I have a 2001 XK8 and have installed an Alpine KCA-410C Versatile Link Terimnal between the CD changer and factory amp to integrate my mp3 player into the factory stereo. To mute the CD player I have to ground the Audio Interrupt wire from the KCA-410C to get it to mute the CD player. I am considering installing a switch to have the ability to switch between mp3 and CD, but was wondering if there was a way to connect the Audio Interrupt wire to the factory phone mute wire (which I believe is somewhere in the center console from what I have been reading on this forum, but I don't know which wire it is in the console or what color it is.). Hopefully by doing this I could switch between my mp3 player and CD player by simply pressing the Phone button on the steering wheel or the phone button on the radio, which will ground the KCA-410's Audio Interrupt line. Can anyone familiar with the 2001 XK8 (with Premium Alpine Stereo-no navigation unit) direct me to the appropriate wire to connect to, to achieve this ? ....(or is this even possible).. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

The mute connector for the phone is an unconnected yellow 14 pin connector on a 2001 XK8, under the console tray, on the driver side. Pin 6, a blue wire is the mute input. It mutes with a ground input.

That being said, I do not think that is what you want. You want an output signal for your KCA-410..but this is an mute input. The mute control from the steering switch is a multi-level voltage signal, and it is communicated via the system data link. Neither of these is straightforward to interface to.

 

When I bought my 2002 XKR it already had an iPod connector wired in it. The previous owner had a switch installed in the coin tray that toggles between the CD player and the iPod input. It is practically invisible, but easy to reach and toggle.

I am glad the switch is there, mostly for my future audio plans. I am planning on wiring in my Android phone for music playback. I will make the Android phone replace the CD changer signal as others have done, but leave the switch, so I can switch between the Android and the iPod/iPhone adapter, that way my Daughter can still hook her iPhone up to it for her music.

I have attached a photo of it for you to see what I am talking about. The photo is from the internet posting of the car before I bought it, hence the E-Car One logo. ;-)

Good luck.

 

[QUOTE=WhiteXKR;350742]The mute connector for the phone is an unconnected yellow 14 pin connector on a 2001 XK8, under the console tray, on the driver side. Pin 6, a blue wire is the mute input. It mutes with a ground input.

That being said, I do not think that is what you want. You want an output signal for your KCA-410..but this is an mute input. The mute control from the steering switch is a multi-level voltage signal, and it is communicated via the system data link. Neither of these is straightforward to interface to.[/QUO


Thanks for that bit of expertise. I wonder if this would work: What if I were to connect the audio-interrupt switch from the Alpine KCA-410 to the phone mute line under the center console and then "grounded" that connection. Would this then allow the phone mute button on the radio to then mute the audio from the stereo when the phone switch is pushed ?.......just a thought...

 

I just took a look at the KCA-410 manual. From your question, is it correct that the built in AUX selection from the source button, does not work with the Jag head unit?

I am not 100% sure if I understand how the KCA's interrupt works, but if I am interpreting it correctly, I think you might be able to effect an automatic switch when your mp3 plays by driving the interrupt input with an audio trigger like this: TR-4 - PAC TR4 Low Voltage Trigger - .Browse By Vehicle - Accessories - Accessories - PAC - Peripheral - Discount Car Stereo.com - Detail. You may also need a relay to invert the polarity of the output.

I do not know of an easy way to use the steering wheel switch without some custom circuitry.

 

The AUX selection on the KCA-410C pertains to it's use with a compatible Alpine source unit (head-unit), presumably an aftermarket one. Alpine headunits have the ability to select between different auxillary units. The Jaguar head units are not compatible with this function on the KCA-410C...(even though the Jag headunits are probably made by Alpine). I don't think I'll be able to switch between the Aux1 and Aux2 on the KCA-410C, but I just want to be able to mute the stereo from the phone button on the radio...maybe this is not so easily done after all. I know I can install a switch to do this, but I would like to use the existing circuitry to accomplish this rather than installing a switch.. I'll investigate the switch you recommend to see if it will allowme to switch between the AUX1 and AUX2 , if so..it would allow me to add one more Auxiliary source. I think I'll also try to connect the audio interrupt from the KCA-410C to the phone mute line under the center console and then ground that connection, to see if that works.......
I'm really appreciating your helpful feedback on this.....this is great.

 

The mute input from the console telephone connector mutes whatever source is playing and enables a mono audio source (ie; the phone line level input) on two other pins from that same console telephone connector to play through the front speakers of the audio system. I'm pretty sure that is not what you are after.

 

Thanks for the great info!!! I have a 2003 STR and the "Mute On" intermittently turns on when I have the radio on. I have to hit the phone mute button on the steering wheel to take it out of mute mode but then it just keeps flipping in and out of mute. If what you're saying is the mute function is activated on a ground input, does that indicate I may have a bad ground connection somewhere? If so, how do I trace it?