I'll keep this breif and hope someone can help me or I will be driving to the Dragon next week with AM/FM only....

I just installed a Kenwood KVT-717DVD. This is the single DIN flip out touchscreen DVD receiver.

I purchased from Mike at Newministuff.com the HK enabler which is the harness to allow the connection to an H/K system with an aftermarket HU (my situation exactly)

I got everything in and powered up just fine. I put a CD in and it plays in the unit but I get no sound. So I start to mess around some more and I switch to the tuner accidently (don't have the right antenna adapter so I figured it wouldn't give me anything without it hooked up). All of a sudden I get the radio and sounds comes through the system.

I try my XM and even the iPod through the video input and I still get nothing. Only the tuner works.

Any ideas? I have tried looking in the manual but it is fairly useless.

I need to get the car back together tonight because I need it to get to work in the morning (had to take out the driver seat to put the brain under the seat. In retrospect I should have installed the brain under the passenger seat so I could still drive the car in pieces

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

chris

 

OK it sounds like the HK enabler is only getting turned on when radio is on.
The HK enabler gets its power normally from the electric aerial output of
the radio (red wire from enabler)(connected to blue witre on harness
adaptor)
All kenwoods over here the electric antenna wire stays live when on radio,
cd etc, if yours is going dead then instead use the amplifier remote output
from your stereo or if you cant find that then connect it to an auxillery
live (red on my harness adaptor)
Mike
any probs ring me +448703609599

 

Sorry I didn't get to your message earlier Chris - but you have the expert Mike helping you now!

See the factory head unit connections on MINI2 which show pins 13 and 16 as "antenna" and "accessory". That's the two signals Mike is talking about.

On your head unit there's probably a similar two signals, and obviously the harness adaptor has linked up to the "wrong" one.

Earlier MINIs had a powered antenna amp, and the same signal powered that amp and told the H/K amp to turn on - the only downside is that the antenna amp remains powered when not needed while playing CDs, etc.


Finally:
The change in wiring you need to make is only on Mikes harness adaptor, between your new head unit and the original wiring - so there's no need to remove the driver seat again or anything like that.
Hope you get it sorted soon!

 

Nice link, thanks. Does anyone have a good clear picture of the back of their HU? If it matters as to which year, I'm interested in 2006 stock HU (non H/K if that matters). There is a clear pic on the UglyDoris Aux input tutorial (http://mini.uglydoris.com/archives/000028.html) but the up/down isn't clear and its of a 2002 or so and I'm not sure if they have changed at all in the back. I plan on trying to install the Aux input by feel (as some commenters on that page claimed they could) and just looking for a helpful photo before I try that. Sorry to thread hijack a bit.

 

People so often ask for head unit pics, so I've finally taken a few specially for you (go here to see all five).
You asked for the back of the head unit, so here you are



But I bet you didn't really want that pic did you? How about this one instead:

(click for bigger version)

 

Mike- you were right!

It was the power antenna connection.

Might I suggest that you add to your instructions that the antenna lead be tied to the p.-continuous lead from any aftermarket headunit? This is always the amp signal as you know since most HU's only output to the antenna when in the Tuner mode.

The only reason I say this is that the wire is labeled power antenna so I just blindly attempted to follow directiosn for once in my life!
See where it got me?

From now on I follow directions no more

No really, thanks for your help and all is well with the system sounding awesome!!!!

I really would like the stock look and I enjoy the stock sound but one of my main complaints is that it wasn't loud enough. Now it is perfect.

chris

 

So Chris, you think you got extra (undistorted) volume - good to know

 

Most definitely! I was surprised. I thought anything over the original max of the H/K head unit would have been distortion but I have gotten quite a few notches over the old max without any problems.
Actually I have had it louder but frankly it is actually too loud and I can't tell if it is distortion or blood filling my ears from unbearably high volumes.....

chris

 

Awesome. Thanks!