1. Home
  2. Volkswagen, everything else
  3. VW Factory CD Changer - Wiring Diagram?

VW Factory CD Changer - Wiring Diagram?

Hello all,

I picked up a factory VW 6-CD changer (Model # 1J6 035 111) on Ebay this week for my 2004 Jetta, and wouldn't you know the thing is dead when I hooked it up to the car. Absolutely no power at all to eject the cd magazine -- and I did try the wiring harness connected in both positions (since it's not really keyed to the position it needs to be in - but the wires are numbered).

I also tried the unit when the car was both started and turned off. Still no power to the unit either way -- so I'm convinced the unit is dead.

So, when I got the unit back in the house, I noticed the shrink tubing was kind of lumpy where the wires separate out of the wiring trunk. So I carefully slit the shrink tubing off to reveal the connections underneath -- and I think I found my problem. It looks like somebody has been screwing around with the wiring, because this certainly doesn't look like factory work.

I took two pictures with my digital camera, here are the links:

formatting link
Coming out of the wiring trunk itself, it looks like I have the following wires:

blue grey yellow green brown

2 thick black wires orange wire wrapped in copper braid thin black wire wrapped in copper braid

I have no idea why, but if you look at the pictures they have the two thick black wires exposed and touching right before they terminate into the wiring harness (look at the clear plastic shrink tubing). And it would definitely seem like these are the power wires.

And then with the two copper braid shielded wires, they have them rigged up and making multiple connections as well. So it's just an ugly scene all the way with this thing.

I would have no problem re-wiring this harness if I had some idea what the wiring is supposed to look like. But with the ugly state of affairs with this changer right now, I'm really flying blind.

Can anyone possibly point me in the direction of a wiring diagram for the VW CD changer? A graphical layout would be great, but I'll take anything I can get right now - so a write-up on the wiring is fine too :)

I may spend the time re-wiring this harness only to have the unit be dead anyway.. but at least I will have tried.

Any help on this is greatly apprecaited!

KG

Reply to
Kevin Gibbons
Loading thread data ...

I will look around but I think your SOL! Another great EBay deal!

"Kevin Gibbons kgibbons.com>" Hello all,

Reply to
Woodchuck

Is that what is coming out of your car, of the cable from your "new" changer?

That looks aweful, you should never see wiring like that from the factory, Germans are fanatical about wiring neatness, at least in their industrial facilities... i'd imagine it carries to their cars... at least i'd hope.

If this is coming from your 2004 Jetta... bring the car back for a repair... If its from the CD player, buy a new cable.

Another possibility, is the cable connected to the back of your headunit? "Kevin Gibbons kgibbons.com>" Hello all,

Reply to
Rob Guenther

These pictures are of the wiring harness that's on the changer unit I picked up on Ebay -- not on the vehicle side :) From looking at the splices again, there's no doubt that this unit had to be messed with by somebody that didn't know a soldering iron from a 9-iron.

I'm still looking around on some of the VW forums to see if I can get a direct wiring layout for this harness... but no such luck yet.

Lastly.. you mentioned "is the cable connected to the back of your headunit"? -- and you know what, I hadn't even thought of that before! I just assumed that the CD changer cable would automatically be connected all the way up to the head unit (and attached) to make it easy on the VW dealerships when it came to installing these changers.

Can anyone verify if the CD changer wire does come UNATTACHED to the back of the head unit?

I can't even verify this one for myself, because I don't have the proper tool to pull the factory head unit out of the dash.

Reply to
Kevin Gibbons

Well I'm sure this wiring diagram has to be somewhere around the web :) Either that, or if somebody would be so kind as to look at a CD changer they might have laying around and to read me off the wiring diagram matched up to which pin on the connector, that would be all I need.

But you're right... another great Ebay deal for sure! lol

Reply to
Kevin Gibbons

True about the wiring, but the changers come from Japan.

Reply to
Woodchuck

..... Japanese industrial facilities are known to be scary for electrics, not sure about their cars... Don't think they are as good as the Germans, but never know how "ghetto" they could be, behind the tape and covers.... But come on, it's a cable, any country should be able to make it better then that.

I'd goto a VW dealer and order a replacement cable, should be 10-20 bucks.

Reply to
Rob Guenther

"Kevin Gibbons

Bummer. I just bought a new OEM 6-disk changer (panasonic) from ebay that was pristine and worked flawlessly out of the box...for about half of what our freindly VW dealer wants. His auction claims full warranty, etc, and his feedback indicates some folks have worked succsessfully with him on returns:

Check out:

formatting link
Of course, if you bought from this guy and can't get any relief.

Unfortunately, the car is out of town on a road trip that I didn't get invited on...

Reply to
x

Just a brief update to my own message thread here.... I ended up purchasing yet ANOTHER cd changer from another seller on Ebay. And would you believe, this one does NOT work in my vehicle either!

So I finally got fed up and called my local VW dealership and asked the service dept if there was possibly a fuse missing, or something that was a quick fix. And the service manager told me that you have to "program" some Monsoon head units to recognize the addition of the CD changer. But of course wouldn't give me any information on how to actually do this "programming" - because they want to make the $$$ on the service call.

Does anyone know if this guy's blowing hot air, or if this truly is a procedure they do? And if so, is this something a VW owner would be able to do on their own?

Again, any help is greatly appreciated...

KG

Reply to
Kevin Gibbons

AFAIK you need a tool like Ross-tech.com Find someone close to you with the tool and maybe for a small donation you can reprogram the radio system. :-) Look here:

formatting link
Have a safe one! later, dave Reminder........ Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them, and you have their shoes. Frieda Norris

Reply to
dave

That's a bunch of bull... sort of anyways. If the CD was good then it would work as soon as it was plugged in. The new ones from VW work immediately out-of-the-box. Coding the radio just matches the radio & CD, but honestly I never noticed any difference. As for EBay it's a great place to DUMP junk and make cash!

"Kevin Gibbons kgibbons.com>" Just a brief update to my own message thread here.... I ended up

Reply to
Woodchuck

A friend has a 2003 jetta with monsoon and had trouble getting a aftermarket unit working. The maker of the cd changer finally sent him a reprogrammed unit and it worked. (third one).

JoBo

"Kevin Gibbons kgibbons.com>" Just a brief update to my own message thread here.... I ended up

Reply to
Jo Bo

I bought a Panasonic changer from Crutchfield for my 1999 Passat, plus an adapter. It plugged right in and worked fine without any programming.

Reply to
JeffN

Well I thought it was a bunch of bull as well.... so I ended up buying a SECOND changer unit as I had mentioned in my follow-up. And neither the 1st or 2nd unit work -- so I'm quite convinced it's not the changers.

I spoke to two different VW dealers and told them of my problem. And both actually do claim the car needs to be hooked up to the diagnostic and "programmed" to recognize the changer. The dealership where I bought the car offered to do it for me for free -- but the problem is I live about 1hr from them. So I'm going to have to schedule a paid service call to my local dealership -- which shouldn't be too terribly bad. They claim it's only a $35 fee.

So I'll keep the thread updated after my service call on the 20th....

Kevin

Reply to
Kevin Gibbons

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.