Alpine?? any others?

[denzelburner]

Hi, my alpine 7998r has just decided to give up. It's the phantom facia one, where it's supposed to slide out and up, or back in when the ignition is off. What's annoying is that it has stopped sliding out, just grrrs a bit then turns on to classic fm (which although would be good for mafia style drive-bys, is rather tiring after 3 whole days, after listening to the cd that I can't remove) due to the facia not coming out, I can't actually turn it off, turn the volume up or down, or more importantly stop feeling like I'm 70 (no offence to the more mature readers on here ), as I can't change the station.

Now, two questions:
1. would anyone know how to fix this, or;
2. would anyone be able to offer any advice of a different make of HU? I've had a look at the becker, but the price range is a bit out of reach

Sorry to go on, but further to this, how can i get the front speakers working, as, since I put the alpine in, they have given up the ghost?

Many thanks for trawling through this

Nick

 

[Issac Hunt]

Which car do you have? Have front speakers ever worked?

If they never worked with your Alpine HU then its prob not wired correctly.

As for repairs, Alpine HQ fixed my old IVA-D300 for quite a good price. Its proabably gonna be cheaper to buy new one though.

For alternatives that's gonna depend on your budget? For info my mate has the Alpine IDA-X001 Ipod headunit and its excellent.

 

[SteveTDCi]

I'm sure Alpine do a repair for a set fee. Does the face come off ? One of my Alpine units the display stopped, but removing the faceplate and cleaning the terminals helped, although yours sounds more like the drive is going.

 

[SmoothAssault]

I'm sure this would be covered by an Alpine warrenty. I have always bought Alpine head units and they have never failed on me. Sounds like one of the little plastic cogs on the 'slide out' mechanism has just slipped out of place. I'm sure it's fixable.

 

[denzelburner]

"Which car do you have? Have front speakers ever worked?"

A4 B5 2001 avant, yes, they worked with the audi HU that I took out, and replaced with the alpine

"As for repairs, Alpine HQ fixed my old IVA-D300 for quite a good price. Its proabably gonna be cheaper to buy new one though."

Where abouts is it and how much was it? I think you may be right, as it is a fairly old unit and I don't think it will still be under warrenty unfortunately

"For alternatives that's gonna depend on your budget? For info my mate has the Alpine IDA-X001 Ipod headunit and its excellent"

my budget is up to £200 at the moment, as I've just had to replace brakes, suspension and two ball joints, so this is a bit of a ******. I'm not really that bothered about an ipod HU, as I don't have one, so any other HU suggestions would be appreciated

"Does the face come off ? One of my Alpine units the display stopped, but removing the faceplate and cleaning the terminals helped, although yours sounds more like the drive is going"

No, the face unit slides into the actual DIN slot itself, instead of being able to take it off, so not able to clean it. Thanks for the idea though, any others would be appreciated

"I'm sure this would be covered by an Alpine warrenty. I have always bought Alpine head units and they have never failed on me. Sounds like one of the little plastic cogs on the 'slide out' mechanism has just slipped out of place. I'm sure it's fixable"

It's a bit too old for the warrenty now, which is a bit annoying. I think you may be right, from the sound it's making, it could be one of the cogs, but I'm unable to reach it. Again, any other suggestions would be appreciated

 

[SteveTDCi]

If you go to Alpines web page under the contact section you will find the details of support/repair. I think for something like £100 they will repair and service the unit no matter how much needs doing. I'm sure I have read that on another forum.

Steve

 

[denzelburner]

Thanks for that steve, found some numbers I might try. Do you any idea what's causing the front speakers to not work, as I've been down to the local audio place in exeter, and they don't know what's wrong with it. Any other unit they put in, they seem to work fine?

 

[SteveTDCi]

If other units work but the alpine doesn't then its something simple like the connectors or the internal amplifier is going. Did they use your harness or there own ?

 

[denzelburner]

The only thing they changed was the HU, the rest stayed the same. I've been looking at some other posts from way back, and some of them mention an amp built in for the front and not the rear, or visa versa. Could this be it, and if so, how do I change it?

Thanks

 

[SteveTDCi]

The amp usually refers to the Audi amp that powers the sub and rear speakers, but if a dealer has already tried a different headunit and it works fine then it would make me think the Alpine is at fault.

 

[AndyMac]

Could the Alpine have the front speaker output switched off?
I know with a lot of HU's these days you can switch off the internal amp, when using a fully amped system, so it maybe just a setting you need to change on the Alpine menu.

 

[denzelburner]

I'll have to see if it is once I've sent it off Steve. I think, although possibly wrong, that alpine don't have built in amps, so it could be that I need to amp the front speakers. What do you think?

I didn't see that option in the controls Andy, and now I can't check, which is annoying.

If I do need an amp for the front spekers, what would you recommend?

 

[SteveTDCi]

If you go to Alpines site and go to support you can download the instruction manual. You can on certain Alpine units turn off the internal amplifier of the unit. Its designed for when you use external amps. I know I could do it with my Alpine 7955 that I had.

 

[denzelburner]

I've downloaded the manual to see it it can troubleshoot the facia mech problem, but it didn't help that much. It does show that, yes , but now I'm going to have to wait to see if it works once alpine have had their hands on it