Cheap alternative required - wiring issue

[pacmannewry]

Okay so I decided to try to fix the dimmed LCD/LED unit on my Phillips thinking it must be just a bulb and in the process I managed to bugger the whole system. (I think I short-circuited it and made it go pop). Off to the breakers yard I went and discovered that all of the four alternatives have a separate display unit and whilst I could get power to them, I had no way of being able to enter a code. Also in the process of removing the old one, I managed to detach the ribbon cable so it's well and truly gone to music heaven.

So two questions:

1) Does anyone have an old Phillips head unit (CD or cassette and preferably with code) that they could sell me cheap (including postage to NI)? or
2) What would anyone recommend as a cheap replacement that could basically wire straight in to the existing plugs? I know I'll lose the stalk controls but can live with that and I suppose if I'm going to change, a CD upgrade would be better. I already have an iso harness from a previous (failed) attempt to change so that's one less thing to get.

Thanks

Paddy

[gumby6371]

I noticed aldi are doing a CD/MP3/Radio for about £40, might be worth a punt as a cheap head unit.

[pacmannewry]

Cheers Gumby - I also notice Halfords are doing something similar at around the same money. I'll maybe drop in tomorrow and see what's there.

[Nightshade]

Upgrade to a CD - you know you want to!
I'm a big Clarion fan, so my first choice for CD's on a reasonable budget would be this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CLARION-CZ201 ... 256277ea71

Or, lowest price half decent unit:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JVC-KD-R331-C ... 19e18da0c5

Or finally if you want real cheap, have you considered mechless?

[pacmannewry]

Cheers Nightshade. I have managed to resurrect a JVC multi-changer CD unit from my wife's old car which I had stored in the shed. My only trouble now is that my speakers will only work if I switch my sidelights on (see my other thread in here) and I have intermittent reception on the radio stations which I think is related to the fact that the aerial connector isn't a really snug fit onto the standard aerial on the car. It seems to switch off frequently when in transit and when I jiggle the unit it comes back on. I hope to get a good go at fitting it properly at the weekend but I still need to solve the sidelight wiring issue.

Anyone any ideas on that front?

[Nightshade]

Sorry Pacman, I missed your reply.

My best guess is something to do with the illumination feed. One of the wires connecting to the ISO connector takes a feed from the sidelights to tell the headunit to light up at night.
When you've fit the unit, have you cut any of the wires? Or just plugged the ISO connector straight in?

[pacmannewry]

Cheers Nightshade. I cut no wires from the unit - just plugged straight in. It's a bit of a maze in there.

[Nightshade]

Okie cokie.
So, some units that have capability to integrate with car phones/ Bluetooth have a mute function to kill the sound from the radio and allow you to answer you call. A quick google shows at least a couple of JVC units that have a connection on the ISO block labeled 'Tel mute'. I might be barking up the wrong tree, but my suspicion is that the wiring on the JVC doesn't quite line up to the car and you have the illumination feed hooked up to the mute input.
Then, without the lights off and no feed to the illumination, the radio thinks you're on the car phone and kills the speaker output. If you can get the exact model, I can likely tell you for sure.

Or does it look like either of these?

[pacmannewry]

It looks very similar to the second one.

Update: It has the cassette slot and looks very like this one: http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=h ... A&dur=3305

[Nightshade]

Right O.

It's a little bit of a minefield without the exact model number, so if you can find that it'll definitely help - there's a few different models that look similar to the one you linked.
First thing to try is the procedure to turn the mute off:
With the headlights turned off, press and hold select for 2 seconds until the menu appears, scroll through with the skip track button until you find muting, then use the + button to turn it to off, then press select to confirm.

If that doesn't work, you'll need to pull the unit out and look at the wiring. JVC list these models as having a set of cables that run from the back of the head unit to the ISO plug on the car. If you've used these, check that the brown cable (telephone mute) is not connected to anything. Also, the red (accessory) and blue with white stripe (power aerial) shouldn't be going anywhere either.
If you didn't use the JVC leads and just plugged the car's ISO connecter straight into the back of the unit. the telephone mute is likely to be the lower left hand pin as you look at the radio from behind.

All the models I found that look similar had this setup, but on the off chance yours is different don't hold it against me
If you're unsure, check the model number and we should know for definite.

[pacmannewry]

Cheers Nightshade. The JVC is KS=FX202. Unfortunately, I didn't take the actual iso adapter cable out of the car that the stereo was in so I have an ebay after-market one and there is no brown wire on it. I tried looking for the mute as you suggested using the head unit menu itself but I can't find it. When I choose the select button, all I get is the option to adjust the hours and minutes of the clock.

I disconnected the cable at bottom left but no joy there either.

[mick2701]

do you have the wiring code for the radio?

[pacmannewry]

Problem sorted folks. Turns out my iso adapter was wrongly wired. I took a punt and ordered a new one from ebay just to see if there was a problem with the first one and hey presto - everything working as it should. thanks for the help.