HELP! Stereo install broke Mini computer?!

[CHRYSt]

Ok, I want to know if anyone has heard of such a thing before.

I installed an aftermarket head unit (Alpine 9815) in my 04 MCS several months ago. Never seen any problems whatsoever.

This was a very simple drop-in installation. Wired head unit to harness, and plugged harness into factory harness. I then tried to wire the SWIX unit into the MF steering wheel. It didn't work, and so I just respliced the wire, and went on. I assumed that it was just a bad SWIX unit. Everything was done by the book, stereo worked fine, car ran with no trouble, nothing out of the ordinary.

I brought her in for the 10,000 mile service, as well as asking that they install the rear fog lights, and they told me that they were having trouble resetting the service indicator, and it had something to do with the install. I spoke with the tech, and he had the whole dash pulled apart. He said that the bus had shut itself down, and that the temp gague on the OBC was reading -38 degrees. (When driving in to the service, I noted that it was actually a rather nice temperature of 79. So somewhere, this temp gague broke.) Apparently, he got the bus back up by removing the new head unit, but ir's still not responding to any of his computer stuff.

So now I'm told that they've gotta keep it in till tomorrow when their super-guru can come in and look at it.

Has anyone ever heard of this? Is it possible that a new stereo could have done this without me seeing any ill effects? Is it even possible at all?

Any answers would be nice..even if they're not good, I just don't want to be in the dark about it.

[scooterboy]

I can only think of 2 ways your install could have caused it.

1) You accidentally applied power or signal to the ibus line in the head unit harness. This would seem unlikely because I would think it would have caused problems immediately.

2) You tapped the wrong wire in the steering column for the SWI-X and even after being spliced back together, that's causing the problem. Or you tapped the correct wire but accidentalyl nicked one of the others?

Other than that, I haven't a clue. Let us know how you make out.

[CHRYSt]

Quote: Originally Posted by scooterboy

I can only think of 2 ways your install could have caused it.

[snip]

Other than that, I haven't a clue. Let us know how you make out.

Well, at least I can hope they figure something like that out. I'm really hoping they messed up something with the rear fog install or something. The tech went on and on about how "sensitive" these cars are and such, and how the radio's part of the bus, and things like that.

I just can't imagine that something like this would cause the problems they're saying it has, considering 10,000 others have aftermarket stereos with no problems.

I'm going to demand that they show me exactly what wire(s) it is that is causing the problem, so I can go to Crutchfield, point at the incorrect instructions, and say "You're paying my bill, biotches." They said that wrong instructions aren't unheard of, and that they review it case by case. They also said they'd never heard any complaints about their Mini instructions.

[CHRYSt]

Well, problem solved.

Apparently, my attempt at tapping the steering wheel controls not only wholly failed, but was the wrong wire to begin with. I had a little chat with Kerry, my service technician. Who also happens to supposedly be Mini Of Sterling's top tech, according to my service advisor.

Thanks very much Pacific Accessory Technology R&D. See, now according to the instructions, I was supposed to tap into the white/red wire with yellow dots. Guess which one I cut? The white/red one with yellow dots. Guess which one is actually part of the iBus communications system? That's right. The white/red one with yellow dots.

Maybe there's more than one of these color wires under the dash? I certainly didn't see any. Maybe I cut it in the wrong place? I didn't see it peeking out anywhere else. I dunno.

Anyway. So it didn't cause any damage to the computer, but when it didn't work, I spliced that wire back together using a jumper, since there wasn't enough slack to do it otherwise. My little splice job, while fine for simple electrical connections, introduced enough resistance that their computer couldn't talk to the car's computer. They spliced it with some quality gear, and only charged me for labor.

All in all, I same off better than it could have. Free loaner, so I wasn't stranded, and I suppose they could have, but didn't void my warranty. Still. This is the first time I've ever messed up anything while performaing a stereo installation.

I'm still not sure what I did wrong, since there's plenty of success stories on this forum.

[scooterboy]

The PAC instructions say the wire is white with red stripe and yellow dots. When I installed mine, that's the one I used. Are you sure the wire you cut into wasn't red with white stripe and yellow dots?

It's a subtle but obviously important difference.

[CHRYSt]

Quote: Originally Posted by scooterboy

The PAC instructions say the wire is white with red stripe and yellow dots. When I installed mine, that's the one I used. Are you sure the wire you cut into wasn't red with white stripe and yellow dots?

It's a subtle but obviously important difference.

Yeah. That's why I'm confused. I've got the piece of wire they cut out to put their replacement splice into.

It's white, with a red stripe, and a yellow dot. (It's not long enough for multiple dots to show)

I found this in a bundle next to the steering column, on the left, near the firewall. Had to remove the knee bolster to get to it. It was mostly taped up, but there was enough showing that I could pull it out and see the color.

[mikeythemini]

Are you sure that loom comes from the column.

[scooterboy]

My thought, too. If the bundle was that close to the firewall, are you sure it's the one that goes to the steering wheel? I removed the steering column shroud and located the wire bundle as close to the steering wheel as I could. In that spot, the bundle was completely enclosed in the black fabric tape (no wires showing). That tape was a bugger to get apart too, and the correct wire was in the exact middle of the bundle so it took some fishing to get that one out enough to cut.

All this while laying very uncomfortably on my back, with my lower half hanging out of the car.

[CHRYSt]

Quote: Originally Posted by scooterboy

My thought, too. If the bundle was that close to the firewall, are you sure it's the one that goes to the steering wheel? ...
All this while laying very uncomfortably on my back, with my lower half hanging out of the car.

Yeah, at this point, I'm assuming it's the wrong bundle. Required the same uncomofortable position to get to, and what bit I could trace has a branch that went toward the steering column. I described it to someone, when I was trying to figure out why the SWI-X wouldn't work, and they said it sounded right. We decided it was a bad SWI-X unit, and I never got around to trying again.

Too bad none of the FAQ's or DIYs have pics of exactly where the wire is located. Would have saved me a lot of trouble.