Some idiot managed to connect the battery back to front whilst using jump leads and seems to have knackered the radio (and when I get hold of him he's in for a good nagging!) There were no other ill effects and it wasn't until I turned the radio on that I thought I'd got away with it!

I've done the obvious and looked at the fuses in the end of the fascia, and both are ok and powered. So it must be the radio itself. Is it worth pulling out and is it fixable?

Reverse polarity typically wouldn't fry a radio, is it possible you have security codes for you radio in your country?

Yes we do - but the radio is dead. I must admit I was surprised too - if it matters (reverse polarity) I'm sure there's a diode in there! I've no idea why it should have died.

I happen to have one that came out of my 2000 XKR donor car that I used to fix my XK8. Let me know if you would like to buy it and i'll check on shipping to your location. If you want it, PM me your address and I will calculate the cost.



just did a UK shipping calculation:


Shipping and handling
Import charges (estimated)

US $11.86
$46.95
United Kingdom
International Priority Shipping

Estimated between Tue. Mar. 3 and Fri. Mar. 13


radio's on ebay seem to be fetching upwards of $200, shipping incl. I'll ship mine to you for $160, including shipping.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/00-01-02-JAG...e5ce26&vxp=mtr


frank in florida, USA

Just a thought as it happened to me for a bit before I replaced the radio... Try turning the power button left and right when pressing it to power on the radio. This would work for me. The switch apparently was getting flaky.

Jim, I would go and buy a lottery ticket. You're so lucky it's only the radio.

I guess the culprit has give-away frizzled eyebrows: that must have been some flash!

A lot of stuff these days has an 'idiot diode' internally that's meant to save the day, but oftentimes the printed circuit gets vapourised if the protector isn't wired directly where the power comes in.

Don't know if the unit is fused internally as that might be a culprit, otherwise stetson's offer looks like a good deal if it's compatible.


Mike

Thankyou Frank. I'm not sure though if the US radio will operate in the UK. Tomorrow I'll take a pic of the front of mine and if they look the same I'll take your offer up.

IDIOT DIODE ???!!! What is the man trying to suggest? No matter though - I just LOVE the colour of your Jag Michael.

Jim...although I own a nice xk8, i'm still learning things about the car. I was unaware of the need for 'radio codes' but it makes sense.


Perhaps somebody in here can tell us if codes are available for the radio, for use in the UK.

Jim,
My apologies; absolutely no offence intended. That was how they were first described to me many years ago. With an appropriate fuse, they are a simple mechanism for reverse polarity protection, which is why I mentioned the possibility of an internal fuse.
The fact that manufacturers fit them implies that it's a common occurrence; particularly these days as it seems almost any colour combination goes.

Still can't believe that you managed to avoid all the tetchy $$$$ electronics, and good luck with the repair.


M


P.S. Thanks for the vote on the colour. Took me 11 years to discover that it was really Sapphire and not Antigua blue, mind.

++1 on that. This forum helps in no small way, though.

The code is meant as a theft deterrent, and from what I gather is not widely used in the US. I've no idea why.
If your radio isn't coded, then it will just work again when the power is reconnected.


M

ive had a dozen battery disconnects and have never experienced a need to recode mine. still don't know if it would work in the UK though. would hate for the gentleman to buy mine and it not work over there!!!


actually, the radio that I have for sale is from the 2000 XKR that I used for donor parts. it's a NA car too.

thanks for your input!

Absolutely no offence taken Michael. I did find the culprit and gave him a right rollicking. (Now I'm no longer talking to myself!)

Pic of the radio attached (I hope). It does worry me a little that a NA unit might not work in the UK too. Anybody ever imported/exported an XK?

Very dim memory on this, but here goes ... when I got my '01, about 8 years ago, the radio was in some sort of "Europe" or "UK" configuration. I had to research how to give the radio special instructions so it would learn to speak American. Sorry, I just can't remember more, but this would seem to indicate that our radios can adapt to either side of the pond.

Colonies v. UK: Are the channel spacings different maybe? Here we use 200 KHz spacing for FM ... e.g. 93.1, 93.3, 93.5 MHz

(It's possible I dreamed all of this.)

No, you didn't dream it. Like you, something rang a bell & I've done a little digging. Most of the following is courtesy of Davebc in this thread:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...untry+settings

Note that the discussion is about a 2003 vehicle, so YMMV. Key seems to be that if the 'country' setting is changed to EURO, then the radio will start demanding a 4 digit code if it's left unpowered for more than a short period of time. So don't change that until/unless you have the code (dealer).

There's also the question of Premium vs. Standard, but that appears to be a simple switch with two options, "STD" & PRM"

...Oh, and you're not going to hear any American stations on it

Seriously, I'm sure I've read that at least one member here has taken a US vehicle to (France?). If it's the same head unit irrespective of its final destination, then it should be possible to configure it to work wherever.


Mike