Seat Altea - Stereo dead .... options ???

[TomL]

Howdy

Apologies for the long thread - you can skip teh story and head to the 'options' bit below if you want

STORY

I got a Seat Atlea ('06 plate) a month or two ago. Its actually my first car, i learnt to drive late, but as we now have a little baby boy it is necessary to get behind the wheel!!

So what happend ..... Got the car and the CD player didn't work - cd's wouldn't go all the way into the drive unit. So Wednesday i played with the fascia and found a 20p just behind the CD in-slot. Fixed !! hurrah!!

Sadly yesterday on the way to work, the stereo kept turning off as i changed lanes ... so i gave it a gentle (ish) tap and it seemed to resolve ..... this wasn't the case and when i got home it last night it was still turning off and back on if i hit slight bums (cats eyes et.) So i tapped the unit a little more .... and killed it !

With it dead i proceeded to remove the unit and see if the cables were loose ... i found another 21p in the unit resting on the PCB. I changed the fused in the engine compartment (15 amp) but still not joy !

Thoughts ?

OPTIONS

My idea is that i need a new stereo.

1) Get a 2nd seat altea stereo on ebay etc. looks to be £50 - £70 at the moment. I am worried about the code, will that be an issue ? Will a dealer unlock a 2nd hand stereo for me ?

2) Get a 3rd party stereo. I would want steering wheel controls, cd player , Bluetooth (if possible) . But there is a whole host of extra bits i would need, fascia (single / double din), steering wheel control adapter, aerial adapter + the stereo.

Any advice would be most helpful.

Thanks in advance

Tom L

 

[Tell]

#1 sounds the best but pass on marrying it up. Have never taken mine out myself but did have an MD changer put in 2005.

Mine does suffer from coming on by itself so I find it playing music too itself whilst parked up... indeed on several nights. This is without a CD in over MD. I found keeping a CD in the unit fixed it. Think it's a micro switch connected to the CD that needs to be held up, if dropped it starts randomly turning itself on. Had it since new and I know, no 20p have been fed in. It's a good head unit.

 

[TomL]

Thanks for the response.

Spoke to the local seat dealer (bristol) he mentioned the stereo code is linked to the chassis number and stereo number so there is a risk of an ebay one not being able to get match the code to the car ... is that true ?

In my research there are some fairly cheap VW double din stereos, would they fit easier to the seat (no cage needed ).

cheers

Tom

 

[robbo990]

You would still need the facia panel

Also - have you tried changing the 10a blade fuse in the back of the stereo? I would assume that would be first to blow

 

[TomL]

Indeed, yes it was a mini 10amp fuse which i dont have so haven't changed it. It does look intact and no burning on it, but they are £1.99 from halfords so will give it a try!

 

[Tell]

I would suspect that the computer they connect to the car allows a dealer to reassign the unit since on that basis you would never be able to replace the unit. We need the experts on this one.... I know people play with these interface units but something I've never done myself. It must be just a question of telling the car a replacement genuine unit has been fitted. Obviously Seat dealership know how to do it they just don't want you buying the unit off ebay lowering their profit margins.

I see on this site a question of replacing the headed came up some years ago and Clarion was recommended and the face plate was £8 from Seat.

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=141411

I see you can get double din replacement ones.

Think your best bet is the top para subject to someone on here confirming how it works or you treat yourself to a double din VW fitting unit. Your eBay radio faulty in any case. ...

 

[Tell]

Indeed, yes it was a mini 10amp fuse which i dont have so haven't changed it. It does look intact and no burning on it, but they are £1.99 from halfords so will give it a try!

Haven't got a meter ?. Get one.

Those blade fuses can warp when hot and give duff connections so not blowing isn't always a sign. I've been pestered with the 20amp AC fuse under the steering wheel that overheats, warps and takes out the AC without blowing due to poor connection. So if not warped or blown then good, but signs of overheating change. I got lazy on that one, but that's where my AC cutting out issues came from....

 

[TomL]

ok , changed the fuse, still no joy.

Im just going to give the unit a bit of a look over and see if anytrhing seems loose.

Yes, a meter would be a good idea.

Also i spotted here for replacement stereo - incaremporium.com looks good - cant post URL as im newbie

Also thanks to all who are replying, super helpful!

 

[TomL]

Any idea if a golf RCD510 stereo would work ? and would that need a steering cable ? Looks like the standard one would fit.

cheers

Tom

 

[SeatJay]

Hi Tom, Two things to add to this:

Ive got an original Seat stereo I've just taken out in full working order if you want it I'd do it for a tenner plus postage?

Secondly myself, Robbo and Rel1988 have replaced ours with the android units from China and have all had good results. I personally paid 275 for mine and also if you have a 2006 you will need a new can gateway for £50 and the new fascia. Mine was literally plug and play with no extra leads needed.

Happy to answer any questions but Robbo is the expert on this!

 

[TomL]

Hi Seatjay

That sounds very reasonable. i cannot figure out the PM system. My direct email is [email protected]. I will take you up on the offer of the seat stereo.

thanks

Tom

 

[SeatJay]

Just mailed you Tom

 

[Tell]

Sound like you have a solution. Recommend you edit out your email address so you don't get junk email from Web crawlers ☺

 

[SeatJay]

Hi Tom,

I posted the Stereo out on Tuesday so you should have it any time. Hope it all runs smoothly for you!

 

[TomL]

Hi Jay

Stereo sorted at the dealership - they didnt need a VIN number ! Grrrr !

Interestingly the car was idling at 900 rpm'ish and is now more like 600 rpm .... wondering if hooking upto a VAG diagnostic reset some defaults.

 

[SeatJay]

Glad you've got it working, its not the worst stereo, the only change I wanted was the SAT NAV and option to play files from a memory card.

My car idles around 868 or similar rpm (can see on my stereo) I would get that checked out as that seems very low?