him to replace my timing chains and steering columns… This example is just another reason why I have turned into more of a DYI guy than I was before I bought this vehicle.

Regards,
Jon

 

Hi Jon

I think most of our current questions will be answered (in a good way or a bad way) when you get the other head unit :-)

Just one minor point to add more confusion (and I may be wrong, so bear with me)..... I think the Sat Nav does use the normal rotary volume knob. The adjustment that can be made by the MODE button is an offset RELATIVE to the rotary volume, I think ? (I'm going out shortly in the car so I'll play around and either confirm it or admit to being dumb, again) As you say, it's really strange your CDCHanger doesn't work either... but again, the replacement head unit will give us the truth one way or the other.

The aerial lead..... I think it is very short, I remember skinned knuckles trying to put it back in, so it probably did just pull out on its own when you pulled the head unit.

I'd be interested in your findings on the Y link stuff. I also had seen those type of Y leads but had somehow assumed they would have diodes built into them ? maybe not.

Take care

 

Hi Jon

Scratch that, you're 100% correct, the sat nav volume is controlled entirely from the mode menu. In my defense I was getting confused with the pioneer head unit I installed for my gf a few weekends ago which had "offsets" for each different line in, relative to the main volume.

We should be 99% confident the new headunit is going to cure the problem.

 

No problem... Thanks for checking!

I'm quite sure that the navigation unit does not have its own amplified output, which would require the head-unit to, in some sort of Rube-Goldberg way, controls its volume. So if the navigation has only pre-amplified output and the amp is amplifying its sound, I'm banking on the fact that the amp is okay. Once again, I may have made a wrong gamble here but, as you wrote, we'll soon see (unless the unit I bought happens to have the exact same problem and the seller never fully tested it!).

I will look for that antenna cable and prepare my hands...

I am sure the typical phono-plug Y-cords have no diodes in them. I think there may be diodes as part of an MP3 player's normal circuitry. For example, someone who erroneously plugs a LINE OUT into their headphone jack (doh!)... Perhaps those protective circuits are only on higher-end devices or devices that interact with consumers--whereas my CD changer would never expect to see amplified input conneted to the R and L outs (surprise!)...

I will do some research and I may possibly need to add diodes to my own wire, if I can figure on a diode rating and one that won't interfere in any way with the sound quality.

Thanks again for verifying the nav volume and for your thoughts in general.

Regards,
Jon

 

There is only 1 radio type (Alpine) for all XJ8 from 2000 t'il 2003 (2002 in the UK)
On the back of the radio there is a switch to configurate the radio to either the regular or premium system.
The only thing specific to the NAV is for 2000 only and is a CAN module, later years have this function incorporated in the instrument panel.

There is no hard wiring on the back of the radio, only connectors

 

Jon,
You are correct, when pulling my radio, The tab on upper left fell apart (quite easily, actually). Keep us posted when you get the new radio in, but I think you are on the right track. I was think it unlikely that the replacement will have a similar problem.

 

[quote=FloridaXJR;175729
My questions are:
How to separate the radio from the plastic mount that surrounds it?
Where can I buy a placement mount? (mine has a broken flange where you screw it to the dash.[/quote]

Hello,

I have spent some more time with the radio head unit. The replacement unit I bought did in fact not have the same issues my current unit has--it was WORSE. In fact, the cassette mechanism was totally trashed and the AM/FM/CD functions did not work at all. Fortunately, I can get my money back but what a total waste of time. I think the seller bought a trashed Jaguar at auction and is trying to sell its parts for a profit... I couldn't even determine whether the problem I have is in my head unit or amp because of this ridiculous happenstance in which I bought a totally junked unit from some seller who said the unit was in "perfect" working order ("What a senseless waste of human life...", to quote Monty Python).

However, I have since totally opened my unit and have figured out how to remove the bezel from the radio. I have included an image with this message. The trick is to use your fingers to press down on the metal tabs (indicated by the green arrows) and then slide the bezel over those tabs and to the back of the unit. When you slide the bezel, you can slide it all the way off (see the second photo). If anyone wants to see the other tricks one must employ in order to totally open the radio unit, please let me know and I will post here.

I hope this helps!

Regards,
Jon

 

Hi Jon

Sorry that didn't work out. Whats the plan now ? try and source another one from a better source ?
I remember another audio post where member AlexD did a rather amazing double din install... https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=27520

May be worth PMing Alex and seeing if he wants to part with his old head unit ? There was nothing in the post suggesting it wasn't working, was just more like Alex is mad and wanted to do something trully amazing :-)

@ Alex.... if you're out there, it would be great to get a follow up on your work.... did you get it finished off ?

 

Hi SARC,

Nice to hear from you... Well, I will try to acquire another radio--and anyone here who has one to sell or knows of one for sale is encouraged to contact me... (I will PM the user you mentioned--thanks for the referral--I will let you know if I have any success).

The thing is that some units (such as those on eBay) list for $150+ dollars, and whenever I see those listings I laugh so hard that the beverage I'm drinking comes out of my nostrils... I mean, seriously, I can get a high-end state-of-the-art Kenwood Exelon head unit with Aux-In and all the modern features you'd expect--INSTALLED--for under $250, rather than a 10-year old head unit with 8-track--I mean, cassette. (Of course, I lose navigation and amp in the process, but who's counting? At that point the upgrade would be worth a system-wide upgrade if only to demonstrate that I'm not going to get gouged by a greedy parts vendor...) I just don't understand why people who have these old radios feel that can charge $150+ dollars (I've seen some listed at $350) other than to just exploit Jaguar owners (probably a very exploitable group, in general, because for some Jaguar owners money is no object). The unit I just bought was $60, and I have seen others listed in this range. Sadly, this didn't work out for me but surely other units that sold for $60 or so dollars were successful sales and are units that are being enjoyed today in their new "home".

By the way, I opened the unit and everything inside looked good (i.e., no leaked capacitors, etc.). However, once opened, I saw a "mystery assembly" that is soldered to the circuit board. It appears to be a metal-encased circuit board (I have encircled it in green in the attached photo). If anyone knows what this is, I would love to know. I am wondering if this is the GPS antenna??? I am rather perplexed why, whatever it is, it is encased in metal (some sort of shielding?)--so I wonder if perhaps there are damaged components inside of it (again, such as a leaked capacitor). If I get no replies here I may post the question in a new thread although this really is beyond a Jaguar-vehicle-type question, probably.

Thank you for the feedback,
Jon

 

Jon500, regarding statement #4 (in your post #8), there is no need to consult at an 'electrical board'. I am an electrical engineer and will be glad to make suggestions based upon solid engineering principles. Of course, you are welcome to get a 'second opinion', if you wish.

You do not want to 'Y' two sources together. Outputs are low impedence and they will fight each other. This will cause issues anywhere from significant added distortion to damage to an output amplifier in one or both sources. Y cables are typically used to take a single output source and send it to two INPUTS... in this case, there is no issue. Two outputs Y'd to one input will always cause problems, failures and dissapointment.

Using your analogy, look at two water faucets, both turned on, with a Y to a single, small diameter hose. If one (cold) is barely turned on, yet the other (hot) is turned on full force, the low pressure at the cold can allow some of the high pressure hot to backflow into it. For faucets, this is not an issue... for output transistors in an electronic source, this can spell disaster.

So, you do need to 'cut' the connection from the CD source in order to drive the cables to the amp (or head unit, depending on which system one has) with an AUX source so that only one source is driving the cables. I added a relay in order to select between the CD output and the AUX output as the source driver for the cables, to maintian that one source requirement. (see other posts just a bit below yours)

If you wish to do your CD surgery at the board level, instead of with the wires leading from the circuit board connector, simply heat and lift (or cut and bend) the connector's PC board soldered pins for the three audo wires (l,r,gnd) and solder your AUX cable wires to the lifted pins. (mine is a right angle connector, so the pins have a nice long arc between the connector's body and the circuit board.) If you add my relay, in order to still be able to use the CD, then the CD output signals can be picked up from the three circuit board pads from which you had just lifted the connector pins.

Additionally, you do NOT want to add diodes to any audio signals (without adding an appropriate DC offset)... the distortion added due to conduction of only half of the AC audio signal will drive anyone mad.

 

I have one that is like new, no kidding it work and is cosmetically in great shape and come with the code.
$100 with free shipping.
Let me know if interested

 

I am interested but I wonder if it is the same one I have. From my understanding, the radio units for the U.S. do not require a code (mine doesn't and the one I had bought as a replacement did not). What country, model and year car is your unit from? Can you post a photo of the front of it here?

Thank you,
Jon

 

@QuadManiac: Thank you so much for all this detail and information. I now understand the Y-adapter issue. I'm glad you posted before I actually tried it...

I like the idea of a relay but I am also comfortable using a manual switch. If I'm going to route Aux-In cable to the dash area, I don't mind routing a switch too. It seems to me that this would give me total control over which signal is going to "win", should I choose to run the CD and the Aux-In. I wonder if you agree?

If I remember my basic electronics well enough, would I just need a DPDT switch from Radio Shack if I go in that direction?

Thank you,
Jon