Dying radio...
 

Hey folks, first post in a while. I've been restoring a 380SL and so haven't fooled with the Jag much. The Merc is in paint now so some time to mess with the old XK8.

My radio seems to be dying. I'm one of those cassette adapter users who just can't stand the idea of changing the stock look. (It's the Alpine system in my 05). Lately, I can turn the volume knob up and the volume may go up or down or not change at all.. Same thing happens with the steering wheel controls. Also the unit seems WAY down on power (not like it had much) but primarily when using the cassette player it had no punch at all. Today it actually made popping noises so I think it's near the end. Does anyone out there repair these things or am I better off getting a used one off of Flea Bay and praying it is better than the one I've got? I could break down and finally put a modern single din in it but I really, really, really don't want to. Anyone out there y'all can recommend?

I had the same symptoms on my 2002 XKR w/ Alpine system. Finally it just died 100%.

My system has a separate amp in the trunk just above the CD changer. It was the amp. nothing wrong with the head unit in the dash.

I bought one with the same part number stamped on it from eBay. I think it cost about $36.00

That was about 4 years ago. Been working perfectly ever since.

Z

On my 2003 XK the radio volume/fdata knob was also badly erratic.. so between pulling the knob of and hit it with electrical cleander a few times while exercising the little axle or looking for another radio... i went with the electrical cleaner.. and now its quite ok again..

Go with the easy fix first... there is noting to loose if the radio is abbout to get replaced anyway..

/E

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Does the volume know just pull straight off or is there a trick to it? Electrical contact cleaner sounds a lot better than new radio...

Not familiar with the Alpine in your model year, do you have a separate amp unit like my 2002 ?

Z

Pulls off, some effort is required.

This forum never fails me. Pulled of the volume knob with some effort (a lot of effort it seemed) hit it with contact cleaner while i exercised the stub it rides on and BANG. Works fine again. Or at least as well as it did before lol. Volume is still not quite as loud on cassette as it is on CD or radio, but that's probably as much my IPhone as it is the stereo.

My 2005 does have an amplifier above the CD changer, but I believe it only runs the two subs in the back seat area. Now if anyone knows of an amp you can connect to the stock head unit, that will be next. Cheers!

I don’t believe there are any plug and play options for additional amps. The head unit, nav and amp all talk to each other. When you disconnect one, a replacement won’t talk to the other two.

I don't have the nav system in my car, just the three gauges. I saw a video once on a plug and play from British gent using a Vibe Audio unit, but I have never been able to find it. Anybody ever run across this?

The OEM head unit/amp are both Alpine units and use the Alpine AI-NET to communicate. No other brand will work and even an Alpine unit from that era won't work, as the Jaguar badged units use a unique code when communicating. In that video he is just adding an aftermarket amp to the speaker outputs on the head unit - so if your existing head unit is playing up, the new amp won't fix that.