iPod, RCD300 and Xcarlink

[james_tiger_woo]

I've been down to the VW dealer today as my xcarlink adapter has stopped working - As I'm usually methodical, I decided to check the xcarlink adapter out first to see if that was at fault.

The problem is that the iPod receives power, but the stereo says "No CDC" when I try to switch to it.

I went down to the Audio specialist (on Saturday) that the VW Dealer themselves use (and who fitted my Parrot kit) for them to check it out. The specialist told me that there was a fault with the stereo - in fact, there were 2 faults (news to me). The specialist also wrote me a letter stating this AND that the VW dealer probably ought to call them (I'll post that shortly)

Basically the feed for the CD Output and another power feed had broken and it was a fault in the stereo.

Back at the VW dealer today, they - who are NOT audio specialists, ran vehicle diagnostics and proudly told me that there wasn't a fault with the heater, brakes, etc and the Radio - Of course I'm thrilled about the rest of it, but as I've just had a service, I knew this already.

Anyway, they informed me that the fault "Might have been caused by the Xcarlink adapter as it's not a VW genuine part - it might have been sending too much information to the radio and 'confused' it"

My response to this was "I'm sorry, but I refuse to accept that story"

Their line was that at they didn't find a problem, then there isn't one. And that VW wouldn't entertain this as they didn't find a problem - I asked if they checked all the feeds and they stated again that "the vehicle diagnostics didn't find anything"

Now, I'm a cynic at the best of times so I pointed out that the Xcarlink had been working for 3 months and asked them whether they think that this problem manifested itself in 3 months.

Their response? "Yes".

My response? "Rubbish"

I asked if they'd called the Audio specialist - "No, we haven't" - I suggested that perhaps they ought to so to discuss this with the AUDIO specialist who used specialised tools (that the VW dealer won't have) to check each of the feeds.

I had no choice but to park it there while they bother to call the specialist and get back to me.

I've since spoken to the specialist for their take on this and they say that they're sure that the fault IS with the radio, but were willing to take another look.

So, all in this - I have a question - has anyone else, with an RCD300 and an Xcarlink had a problem like this with the stereo not the iPod as a CD changer?

/rant off

[james_tiger_woo]

Letter from the Audio Specialist:



In case you can't read it (the handwriting is pretty bad):

Checked over iPod interface in a VW Passat

On New Years Eve 2007, we looked at the problem with the interface. The main feed on the changer port on the Radio had gone so we wired the Interface to another 12v feed - All ok.

Until now on the 28-03-08, we look(ed) at it again, now the switched output on the radio has failed.

So there seems to be a fault inside the radio on the changer port.

/Still Ranting

[richbish]

I've got exactly the same problem in my 2007 Golf Match.

Sometimes everything works fine, the Ipod syncs up with the radio when I turn the ignition on, it resumes playing where I left off. I can even remove the Ipod from the car and plug it in and it starts playing with no problems.

Occasionally (and it's becoming more frequent) all I can get out of it is "NO CDC", the CD player works quite happily but the Ipod won't sync at all - just an annoying beep through the speakers and "NO CDC" on the radio. After anywhere between 10 minutes and 3 hours later I can hit CD on the radio and the Ipod starts playing happily.

More recently I can be driving along and all of a sudden the Ipod stops and the radio tells me "NO CDC" - again, it takes anywhere between a few minutes and hours before it comes back online.

I've tried turning the ignition off, turning the radio off, locking the doors, removing the Ipod, removing the Ipod and leaving it out for a while. Nothing seems to fix the problem - it goes away of its own accord randomly!

The dealer have had the car back once, they've tested it 'throughly' and could find nothing wrong - of course, this was one of the days that it decided to work. Ideally I need to take it back to them when it's playing up but I'm afraid of looking silly when they come to take a look and it's fixed itself!

I'm sure it's a software rather than cabling problem (I'm a software engineer by day), the dealer has checked all of the cables and can find nothing wrong, it's also far too random. The car can have not moved on the driveway overnight and all of a sudden I get "NO CDC".

What's weird is that if I take the Ipod out in the middle of a track then the radio takes a few seconds to realise it's not there any more - during which time it flashes up random CD names and track numbers. When the Ipod 'goes away' it's instant - one minute it's there and then boof! it's telling me "NO CDC".


If anyway has found a solution I'm all ears, otherwise back to the dealer we go!

[james_tiger_woo]

As per my slightly ranting post yesterday, it looks like VW won't acknowledge the fault - they say that my Parrot kit might have caused the problem and even though the VW iPod kit doesn't work and mine doesn't work, that they won't honour the warranty work.

I think I might replace the damn stereo