Estate(s) of the nation

[Heidel_Kakao]

I have had a bit of a saga trying to replace the head unit in the XM and the end result is not ideal but I am going to live with it. I wanted to retain the use of the steering wheel buttons but for whatever reason it has not worked.

I started by removing the old unit, I had high hopes at this point.

Then I installed this Alpine unit. It functioned fine as a normal head unit but the steering wheel buttons did nothing even though I was using the correct Autoleads PC99-X17 adaptor.

After fiddling with it for a while I looked online and it turned out the seller on Ebay had supplied the wrong patch lead for the head unit, the top one in this picture is for Alpine and the bottom for Sony, they both have a 3.5mm jack to connect to the head unit but the Alpine has some extra orange wire for whatever reason.

 

So I contacted the seller and they sent me the correct patch lead & I tried again, this time the buttons did work partially but only the button for switching between radio, CD etc and one of the seek buttons. The volume buttons and mute button etc did nothing. I was going to give up at this point but as I already had the Sony patch lead I thought I may as well have one last attempt with a Sony unit so bought the cheapest one on Ebay which was compatible (£23.80) and waited for it to arrive.

I installed the Sony unit and the steering wheel buttons worked about as well as with the Alpine, I even put the factory head unit back in briefly to make sure the buttons were still fine and they were.

 

I have now given up on the buttons working and am just sticking with the Sony unit. It came with the little remote above so I at least have a way of controlling it without looking down at it while driving.

[Heidel_Kakao]

I took the XM down to my local Powerflow exhaust centre today to get a quote for a stainless system as the exhaust has started to blow and rattle. They quoted £240 from the cat back and I had a good look underneath the car while it was up on the ramps and it appears solid.

 

It's booked in for an MOT on 15th September (it expires 13th October) so assuming it fails on just the exhaust and nothing really serious I will get a stainless one fitted.

 

The dodgy left hand display has been bothering me since I got it. How can I live with not knowing when my car door is open or not? So I am just about to start dismantling the dash in an attempt to fix it. It's not like I can make it any worse!

[Heidel_Kakao]

It came apart pretty easily, hope it goes back together again ok.

The offending unit extracted!

[DSdriver]

Good to here its still going! The exhaust cat is quite new as the old one got trashed when they replaced the bit between it and the downpipe.

The back box has no silencing in it because the idiots who replaced the tail pipe dislodged the innards which was akin to poking a potato up the tail pipe performance-wise. I vowed many years ago to always replace the complete system if one bit needs replacing but on this car I was persuaded against my better judgement to just replace one part and then lived to regret the consequences. At least four different garages had a go at it in the end.

If I had tried to dismantle the dashboard there would have been bits of broken trim all over the place. You must have magical powers. I think that all the LED panels need is the contacts cleaned up. There is a thread on here somewhere about how to do it but I can't remember who posted it. Possibly Lanky Tim.

I have no idea why this car is in a reasonable condition underneath when so many others are rusty. It's a shame the bodywork is something that Father Ted would be proud of.

[Heidel_Kakao]

 

It's not perfect but it works! It was more frustrating than I expected and I broke the clip that holds the LCD glass so I had to use sellotape to hold it together.

 

http://citroen.tramontana.co.hu/en/electrics/missing-pixel-columns-on-the-lhd-display

 

That's the guide I followed. I couldn't be bothered to take photos while fixing it but there are plenty in the guide.

[hairnet]

that silver stereo *pukes in mouth

 

respec for the dash

[Heidel_Kakao]

 

 

A bit more fiddling and now it's pixel perfect. Yay. I normally don't have the patience for these kind of repairs but it has worked out ok this time.

[Heidel_Kakao]

that silver stereo *pukes in mouth

 

respec for the dash

Yeah it's not asthetically pleasing but it works and I got fed up. Will maybe try again later but I have already spent £100 on the two head units and other gubbins.

[hairnet]

IMG_20170818_225326.jpg

 

IMG_20170818_225408.jpg

 

A bit more fiddling and now it's pixel perfect. Yay. I normally don't have the patience for these kind of repairs but it has worked out ok this time.

1. put wood in'th ole

 

2 bwhahahahahahaha

[hairnet]

Yeah it's not asthetically pleasing but it works and I got fed up. Will maybe try again later but I have already spent £100 on the two head units and other gubbins.

wire up the silver one but hide it somewhere - you haz remote innit

 

put standard cit one in dash

[Heidel_Kakao]

wire up the silver one but hide it somewhere - you haz remote innit

 

put standard cit one in dash

Ha that's not a bad idea actually. I wonder if a standard head unit would fit in the little cubby hole behind the wooden door above the normal hole? Then I could just have it open while using it and when closed it will look factory. Will have to investigate further.

[Heidel_Kakao]

Good to here its still going! The exhaust cat is quite new as the old one got trashed when they replac Tyed the bit between it and the downpipe.

The back box has no silencing in it because the idiots who replaced the tail pipe dislodged the innards which was akin to poking a potato up the tail pipe performance-wise. I vowed many years ago to always replace the complete system if one bit needs replacing but on this car I was persuaded against my better judgement to just replace one part and then lived to regret the consequences. At least four different garages had a go at it in the end.

If I had tried to dismantle the dashboard there would have been bits of broken trim all over the place. You must have magical powers. I think that all the LED panels need is the contacts cleaned up. There is a thread on here somewhere about how to do it but I can't remember who posted it. Possibly Lanky Tim.

I have no idea why this car is in a reasonable condition underneath when so many others are rusty. It's a shame the bodywork is something that Father Ted would be proud of.

Exhausts are one of my least favourite things to change on a car so it seems a no brainer to get the professionals to sort it out and I can always go back down if I have any issues and they will sort it for free.

 

Yeah it is weird how some examples of a certain car will dissolve and others stay solid. Even the paint on it is pretty good, no lacquer peel or anything. I have never really cared how my cars look cosmetically but I am tempted to try polishing this thing and see what can be achieved.

[DSdriver]

I did wax polish the driver's side and bonnet once as that was the side that could be seen from the house. Farecla UV wax

 

Its a shame the sport mode only adjusts the suspension.

[DSdriver]

Did cleaning the contacts on the rh led panel sort the error in the outside temp display?

[Heidel_Kakao]

No the outside temp display is still not working. I think the problem is probably the sensor which I believe lives in one of the wing mirrors, I may have a look at that another day.

[Heidel_Kakao]

I took the Subaru for a spin to the Retro Rides Gathering on Sunday. It was a really good day out and sticking with the theme of this thread I took some rubbish camera phone photo's of as many estates that I could find for your viewing pleasure.

 

 

[hairnet]

SEFF LOL

 

theres one estate you missed..........

[Heidel_Kakao]

Following Hairnet's request to have respect for the dash and his suggestion to hide the hideous head unit somewhere and restore the OEM unit I did just that.

The cubby hole is also a din sized slot when you remove the plastic insert.

Both new unit and OEM together.

 

With door closed it is as the factory intended. I can control the ugly unit via ickle remote. Pretty pleased with this set up now.

[mk2_craig]

Ingenious! Any way of rigging up the OE unit as well to allow for cassette playerage, or is it Donald Trumped?

[Heidel_Kakao]

Ingenious! Any way of rigging up the OE unit as well to allow for cassette playerage, or is it Donald Trumped?

I bet someone with more electronic skill could find a way of having them both work at the same time, maybe even have the CD player feed into the factory unit and be able to still use the steering wheel buttons? I only listen to tapes as a last resort when driving home a car with a factory tape deck so I think my solution will be good enough for my needs.

[mk2_craig]

To be fair with the steering wheel buttons in the equation that does sound like a fair old mission. Beyond my comprehension anyway!

[Ghosty]

That Cortina at RRG really looks like a Lada to me for some reason.

[Noel Tidybeard]

get a connects2 for the sony to talk to the steering wheel

[hairnet]

win at stereos

[Heidel_Kakao]

get a connects2 for the sony to talk to the steering wheel

I have had a look but I can't see that they do one for the XM? Only seem to have stuff for more modern cars.

[Heidel_Kakao]

I am at a local car meet in the XM, you probably won't be surprised to find that it's the only one here. First time I have been to this meet but it seems ok and they have a pub so all is good.

 

[hairnet]

can you and the granny do the banger thing on the mg (HATE)

[mitsisigma01]

SEFF LOL

 

theres one estate you missed..........

You must be thinking of my 3 litre V6 front wheel drive of Mitsubishi goodness ..... and why is it that whenever I go to find a picture of it has been fkin deleted

[CreepingJesus]

Top thread, sir! Estates, Volvos, hoonds...

 

My estate thing is long running, too. First car I actually owned was an '87 Astra 1.3L estate. I've had a few since *tries to think*...couple of Passats, V70, 765...there's probably more. They're just good things to have, and perennially popular with friends and relatives.

I kind of agree about autos: part of my problem with the 765's hissy fits is that I can't just phone the garage to drag it in with their four by. Manuals are much more obliging!

A former neighbour has an atmo two litre Impreza wagon, which he loves. It's a manual, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't have the hi/lo box. He can't keep the rain out, and the central locking/alarm took some sorting out/hair tearing, but it's pretty sorted now. Some weird issue with the paint in the middle of the bonnet flatting off too, which we couldn't fix. He got it cheap from a guy who was going to WRX it, but hadn't the heart to ruin a good shell.

 

Look forward to your updates.

[mitsisigma01]

Is it there ....