Highline Gremlins
 

Highline in the Tourer is driving me mad,it seems to have a mind of it's own ! Have had niggles with it ever since I got the Tourer earlier this year.

When it works,everything works perfectly,radio,sat nav,cd changer,casette player,trip screen,even the tv lights up and would work if the analogue signal hadn't been turned off ! I recently found out why the previous owner had fitted a rocker switch with an inline fuse in place of the audio fuse in the fusebox to be able to turn all power to the Highline off. I'd tried removing this and replacing the audio fuse in fusebox and all was ok for a few months until one morning car battery was flat. Odd as battery is brand new Exide and car is used daily,charged up battery,alternator charging ok,next morning battery flat again (11.3volts) Hmm,oh rhubarb I said,or something bit naughtier ! Removed battery pos cable and checked battery drain with multimeter between battery pos and battery pos lead and got 3.3 amp drain ! Removed audio fuse (no 33in fusebox)that i'd replaced and drain reduced to something like 0.3 amp,bit more like it's supposed to be. So,something audio related is causing a drain on battery overnight but only once in a while not all the time ! Think i'd run car with no 33 fuse back in place for four months or so before battery went flat,most odd !
Anyway,went back to using the rocker switch with inline fuse to turn power to Highline off at night but to cut out risk of me forgetting to do so,and end up with flat battery again,I wired it up through a four pole relay that only has power with ignition key turned to first or second position. Don't know which part of the Highline system is causing the drain once in a while but guess it might have been happening off and on in this car for a number of years as previous owner was fitting brand new good quality batteries to this car every two years or so,maybe after they were going flat on him even though I think the car was his daily driver too ! Think I read on forum somewhere that sometimes the satnav unit in rear of car doesn't power off properly causing small fan in one of the other rear mounted Highline units to carry on running thereby causing the battery drain but don't know if that's what happens with mine as you can't get it to cause the drain when you want to to be able to check that !

Anyway,rocker switch through relay has meant peace of mind knowing there is no way any part of Highline system can stay on with ignition key out so no flat battery anymore,but have other problems with it too !


Have always had problems with the CD changer sometimes working sometimes not,no discs message even with six in it etc. Even got another working CD changer from another member on here that worked ok for a while then had exactly the same issues as the other one,it actually started working again this morning for first time in a week or so.

Also,the right hand knob often doesn't do anything,even when you wiggle it about,push it,pull it etc but other times it sort of works.

Ditto with the orange triangle power light next to it,sometimes it works etc.

But this week the Highline has really started playing up ! Black screen,no matter what you do,cassette tape loads but doesn't run,cd changer loads but can't get it to work,mode switch just turns radio off and on,most other switches don't work but radio works ok and can change stations with preset buttons,volume knob on Highline works as does volume control on steering wheel.
While it was like this I turned it on so I could see blank,black screen with radio on and I uncovered the Highline units in rear wheelwell and wiggled leads about to see if bad connection but no change to blank screen. Units in rear bone dry by the way. Also checked satnav unit behind side panel in rear,no power to it and couldn't eject disc.
But this morning on way home with radio on and blank screen I suddenly saw two thin white horizontal lines appear on the screen and a short time after everything started working again,screen works and all other functions work fine too apart from the right hand knob,which sort of works.
Other times Highline has worked ok for a week or so at a time before either the CD changer would stop working or it would turn radio off and on on it's own while you were driving it.
So,at last I get to my question - what should I do now ?
Do you think,like me,that the fault is in the dash mounted Highline unit itself ?
Am happy to replace that with one of these new,old stock,never used units on ebay at mo if that'll cure all these ongoing problems
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MGZT-ROVE...:pf:0#shpCntId

MGZT ROVER 75 HIGHLINE (New Genuine MG) SAT NAV RADIO TAPE PLAYER YIE000310PUY | eBay
www.ebay.co.uk
Genuine MG ROVER Alpine Legacy part unused. GT MG SPARES LTD. Fitted to the rover 75 MGZTHigh Line Models. UNIT 1 OLD HALL INDUSTRIAL ESTATE. | eBay!
I know,for not much more,I could get one of those touchscreen units to replace the Highline but i'd rather keep the dash looking original and am happy with the factory fitted Audio system in my Tourer,when it works like it's supposed to !

But is the fault in the dash mounted Highline unit ?

Paul

I very much doubt that it's a fault of the headunit which is only really a dumb terminal. From the way you describe the faults it looks like a wiring problem, Poor earth or bad connection somewhere in the highline wiring. Also possible that there's a fault with the satnav unit. Turning it off with the ignition isn't the best idea as it has it's own shutdown process which it should be allowed to follow. For a start, try disconnecting the sat-nav drive. Random battery drains are often due to a fault in the sat-nav not shutting down fully (even though the led does still go off in some cases).



Whenever you make a change to the system like adding or removing devices you need to switch it on and let it sort itself out - give it a minute for safety. then off and back on again. If it is the sat-nav drive causing all the problems you'll be rewarded with a slightly less attractive display - but it keeps working - no sat-nav though.




If you really find it worth trying a different display unit - pick up a 2nd hand one for a lot less than £139.99! I've got a spare here I'm happy to sell if wanted.

Curiouser and curiouser Avulon ! After reading your reply,thanks for that btw,just popped the sat nav drive out of it's bracket (hadn't done this before) and found the blue wiring connector on back not fully engaged,only half way in,black retaining clip that locks it in place only half way along it.
The other purply red wiring connector was fully in but the black retaining clip was broken with bits missing.
Anyway,removed both connectors to check for damage/moisture,none found,then replaced them both and turned on Highline.
Hooray ! Everything working perfectly,even the on/off right hand button ! Had a play with it,changed the screen colour setting etc. All working !
Happy days - for all of five minutes,lol. Then screen goes blank again and menu button stops working. Can't get menu but radio,cd and cassette functions work ok even if nothing shows on screen.
So pulled sat nav unit out and unplugged it. No improvement,still nothing on screen or menu button working !
Does appear to have been some moisture on outside of sat nav unit in the distant past as stains inside the bracket aperture and looking inside bottom of satnav unit can see some of that green powdery residue like you get when torch batteries leak.
Strange why Highline worked perfectly for a few minutes after I plugged sat nav unit connectors back in all the way but playing up again now,even with satnav unit unplugged

Leave the sat-nav disconnected and try it. Check for leaks in the boot and rectify. (rear light seals, boot vent seals, rear wing trim clips, rear window seal).


Looks like things have been wet re-check and clean all plugs to the radio unit and tv/video unit in the spare wheel well.

Ok,removed sat nav unit and it's mounting bracket from the Tourer. Sat nav unit bone dry but water has been inside it at some point,see pic.
Sat nav unit had not been apart before by the looks of it as I had to cut the factory seal to get top and bottom covers off of it to look inside.
As you can see,corner of printed circuit board inside don't look pretty. Might be able to clean it up but some of the joints look corroded.

Anyway,even with the sat nav unit removed Highline still not working.

Only moisture I could find around where sat nav unit lives was when I lifted up a thin rubber type mat under where it's bracket is. Maybe it's seeping in from that vent thing on wing in pic two. Can't see any history of water leaks/marks higher up though.
Will unbolt and remove other two Highline units in spare wheel well when I get time and see if they have any moisture in them
http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...psjahbs3fa.jpg

http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...pstmab8cyo.jpg

some contact cleaner and a soft toothbrush will work wonders on that .and yes seal up the boot vent while you are at it.also do the the side trims you can get to the none sealing foam washers for the inside on this side

Don't take that to mean block the vent though!

Will do mate,electrical contact cleaner on way,mine had run out.
Will dry it all out in there this afternoon and see if/where tomorrows rain comes in.

Yep,will seal around vent edges not seal it up completely :D

Removed tv and radio tuners from spare wheel well this afternoon. Found small amount of water in bottom of spare wheel well,need to find out where it's coming from.
Took top and bottom covers off of these two tuners to have look inside for moisture etc but both were bone dry and spotless,as were their wiring connectors. So,so far,it looks like my audio probs are to do with the Sat nav unit. Will give that a clean when electrical parts cleaner arrives and refit these three rear audio units and see if Highline works ok then,after stopping water leak into spare wheel well that is