V35 Head Unit Warning.

[ausky]

Chris will probably find this amusing. After pissing him about asking for cruise, satnav and bluetooth quotes for my V35 S2, and crying about the price of about $4000, he suggested that I could get a local bloke in Canberra to do the job and save airfares. Well, I purchased a Kenwood DNX6140 from the states (DVD changed to region free and AM band sorted). I booked the car in for the work to be done not knowing that he had not received the parts from Chris. After 8 days (and $5500 total) I got the car back, obviously reassembled in a hurry, the aircon wasn't working and the airbag indicator had not been reset. The car was ok otherwise for half a day and then refused to start, probably something to do with the transmission control module as no gear position is indicated on the dash. After another 9 days I am still waiting for something to be done.

THEREFORE, get your car done by Chris Rogers and don't be cheap. Its amazing how one can get as old as I am and still make big mistakes. I don't know when I will get my car going or who I might have to get to do it or how much more it might cost.

[rs73]

gee... I reckon the whole thing that went wrong is having the car being reassembled in a hurry due to receiving parts late?

if they had more time on the car would they do a better job?

[Chris Rogers]

looks like I'm making a phone call. got a plane ticket?

[ausky]

rs73.

Yes, I think some of it would have been better, like mounting the cruise LED and the steering wheel remote IR transmitter properly but I'm not sure about the rest.

Chris,

yes it may well come to that. I thought that it may have just been some error in the transmission module but I read that disconnecting the battery for 24 hours should clear any errors but that didn't work. I assume the transmission module connector is attached to the transmission itself. (this is 2005 5 speed auto).

Thanks, Fraser.

[Chris Rogers]

ausky,

call me. something didnt sound right there. as for ticket. monday the 8th may do as I be back from Mlb then. I'll make a call in the morn as well. there will be a fee for me coming down as well to sort this as I have to bring a scan tool with me.

Edited May 24, 2009 by Chris Rogers

[Chris Rogers]

sorted. spoke to the shop in question.

now for the other side of the story.

cruise control is fine. the green light that inidcates the cruise was on was put in the gear stick area and worked perfectly until moved. IR for the radio was located in a similar spot as no holes in the car was specified.

teh IR side of things was for the radio that was replaced. the 2005 version has a phone/voice button on the wheel and these were setup to control the navi instructions and phone hangup/pickup.

as for the lights/trans issue. that needs to be hit with a scan tool. if you want to pay for a ticket down I'll do it.

as for the people involved - they are more than helpful with this. he's been out 3 times so far answering questions and changing things on the car. Same shop has done a few cars for me now with zero drama and after this car he'll do plenty more for me.

Edited May 24, 2009 by Chris Rogers

[ausky]

sorted. spoke to the shop in question.

now for the other side of the story.

cruise control is fine. the green light that inidcates the cruise was on was put in the gear stick area and worked perfectly until moved. IR for the radio was located in a similar spot as no holes in the car was specified.

teh IR side of things was for the radio that was replaced. the 2005 version has a phone/voice button on the wheel and these were setup to control the navi instructions and phone hangup/pickup.

as for the lights/trans issue. that needs to be hit with a scan tool. if you want to pay for a ticket down I'll do it.

as for the people involved - they are more than helpful with this. he's been out 3 times so far answering questions and changing things on the car. Same shop has done a few cars for me now with zero drama and after this car he'll do plenty more for me.

Thanks Chris. I never said there was anything wrong with the cruise control, just the LED was left sticking up near the right hand vent, and the IR LED for the steering control of the head unit poked out through the gear shift boot by about 30mm and therefore moving the wiring back and forth whenever the gear selector is moved. He has looked at the car once at the shop when the head unit stopped but only needed a reset, and has come out once to investigate the transmission problem. That was almost a week ago.

My main point was that it is much cheaper to get the expert than pay for someone to buzz out all the wiring.

Fraser.

[Chris Rogers]

true.

I wanted to get to the bottom of this as I send a few cars there myself. the cruise LED I will drill into that side panel OR disconnect the stock one that is there. (which yours should have it.)

IR I figure could go in another spot but thats up to you two to decide.

[ausky]

Thanks Chris, finally sorted. I had already moved the offending LED's and fixed the aircon. The problem turned out to be a fuse for the transmission control module which (as you probably know) is hidden in the fuse box behind the battery. I had read that there was one there but I still couldn't find it. I really didn't want to wait as this car doubles as my wife's work vehicle and had been off the road for too long already.

Thanks again.

[Chris Rogers]

so did he find it on the visit that night or was it a case of pulling fuses.

good to hear its sorted.

[53XYN]

chris does a great job.. i should know mine was mess thanks to autobarrrrrrrn dodgy install.. his worth the price only heart ache is your without a car for a couple of days..

[Chris Rogers]

vish,

ta! I think its called giving a rats about the job I do.

[ausky]

Pat didn't have an analyzer or he needed a conversion or something. I had NRMA tow the car to Tuggeranong auto electrics who have done a few jobs on a Skyline R33 and a Pulsar for me previously. They managed to fix it pretty quickly, mainly using experience from the sound of it.

[Chris Rogers]

ok. its getting to where you need to keep a scan tool handy for todays cars. (I currently borrow one.)

I had a car go to cairns with a CEL on and they needed the info to fault find it. ( this was the O2 ckt being down.) I ended up sending them the diagrams to do it. ( the original fault was not present when I had the car.)

I'll have a chat to pat at some stage to see how things finally panned out.

[Romeo6886]

Just a quick note to anyone who has a V35 skyline with the built in rise up monitor, its a whole lot easier to move the nav dvd unit behind the passenger kick panel, just takes a bit of time and some wire extending, you also need to do some testing to find the correct wires to cut so you can use the dvd while your driving, on mine it was the purple and orange wire (hand break, which you need to connect to a ground and speed limiter cut off). once you do that you can fit a dvd player in that spot, ofcourse you need to hook up the wiring to the signal box in the boot (thats where mine is) so you can hook up the dvd to the screen. if your handy with a test light, screw driver, wiring and soldering you can get it done in a weekend.. there are a few diagrams on here which show you the wiring for the tv signal box, just have a search and you should find it. i think this way the car looks cleaner, less modified, less head ache and certainly less expensive on the pocket, you can get this done by alot of people around sydney now but they still charge in excess of $2000 - $3000 which is a bit of a rip which is why i did it my self and i could not have asked for a better result..

hope this helps make things easier...

[Chris Rogers]

it does but some of the 'fixes' I have seem in sydney in person look like crap. its a LOT easier to leave it there and pop the DVD unit under the seat. saves hassles with the car and the LAN system on it.

when I do them the unit stays put. no point moving 58+ wires to put a POS dvd unit in the same spot.