D2 Fatory Radio (s) not working.

Davis31052

Member
Apr 11, 2017
22
0
Georgia
Here's the deal. I bought a 2003 D2 with an aftermarket JVC head unit that worked fine. However, I prefer to maintain the factory look in the dash and the steering wheel controls, so I purchased a used factory Alpine unit off eBay. I am unsure of the model year model but the part number is XQD101400LNF. This unit has one antennae coax cable socket. When powered up, I can only get AM & WB with sound, but no FM. There is no request for a security code displayed, and if I disconnect the antennae coax, I lose both the AM Band Weather Band. So I'm confident the antennae is working fine.

So, figuring the radio was kaput I picked up another Alpine head unit out of a 2003 HSE, part number XQD00034PUY. The only visible difference is this unit has the "i" button on the far left of the face panel and two antennae coax cable sockets. one regular and one small. When I plug in the second unit, the display shows AM,FM, and WB. The seek function finds local stations but now I get no sound output. Still no request for a security code.

To add to the mystery, I do not have a CD changer under the passenger seat and there is no wiring harness to indicate there ever was. Same goes for the amp under the drivers seat. There is no evidence that anyone removed the entire portion of the wiring that ran the CD changer, amp or removed the smaller antennae coax cable. All the factory wire wrap and ties are still in place.

In addition, on the in-dash harness for the radio. I only have three plugs. The tan, the gray and the yellow. All fuses are good, and the antennae on the right rear side glass is plugged in.

Being that my truck is an "S" model is it possible that it only came equipped with a tape/radio head unit? Would I need to search for a year model / trim level specific head unit?

I'm stumped.

Thanks, Eddie
 

squirt

Well-known member
Nov 13, 2008
824
13
Los Angeles
Having spent some time poring over this section of RAVE, I can tell you that there are a number of different variations in the head unit, across model years and trim levels, despite having extremely similar external appearances. For each of these configurations, the wiring pinout may be somewhat different. I've never personally seen a S (base) model, so I'm not familiar with the config, but I suspect that this may be your issue. For example, the headunit may be sending the trigger for the audio amp to the wrong wire, thus the amp isn't powering up - and no sound. Same could be true for the antenna amplifier, if you're not getting any stations that you'd expect to get.

Even the aftermarket harnesses made for D2's will sometimes need modifications to work properly, based on the year/trim.

My recommendation would be to look at the wiring diagrams in RAVE and figure out your wiring schematic on the car side, then compare to the radios you have in hand. It may be a simple matter of swapping some wire locations on the car side to get you up and running.