So I removed my old stereo this afternoon, which required drilling out rivets (I'll have to drill out the shafts left in the holes, too). I connected the Jaguar-to-ISO connector and the ISO-to-Kenwood connector, and the aerial plug, and assume that the wider round plug with the multiple prongs inside it is not needed. There's certainly nowhere on the new stereo to put it....

Anyway, I just have a quick question to confirm something: can the earth wire from the adaptor harness be bolted (using a short bolt I guess) to the wide-ish flat cable which I believe is the original stereo's earth? Or do I need to find something else?

(Other rants)
For some odd reason, the original wiring had an adaptor even for the standard radio. So between that, the Jaguar-to-ISO, and the ISO-to-Kenwood, I now have three connectors, which are going to have to find room somewhere behind the stereo....

Then I'll need to make a rim plate to cover the gap between the new stereo and the aircon control panel. And of course I'm going to have to fabricate my own mounting brackets: the ones on the Jag radio are welded on. Welded and riveted attachments: I guess Jaguar were really making sure no one could nick their radios. Or replace them....

 

If the wide flat thing you describe is made of woven metal (should be uninsulated) it is the OEM earth strap. If not the earth wire can be bolted to nay convenient bit of bared metal.
Greg

 

Do you have a CD player? The original radios were made by Alpine and the round connector is prewring for a boot mounted CD player.

I've pulled apart a number of Jaguars at the junk yard ( although not an XJS of your vintage) and I have never seen an extra adapter. It's always been a single plug that went from the harness into the radio. I wonder if it's a Japan specific thing because of your different radio frequencies and they used a different head unit to ROW?

The wide flat braided metal cable should usually bolt to the chassis of the radio and then to any convenient place on the body.

 

There should be a bolt in the middle of the back of the Kenwood, the wide braided earth strap goes there.

While you are in there remove the braided earth from the body and clean the contact area so you have a good bond to the body.

 

Thanks very much guys, as usual.

The flat wire does appear woven, but while the end is not insulated, the wire itself is. Or at least covered in a plastic sheath.



Ah, the CD player. That makes sense. I don't have one, so completely forgot about that possibility. In that case I can definitely ignore it.
I might be a bit unclear about harnesses. There's a bundle of wires coming from the bowels which goes into a yellowed plastic connector, and from there to another bundle into the OEM stereo. The head unit appears identical to others of its era I've seen. Here's the head unit, also showing the rivets on either side I have to finish drilling out.

(The button marked in Japanese is the Traffic Report frequency button. That's the only difference I can imagine to ROW head units.)

The weird thing about the new unit is that the back doesn't have anywhere for an earth: no bolt. The only earth is the one in the wire bundle. Here it is shown with the wire bundle attached.


And here's the OEM rear:


So I guess screwing the bundle earth to the OEM earth is the best option. I don't know where the OEM earth wire goes to - it vanishes down the back of the radio hole. I'll try removing the sections under the dash at the front of the central transmission mount (where the foot aircon vents are) and see if I can spot it. The OEM radio had pretty lousy reception, and I wonder if a bad earth was (partially) responsible.

 

I agree, bolt together the eyelet from the harness you have to the original chassis earth, which you have correctly identified in the photo.

The OEM radios are junk, and they were when new. I suspect you'll find the new one will sound better.

 

I very much hope stereos have got better in the last 25 years! (^_^)
It's interesting how much lighter the new one is, for a start....

 

Hi Someday

I really wouldn't bother taking out the 'Cheek Pieces' at the side of the Air Vents, as you will be met with a veritable wall of Steel.

Without some major dismantling, you won't even get your hand in there.

Instead I would Cut the head off a bolt or use a piece of studding and then bolt it in to one of the holes in the hollow back plate on the back of the Stereo.

In other words make your own earth stud and then bolt the Big Earth Terminal 'Thingy' to it.

While the Harness Earth could be screwed to the back of the Stereo with one of those existing Phillips Screws.

 

So it doesn't matter where the stereo is connected to the earth line from, so long as it is connected? That could help....

 

Correct. Earth is earth, doesn't matter where.

I should modify that and say that the earth wire from your radio has to go to earth somewhere on the car. Any convenient screw or bolt will do, as long as you are making good contact to the body.

 

Thanks. Since the earth wire for the harnesses is nice and long and thin, I think I'll just connect that to the OEM earth coming from the car (easier than screwing it to the stereo itself). Which is a huge "wire" when you think about it. Why would it be so big? Were Jaguar expecting to have to conduct lightning bolts or something?

 

Hi Someday

My Stereo was a Perfect Fit for the Original OEM Cage, so all I did was push it in as it was a very tight fit, no screws and no fixing brackets.

Then I just put the Air Con Fascia panel back in place and just secured that as it was before by using only the threaded rings and then just put

the knobs back.

I was working on the Theory that any potential Radio Thief, would assume that it was bolted in and wouldn't consider it worth the risk of getting

caught 'nicking' my Cheap Stereo. (£17 Amazon)

And even in the event that they did, it would cause a lot less damage in getting it out.

Mind you if your Kenwood is worth a Kings Ransom, then that might be a totally different story.......

As for the Earth, anywhere metal will do and as long as you've got a good Aerial it should work fine.

When you drilled out the rivet heads don't bother drilling out the Spikes that are left, just push them through the hole with a thin nail and maybe a

little tap with a small hammer.

Then they will just drop out into the void.

 

No idea why it's so big! It's actually larger than the ground strap from the engine to the chassis that carries several hundred amps from the starter.

 

Hi Someday

Your idea with the Big Earth Strap may not be ideal, as it is almost certainly there to provide an earth for lots of other components.

So I would reconsider bolting it onto the back of the Stereo.

Just cut the head off a bolt and then secure it to the hollow back plate of your Stereo, with a nut and washer each side and then bolt the Big Earth Wire to that.

They must have made that Earth Strap Heavy Duty for a reason.

Warrjon will be able to give you the full SP.

 

OB: Unfortunately, mine's a little smaller - it would rattle around inside. Even the original needed to be secured to the support structure. I provisionally fitted my new one (not hooked up or with brackets--just to see where brackets needed to come to) and there's about 5 mm top and bottom, and 3-4 mm on each side that needs filling.
I'm using this site (ƒWƒƒƒK�[X300�^XJS�@ƒ�ƒ“ƒe�î•ñ�•ƒp�[ƒc”Ì”„�@�`ŽÐŠOƒI�[ƒfƒBƒIŽæ•t�`) [No idea why that URL came out as jibberish - maybe as it's Japanese?] as a guide as well, in addition to the threads on the forum, as it's a Japan-market Jag. (The site's in Japanese, but there's plenty of photos that will show you what he's doing if you care to take a look.)

My stereo's a Kenwood U410BT - no idea what the overseas name is. I think it might be the KDC-BT565U | Receivers | CAR ENTERTAINMENT | KENWOOD USA. Cost about 100 pounds (or about US$130 - of course it's cheaper in the US, despite being made in Japan) from Amazon Japan, so definitely more expensive than yours! I'm not quite such a skilled bargain hunter. But certainly not a king's ransom. Maybe a minor duke's.... The other thing is that being in Japan, someone nicking the radio isn't even going to cross my mind. Especially as so many other cars have way cooler systems. All those 2-DIN navigation system ones that cost ten times as much and play blu-rays and get television signals and all that.
Fun fact: it's illegal in Japan to use a cellphone while driving (other than hands-free), but not technically illegal to watch TV while driving. It's common to see the navi display being used to show programs while the car's driving....

I can't imagine what else the BES (Big Earth Strap) grounds - it was connected directly to the radio, and theoretically connecting the harness earth to the BES would provide the same route, just a little longer. Strange that it's actually bigger than the main engine one, too. Maybe it was something BL had lying around back in the day and it just kept being used....

 

That strap doesn't ground anything else but the radio. No idea why it's the size it is. I've pulled a few of them out of other jags and they just go to the body.

 

When I did mine a few years ago I also ditched the BES and grounded the new stereo to a convenient ground bolt. I removed the ski slope and on the front LHS of the gear selector are a few earths on one of the bolts. Crimp or solder an eyelet on the ground wire and ground it directly to the body.

 

My earth wire comes with an eye already, so that might be an idea as a way to free up some room behind the stereo, which I can already tell is going to be hard to put in with all those cables.

 

Progress is slowly being made. This morning I was able to finish making the brackets. Rather crappy, but they won't be seen. Took a lot of careful measuring, and even then I had to file some of the holes a bit larger. Made with 1 mm aluminium sheets cut with tin snips and with 5 mm holes drilled in, then sort of smoothed with a file and sandpaper. The only workspace I have is my desk, which is far from ideal, but at least the drawers made good vises for bending the metal....





I need to check clearance with the knob holders on each side, but that's something I can trim down with files and so on. Then it's knock out the rivet shafts with a nail (or try to), and do a test install. Then connect the wires and make sure it actually works....

 

Hmm. Well, I managed to install the head unit, connect the wires, and it plays. Except it only plays out the rear speakers. And the radio antenna raises each time the stereo is on (or the car is running--same thing in my short test), whereas of course it only raised when I had the radio on before (which admittedly was almost never as it was so crappy). I've read on another forum (non-Jaguar) that you don't need to connect the antenna cable to modern decks. As I 99.8% never listen to the radio when driving, I might see if that works, even if it won't raise. But the front speakers thing is annoying. I'm pretty sure they worked before....