P38 ICE -Return to ‘Stock’ question(S)

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BBB127E1-ED47-4409-8052-2F3F1DF3C547.jpeg 9928CB2D-33A7-40F2-8668-5BE333C4D39B.jpeg C765CF4E-19EB-4986-A51D-975D07676510.jpeg Oh bollocks, the horror is worse than I expected... I’m
Not even sure where to start :(

Why on earth wouldn’t you use a conversion harness instead of blindly hacking connectors off... this is gonna be much more hassle than I anticipated and, to be honest, I’m not even
Sure I can face it :(

no amp behind deadening
Head unit wiring installed by an idiot
No wonder the speakers are farting

very downheartened.

Any opionionsmkn
The best way to approach this ?

do I persue the idea of a more ‘stock’ setup ? (But at what price ? £200 For a 2nd hand amp And god knows what or how to replace the wiring loom that looks like it’s been hacked)

very glum indeed :(
 
Unfortunately, when the prices of these great beasts dropped and a lot of the dolts who bought these as a status symbol did not do any homework before buying and had no idea about the complexity of these beasts or the runaway costs that can be spent chasing a small issue. Hence my earlier post that when a lot of these amps failed the system was then butchered as also some of the trogs didn't understand the class of construction and needed "more flashing lights on me dash brah wen im cruzing wid me brudders" said with hat on backwards while putting only £10 of fuel in to go round his block.
People on this site tend to know what there getting into (mostly) some are still shocked. But the advice on here is priceless.
Feel for you with choice you have to make and really its up to you how much you want to chase down the rabbit hole of getting it back to stock as there will be tears and heartbreak along the way. And the very often HOW Much and what the F"£$K now?. IMHO if the rest of the vehicle is running ok and especially the EAS as that's another issue and can of worms i would just fit a simple sound system and enjoy the motoring. But as said its really your choice of what you want.
 
Thanks, Gunnar...

I guess I’m just a bit deflated and angry that someone would do things that way -I mean, <sigh> It would have been a £20
Harness adapter ! - I’m an engineer, I like to do things properly. But the thought of installing a new loom -I mean, if I could get the ends, I could remake it but it’s a much, much bigger job than I feared and it may be more prudent and sensible at this point to fall on my sword and out in Something modern and practical.

I can’t even bring myself to remove the hideous amp that’s been glued in of the real one.

Even the air-con fox is
Looking easier and cheaper at this point !

listen, thanks folks for all the info and support, if anyone has any sage advice on
How I might save my sanity and not lose my wallet I’d be very grateful to listen !

Cheers

Bob
 
awkwardbob said:
Thanks, Gunnar...

I guess I’m just a bit deflated and angry that someone would do things that way -I mean, <sigh> It would have been a £20
Harness adapter ! - I’m an engineer, I like to do things properly. But the thought of installing a new loom -I mean, if I could get the ends, I could remake it but it’s a much, much bigger job than I feared and it may be more prudent and sensible at this point to fall on my sword and out in Something modern and practical.

I can’t even bring myself to remove the hideous amp that’s been glued in of the real one.

Even the air-con fox is
Looking easier and cheaper at this point !

listen, thanks folks for all the info and support, if anyone has any sage advice on
How I might save my sanity and not lose my wallet I’d be very grateful to listen !

Cheers

Bob
Click to expand...
No Worries Bob,

Fully understand about doing it right. Mine is original and i like it like that. When the factory satnav packed up years ago i could have spent a fortune on an out of date system that ran on CD's in the boot that were rarely if ever updated for just some of Europe that you would have to sell your first born to afford them also doesn't work in Russia, or pulled out the unit and fitted something in its place but to me it would have not looked right so i just use a screen mounted satnav that covers all of Europe that is updateable and the beast still looks good.
 
Just out of interest, what should the part number of the DSP amp be ?
Is it an XQK100210 by any chance ?

this is for a ‘98 Autobiography which I believe likely had the clarion head unit as standard rather than the later Alpine, but please correct me if I’m completely wrong !
 
awkwardbob said:
Just out of interest, what should the part number of the DSP amp be ?
Is it an XQK100210 by any chance ?

this is for a ‘98 Autobiography which I believe likely had the clarion head unit as standard rather than the later Alpine, but please correct me if I’m completely wrong !
Click to expand...

Oops. Or is it the scary XQK10340 ?
 
I learnt as a complete novice with mine. To start off, the amp part numbers are important, I can't remember which but depending on the model and stereo setup, dictated which amp you had. Google might be your friend there, try looking in Rangerovers.net there's a lot of info there from people who have done this. (Unfortunately some are over in the USofA so bear with them). Believe me, as an amateur like me, It's not that impossible to install a new stereo amp in place and work out the wiring back to the head unit. Have a good read round, the info is out there.
 
Thanks guys.

yeah, there’s a lot of info, I’ve managed to find a schematic for a ‘lesser’ (I think disco 2
HK amp) and I’ve picked one up for £25 so I
don’t mind trying.

the tricksy bit will be the connector to the amp button it must be a ‘standard’ connector of some sort. If anyone has any smart ideas about where to source they’d be very welcome, guess I could get some breakers to cannibalise or re-install a complete loom...

mat least I know why the speakers are farting, a PO has wired them directly
To the pioneer head unit -presumably with no crossovers so all speakers are getting full-range signal.

for info I have tweeter, mid and bass in each front door, mid and bass in each rear door and double coned sub in the boot.

I feel a bit better about things now. I shouldn’t have expected anything to be straight forwards !
I guess it’s a ‘welcome to P38 ownership’ !
 
If you have a 1998, and there's nothing in the gap behind where the sub lives (note that there isn't a massive wiring loom and connector there), then you never had a DSP amp to begin with.

DSP amps were only fitted to the later vehicles with the Alpine head unit, and with factory Nav (mostly Vogue, Vogue SE, Westminster and probably a few other special editions.)

You vehicle will have had amps in the doors - which are generally a LOT more reliable than the DSP amp, and also far easier to install an aftermarket head unit in - just need some attenuators (assuming the amps are still there and wired in - taking a door card off will confirm this).

You can get the ISO connectors needed to re-wire onto the vehicle loom if you want to go that way.
 
martyuk said:
If you have a 1998, and there's nothing in the gap behind where the sub lives (note that there isn't a massive wiring loom and connector there), then you never had a DSP amp to begin with.

DSP amps were only fitted to the later vehicles with the Alpine head unit, and with factory Nav (mostly Vogue, Vogue SE, Westminster and probably a few other special editions.)

You vehicle will have had amps in the doors - which are generally a LOT more reliable than the DSP amp, and also far easier to install an aftermarket head unit in - just need some attenuators (assuming the amps are still there and wired in - taking a door card off will confirm this).

You can get the ISO connectors needed to re-wire onto the vehicle loom if you want to go that way.
Click to expand...


You have literally just made my day !

there is nothing obvious there (as per the pics) nor was there any obvious mounting point for an amp to have been there. I’m guessing the guilty party may have bypassed the amps as there appears to be speaker wire badly spliced directly into the head unit.

I’ll take a door card off through the week and have a proper look.

I’m guessing the sub didn’t play because it just isn’t connected into the crappy after-market head unit.

I’ll still have to take apart the centre console to inspect the carnage (all that walnut)
 
awkwardbob said:
Thanks, Gunnar...

I guess I’m just a bit deflated and angry that someone would do things that way -I mean, <sigh> It would have been a £20
Harness adapter ! - I’m an engineer, I like to do things properly. But the thought of installing a new loom -I mean, if I could get the ends, I could remake it but it’s a much, much bigger job than I feared and it may be more prudent and sensible at this point to fall on my sword and out in Something modern and practical.

I can’t even bring myself to remove the hideous amp that’s been glued in of the real one.

Even the air-con fox is
Looking easier and cheaper at this point !

listen, thanks folks for all the info and support, if anyone has any sage advice on
How I might save my sanity and not lose my wallet I’d be very grateful to listen !

Cheers

Bob
Click to expand...

Wiring is all in RAVE. Just need some patience to put it right. Stereos are a mystery to me but a few on here know them inside out. Seem to recall HK used a non-standard impedence?

There are so many of these being scrapped now you might get lucky second hand. Clarion offer a really good refurb service on the Bay for about £100. Non-Clarion stuff I am not so sure on.
 
Can you take a photo of the subwoofer unit? You probably have a small black box mounted on the outside or inside, not the DSP amp. I had a 98 and now a 99 and neither had a DSP amp. You can replace the two speakers in the sub box with a pair of 6 inch 4 ohm speakers from Amazon. I bought Pyle ones and they fit perfectly into the 6.5 inch space available. I believe MartyUK has amps if you need them. I think the sound out of the system is pretty decent when it all works.
 
I will, yes the sub has a small box on the side of it -although it’s a replacement unit.

I am beginning to think this vehicle never had the DSP amp and when I have more time I’ll dismantle the doors to see what lies within.

I also found this: in the space where the DSP amp ought to go. Seems
Like a GPS tracker ?

Annoyingly the version of RAVE I have is from ‘99 onwards so doesn’t cover the stereo in detail. Certainly no Sat Nav was fitted.

Mission continues

Bob

-oh, and I also think I’ve bought the version of the Clarion radio that doesn’t take steering wheel control (grrr)

2406D1DA-A8B7-4A48-BF52-FC081F932F72.jpeg
 
awkwardbob said:
I will, yes the sub has a small box on the side of it -although it’s a replacement unit.

I am beginning to think this vehicle never had the DSP amp and when I have more time I’ll dismantle the doors to see what lies within.

I also found this: in the space where the DSP amp ought to go. Seems
Like a GPS tracker ?

Annoyingly the version of RAVE I have is from ‘99 onwards so doesn’t cover the stereo in detail. Certainly no Sat Nav was fitted.

Mission continues

Bob

-oh, and I also think I’ve bought the version of the Clarion radio that doesn’t take steering wheel control (grrr)

View attachment 217200
Click to expand...

As I've already said - your vehicle never had a DSP amp. They weren't fitted until around the 2000MY with factory Nav - even the later HSE's etc through 2001 without factory nav still had amps in the doors, which is what your vehicle will have shipped with.

That box is a GPS tracker, yes - I found one in my 1998 as I was pulling some of it apart, they weren't factory fit - but wonder if it was a fitment by some people back when P38's were worth £30-50k... maybe it made a difference to their insurance premiums...

There are ETM's out there for the earlier versions - there is a 1997 version which was the last revision before the changeover in 1999, so that will be accurate for your 1998 and it has the radio wiring in there, though I wouldn't necessarily trust all the wiring colours in the doors - from memory what RAVE has and what is in the loom are different on some vehicles! Again, my 1998 that I've got is like this - but generally it's on the wiring from the amp to the speakers, so everything up to the amp (input side) is fairly easily traceable.
 
Thanks Marty,
I’m. A little nervous about what I might find inside the doors, given the mess someone has made at the head unit, hopefully it all makes sense -I have the pin-out for the original iso connectors do that’s a start.

one thing I did want to ask, though, was what the two connectors at the opposite side of the head unit are for, are they aerial connections ? Power connections ?

thanks again

Bob

A3B7345B-91F1-46CC-B722-B300A89F5A9F.jpeg 80F717F0-6641-4789-8ACE-26F40F491B16.jpeg DCE8BB89-4594-4E9C-A6EA-583656577189.jpeg
 
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