I have been having trouble with my wife's ignition - jetta. Took to a dealer today and he claims I ruined the ignition b/c of the aftermarket stereo head (Sony). Said I should have installed a K-wire or something like that to prevent too many amps heading to ignition? Appearantly I voided my warranty and he wants 234 for a new ignition. I think he's full of crap but wanted to see if any of you guys ever heard of such a thing.
#3669, "RE: What's a K-wire?" In response to Reply # 0
I have never heard of a K-wire and as far as I know as long as a stereo is installed correctly it should not affect the ignition. If that was the case then almost everyone on this board would be blowing thier ignition. IMO the guy is full of sh%t I could be wrong though.
#3670, "RE: What's a K-wire?" In response to Reply # 0
Its a VW thing. Yes, it is true there is something called the k-wire but it would have no effect what so ever on the ignition. Basically in a nutshell the k-wire is a data bus between the hu and ecu. VW's are weird say you disconnected one of the speakers and used a scan tool it would actually show up on the scan tool as a speaker being disconnected. When you installed the headunit did you use on adapter? If so, did it have a wire that was looped on it? That would be the dreaded thing refered to as the k wire. Normally when you install an aftermarket HU you cut this wire are remove it from the harness totally. If there wasn't a wire that was looped on the adapter tell the dealer he's full of $shit because the wire was not even connected there for could have not caused the problem.
#3671, "RE: What's a K-wire?" In response to Reply # 2
I'm confused now - the guy is telling me a need a k-wire to prevent the problem - are you saying the k-wire caused the problem and should have been cut? There was a looped wire on the harness (purchased from Crutchfield). TIA
#3672, "RE: What's a K-wire?" In response to Reply # 3
Yeah, the k-wire should have been cut. Im assuming the guy at the dealer went dumb and should have said you needed to remove the k-wire. Just pull the radio again and clip the looped wire(tape up the ends too). That will stop future problems. Anyhow I'd still fight it and make em cover it under warranty.
#3673, "RE: What's a K-wire?" In response to Reply # 4
sd-eclipse: thanks for all your help - I'll have to give you a star So I pulled the HU this afternoon and there is a blue looped wire on the wiring harness. It's labeled antenna but I assume they just use any old wire for a jumper. So, All I have to do is cut that tape the ends and I shouldn't fry my ignition anymore? BTW - I also noticed the head unit was really hot when I pulled it out and it wasn't recently used.
#3674, "RE: What's a K-wire?" In response to Reply # 5
Let me get a little more info. Ok, looking at the harness(I think its black in color) with the flat edge to the right and the edge with the little "knub" to the left. Should look something like this _|1 3 5 7| |_|2 4 6 8|
Which pins was the loop on? If the loop is in anyway connected to pin 3 cut it.
#3675, "RE: What's a K-wire?" In response to Reply # 6
First off - remember I am talking about my wife's Jetta, not an eclipse. I'm looking at the harness now and it looks more like the jumper runs between 2-4, not 3. As a matter of fact, the 3 pin is the red wire which should be power supply. Does anyone know of any VW forums I could invade for a day or two?
#3676, "RE: What's a K-wire?" In response to Reply # 7
Yeah, I was refering to a Jetta. Guess the wiring is a little different on your wifes car from what I remember VW's being. Im sure there are a few sites out there dedicated to VW's. Im sure a search on google would return a good list of em.
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So I pulled the HU this afternoon and there is a blue looped wire on the wiring harness. It's labeled antenna but I assume they just use any old wire for a jumper. So, All I have to do is cut that tape the ends and I shouldn't fry my ignition anymore? BTW - I also noticed the head unit was really hot when I pulled it out and it wasn't recently used.