Kenwood Head Unit Fault

[walnuts]

I've got a Kenwood DNX9180DABS head unit in the van, last week about 45 minutes into a drive there was a pop from the speakers and the headunit went dead. At first I thought it was a blown fuse but then it powered back up by itself 30 seconds later. It went straight to the security-code screen (as if it had been reset I suppose). Then it ran fine again for about 5 minutes before going pop, again 30 seconds later it came back to life. 5 minutes after that I was back home so I don't know if it would have happened again.

The unit is only six weeks old, supplied and fitted by Absolut5. It's been fine until this happened. The firmware on the unit is fully up-to-date.

I asked Jason at Absolut5 what he thought, but he's not seen this issue before and has no ideas. He suggested I call the repair centre, which I've done and their suggestion is a loose connection on the permanent 12V supply. I'm going to try and get the unit out at the weekend and check this, but frankly it seems unlikely that I'm going to find anything. The 12V supply has been fine for months to the factory headunit, and the new headunit uses proper Kenwood-VW connector (so no dodgy scotchlocks or anything).

Anyone got any other ideas before I look at returning the unit for replacement? Cheers.

 

[Dellmassive]

Did you get the OEM to ISO loom adapter?

It's very tight behind there, maybe the loom/connector is stressed.

I'd take the dash trim off and have the radio loose/out to check the connections..... then leave it all loose for a few days to see if you have a repeat problem.

I'd say it's very unlikely to be a faulty radio.

 

[Ed Webb]

Interesting.....possibly a coincidence, I've got a Kenwood DNX525DAB and have recently had the same issue. Only every now and then. I recently went into VW Droitwitch for investigation (Radio fitted by VW Hereford) They couldn't find anything but checked and cleaned all connections. Sadly it's happened again since. I've done no investigating myself so far.

 

[walnuts]

Did you get the OEM to ISO loom adapter?

I'm pretty sure Absolut used one of these: CAN-BUS Interface • CAW-CKIMVW3 Ausstattung • Kenwood Deutschland

Nice idea about leaving it loose and seeing if it reoccurs, will try that. Although I imagine it's going to be difficult to reproduce at all....

 

[walnuts]

Interesting.....possibly a coincidence, I've got a Kenwood DNX525DAB and have recently had the same issue. Only every now and then. I recently went into VW Droitwitch for investigation (Radio fitted by VW Hereford) They couldn't find anything but checked and cleaned all connections. Sadly it's happened again since. I've done no investigating myself so far.

That is interesting. Did you also find it took a few minutes to power-back up after it died?

 

[Ed Webb]

Mine powered back up straight away. It displays the vw logo for about a 60/90 seconds before displaying the radio screen. I cant be bothered to take the dash apart to pull the radio out.

 

[TEESIXY]

Sat nav in my old van used to do it and it seemed to be related to having the heater on. It gets really hot in there and i assumed it was a thermal cut out working.

 

[walnuts]

Sat nav in my old van used to do it and it seemed to be related to having the heater on. It gets really hot in there and i assumed it was a thermal cut out working.

Was that a Kenwood unit too?

 

[TEESIXY]

I think it was the van with a DNX 520 VBC. It wasnt factory fitted though, i fitted it.

 

[walnuts]

Thanks for mentioning this, it definitely sounds like a possibility....

When mine went on the fritz last Wednesday, it was bloody cold outside and I had the heating cranked up.

Also, I noticed the a few days after that the vent directly to the left of the headunit was shut, so perhaps that wasn't helping the temperature inside the dash either. I did mention this to the repair centre on the phone when I called them, but in their words: "Nah, these things are built to work in places like the Middle East, heat never effects them"

 

[Wills]

Interesting.....possibly a coincidence, I've got a Kenwood DNX525DAB and have recently had the same issue. Only every now and then. I recently went into VW Droitwitch for investigation (Radio fitted by VW Hereford) They couldn't find anything but checked and cleaned all connections. Sadly it's happened again since. I've done no investigating myself so far.

did you resolve the issue @Ed Webb ? My friend’s Sportline has gone the same way.. possibly overheating?

 

[Ed Webb]

No luck I'm afraid.
It's been behaving for most of this year with only a few unscheduled reboots (maybe 1 every two weeks) although I haven't been driving the van for last few weeks, been given a new work van so smashing the miles in that and saving mine.
I can put up with it and plan on upgrading head unit when funds allow.

 

[VanDamMan]

Got the same unit , 18 mths old but it’s wired to the leisure battery ....and yes the unit gets hot (try changing a cd..hot hot) but lots of troubleshooting stuff on net...mine supports 600w of sound draws loads of power ...would be interested in out come

 

[Wills]

Got the same unit , 18 mths old but it’s wired to the leisure battery ....and yes the unit gets hot (try changing a cd..hot hot) but lots of troubleshooting stuff on net...mine supports 600w of sound draws loads of power ...would be interested in out come

I’ve had a search around with no joy. Do you have links I can use please?

 

[VanDamMan]

I’ve had a search around with no joy. Do you have links I can use please?

Have a look at this thread......found this earlier.....hope it helps
Issue Installing Kenwood 8019

 

[Wills]

Thanks for the link.
The unit will work for an hour or so from cold then switches off. If it’s left off for 30 mins, it’ll work for another approx 30 mins then switches off. Longer left off the longer it’ll work for and vice versa.... The rear parking camera stopped working 1st!

 

[VanDamMan]

Thanks for the link.
The unit will work for an hour or so from cold then switches off. If it’s left off for 30 mins, it’ll work for another approx 30 mins then switches off. Longer left off the longer it’ll work for and vice versa.... The rear parking camera stopped working 1st!

Ummm....guess by eliminating the outputs and it still does the same ..it would point to HeadUnit ....big question if it’s still in warranty get them to sort it...but back in the day your local installer could have a go at fixing it....but be nice to know the out come