Distorted or missing speakers on Alpine stereo. Known Issue!
Discussion
Today I have finally managed to resolve a very long standing issue with the Alpine Premium Stereo in our V8V.
It used to distort on nuggety roads above say 50mph and has done it since new in Sept 2006.
Since then the car has been looked at numerous times by Lancaster Sevenoaks, Works Service and last year at DMS. I dare not think how many £1000s of warranty work have been lavished on trying to resolve it.
Just before DMS went pop, Rick suggested I spoke with James (ex Paralight, now Trackaphone) who is something of a guru.
Within about 5 minutes of chatting with James he said "it sounds just like a known issue with the Bluetooth switching module". This has a relay in a metal box that apparently
James kindly sent me a bypass harness which I finally got round to putting in today. It has transformed the sound.
If you have a Vantage with a Bluetooth kit in it there is a very good chance that you are getting the same issue, which to my ears was deplorable.
I've included some photos of the strip down and location of the switching module.
Photo showing location of cover plate in passenger footwell.
Photo showing cover plate removed and footwell fuse box. The switching module is very bottom of the apperture
Better photo of the switcher module
Photo down onto switcher module showing connector (which is actually to the LHS in the car)
Photo showing the connector removed from the switcher module
and plugged into the bypass harness
To get the module out there are 2 x 10mm AF nuts at the top edge, 1 x 10mm AF nut onto the transmission tunnel, 2 Torx screws on the left hand side onto the door pillar and 3 torx screws into the floor.
With some jiggling about you can pull the cover out of the way.
Which reveals the box. This is removed with a 10mm AF socket and an 8mm AF socket for the deeper one.
The offending box
I've dis-assembled the box. The relay is definately faulty. It has a contact resistance of about 0.3 ohms, unless you tap it when it goes up to 5 or 10 ohms. Piece of crap.
James has designed a new improved box that he builds and supplies Aston with. That is not susceptible to the same issue.
As another alternative the relay in the existing unit should be interchangeable with a Finder relay. Best part number looks like 55.14.9.012.5.0.0.1 which has gold contacts and is "wash proof" so should be less prone to damp issues.
I've road tested the car with the bypass harness in place and the stereo is a revelation. The new box is not prone to condensation and not being hard-mounted to the car by screws I expect will exhibit less jangling of the relay contacts.
I cannot recommend James enough.
What amazes me is that even with the inclusion of Gaydons specialist on the stereo, who collected the car from me for one of its many visits to Works Service to have this looked at, this issue was not picked up.
They have replaced at considerable cost the head unit, the amplifier, checked over the supply wiring numerous times and yet have failed to pick up on a known issue.
I'm staggered! But very happy that the issue finally looks like it will be resolved.
Seriously if you have a vantage with a Bluetooth kit and the sound is less than perfect get the switching box changed out. It's not expensive and transforms things.
It used to distort on nuggety roads above say 50mph and has done it since new in Sept 2006.
Since then the car has been looked at numerous times by Lancaster Sevenoaks, Works Service and last year at DMS. I dare not think how many £1000s of warranty work have been lavished on trying to resolve it.
Just before DMS went pop, Rick suggested I spoke with James (ex Paralight, now Trackaphone) who is something of a guru.
Within about 5 minutes of chatting with James he said "it sounds just like a known issue with the Bluetooth switching module". This has a relay in a metal box that apparently
James kindly sent me a bypass harness which I finally got round to putting in today. It has transformed the sound.
If you have a Vantage with a Bluetooth kit in it there is a very good chance that you are getting the same issue, which to my ears was deplorable.
I've included some photos of the strip down and location of the switching module.
Photo showing location of cover plate in passenger footwell.
Photo showing cover plate removed and footwell fuse box. The switching module is very bottom of the apperture
Better photo of the switcher module
Photo down onto switcher module showing connector (which is actually to the LHS in the car)
Photo showing the connector removed from the switcher module
and plugged into the bypass harness
To get the module out there are 2 x 10mm AF nuts at the top edge, 1 x 10mm AF nut onto the transmission tunnel, 2 Torx screws on the left hand side onto the door pillar and 3 torx screws into the floor.
With some jiggling about you can pull the cover out of the way.
Which reveals the box. This is removed with a 10mm AF socket and an 8mm AF socket for the deeper one.
The offending box
I've dis-assembled the box. The relay is definately faulty. It has a contact resistance of about 0.3 ohms, unless you tap it when it goes up to 5 or 10 ohms. Piece of crap.
James has designed a new improved box that he builds and supplies Aston with. That is not susceptible to the same issue.
As another alternative the relay in the existing unit should be interchangeable with a Finder relay. Best part number looks like 55.14.9.012.5.0.0.1 which has gold contacts and is "wash proof" so should be less prone to damp issues.
I've road tested the car with the bypass harness in place and the stereo is a revelation. The new box is not prone to condensation and not being hard-mounted to the car by screws I expect will exhibit less jangling of the relay contacts.
I cannot recommend James enough.
What amazes me is that even with the inclusion of Gaydons specialist on the stereo, who collected the car from me for one of its many visits to Works Service to have this looked at, this issue was not picked up.
They have replaced at considerable cost the head unit, the amplifier, checked over the supply wiring numerous times and yet have failed to pick up on a known issue.
I'm staggered! But very happy that the issue finally looks like it will be resolved.
Seriously if you have a vantage with a Bluetooth kit and the sound is less than perfect get the switching box changed out. It's not expensive and transforms things.
Edited by peterr96 on Saturday 10th March 20:18
Edited by peterr96 on Monday 12th March 08:03
I raised a query on the forum some months ago.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
I should add that the situation had become even worse than I described with left and right speakers periodically reducing in volume or disappearing altogether.
Given that Rick was unaware of this issue I assume that this never became the subject of a bulletin. Could someone establish that?
As already stated James has designed a replacement changeover box for AM which is a valid retrofit for any pro MY07 and earlier cars. Any replacement from AM will have been supplied by him and will not look like the green box in my photo.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
I should add that the situation had become even worse than I described with left and right speakers periodically reducing in volume or disappearing altogether.
Given that Rick was unaware of this issue I assume that this never became the subject of a bulletin. Could someone establish that?
As already stated James has designed a replacement changeover box for AM which is a valid retrofit for any pro MY07 and earlier cars. Any replacement from AM will have been supplied by him and will not look like the green box in my photo.
brumma said:
I seem to be having a similar problem, although mine affects the rear speakers. Because of this, I'm not convinced that your solution would work for me. However, depending on the cost, it may be a good idea to try replacing the bluetooth module first. The alternative is replacing the amplifier at a cost of $1200 installed. What is the cost of the replacement module, and how does one go about ordering one?
I don't believe the rear speaker feeds pass through the switcher module. Sorry I don't think that was the answer you were looking for!
Gassing Station | Aston Martin | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff