Hi Folks,

I've been lurking around trying to solve my audio problem with a 2005 x-type sedan with premium audio.

- Car is new to me.
- Car has been sitting for some years out of direct weather, but exposed to humidity in SouthEast USA.
- Radio was not working.
- From this forum, I've learned about the fiber optic system used in these cars.... and that often enough the problem is with the Amp if the head unit seems to work and there is no sound.
- The car only has the head unit, amp, and cd changer installed and attached to optic fiber loop-system-path.
- I bought a optic fiber loop part that would allow me to remove a component from the fiber optic "path" to try to isolate the faulty unit(s). I didn't really learn anything using the loop. But I like it.
- I've tried taking off the negative terminal to the battery to encourage the system to reset/re-inventory/whatever. No change except I now need to figure out how to reset the clock (I have the manual).
So... I'm reasonably handy... and I bought a used compatible (same model) jaguar amp off of ebay for a reasonable price to to gamble the Amp was shot.

I replaced the old amp with the new-used amp and I had sound! for 2 days...
I did the replacement this past Saturday. Radio sound was still coming out of speakers Monday morning... but then Monday afternoon, I was back to original state of "head unit works... no sound". If I knew any curse words, I certainly would have said them.

When the system was working for those two glorious days, I could see the Amp and the CD Changer listed during the "setup mode" selection with the radio buttons. But after it quit working, I was back to just seeing "Main..."

My big plan was to get keep the original equipment or similar original equipment, and use a FM transmitter thingy to listen to my audiobooks and other streaming media from my tricorder(aka phone). Or to add the Jaguar-compatible $375+ bluetooth/audio-jack thingy to the optic fiber system (if my tax refund was favorable in the spring).

Potential Clue: We have had significant rain and perhaps that has had an effect. (The antenna on this model is interior to windshield however and not exposed).
Potential Clue: I would not be shocked if some rodent sampled the wiring or insulation during the years when it was mostly sitting in an "under house" garage.

Option 1: I suspect that the new-used amp I installed is now kaput too, and that it would not make sense to buy/install another new-used one until I understand what's killing them and fix it. (Hahaha I've read enough of the forum posts to know how optimistic that sounds.)

Option 2: Or I give up on the notion of keeping mostly original-like equipment and look for a reasonable replacement to power some number of the 10? speakers. If I had to replace the whole wiring harness to keep the original head unit... I might as well go for something with bluetooth and 3.5mm input jack.

Option 3: Or I continue with my ear buds connected to my phone (with my biggish data plan).

I'd prefer to pursue option 1 for a little while, but I'm happy to hear about non-outrageously-expensive success with option 2.

Having no working radio is not the end of the world... but I'm confident that having a working radio would make the end of the world a little more pleasant.

Thanks for any on topic ideas,

WLHarrell

 

Option #4 = search member Dennis Black on replacing it all with either an Apple or Android unit with every option currently available. NAV, bluetooth, music, streaming, videos, can add cheap back up unit, etc. He has threads on both NAV and non NAV Jags refit.

 

Hi Dell,
Thank you for the pointer... I'll have a look over there.
A local independent auto audio fellow also was thinking along those lines.
BTW, is there a better place I might move this audio system thread to (assuming that can be done)?

wlharrell