Highline Amp location

[Varche]

Hi, first post.
I have a 2014 LHD Highline Golf estate DSG 2.0 diesel. Delighted with the car but a few issues have developed.

Passenger door ( front) speaker works only very occasionally. Hitting a pothole or high g force corner.

So far with the aid of a Spanish auto electrician have established nothing reaching door speaker or indeed the plug in the door frame. No break in the door wiring loom. Took head unit off to find it is just a simple looking head unit. So went looking for what I would call an amplifier which must send feeds to all the speakers in the car. Couldnt find it behind the glove box which basically seems to house the pollen filter. Likewise not in the boot.

I suspect it is on the floor under one of the front seats under the carpet. My auto electrician friend agrees despite ringing VW Spain and being advised “ no, the car doesn’t have a separate amplifier”

Does anyone on here know what we need to look for and where ? I think the drivers seat will have to come out if the amp is under the carpet.

Thanks in anticipation. Next post is reversing camera…….

 

[DV52]

@Varche: VW Spain is correct - the "brains" for the infotainment unit (what I think you call the "head unit", but what is called a "MIB") contains it's own internal amplifier that powers the speakers. That said, some cars have an external amplifier. In these set-ups, the internal amplifier in the MIB is disabled via a software switch.

If your MIB uses the internal amplifier - this is the pin-out for the QUAD-LOCK connectors at the rear of the "head unit"

So - if you eyeball the QUAD-LOCK connector and if the pins on the loom-side of Socket N are populated - it means that this car is using the internal MIB amplifier to drive the speakers

If the pins on Socket N have no wires - the speakers will be driven by the external amplifer. This is the location of the external amplifier - if fitted (it's called "J525" in the VW wiring diagram) :

Don

 

[Varche]

That is a very comprehensive reply thank you. I pushed the drivers seat right forward this morning and it doesnt look as though there is an amp there , certainly not in front of the “ H”. Did see a wire in the loom running from floor to the seat with a wear right through to the copper on one cable……. Surprised at that.

I will report back after work next Thursday.

 

[Varche]

Well further diagnostics by my auto electrician today helped greatly by the info above. Thanks again.

Decent repair effe ted on the worn cable under drivers seat.

MIB out and tested out as internal fault to passenger door speaker ie MIB at fault.

Got multiple choices now….

1. Buy a secondhand unit which could be ten years old.

2. Buy a new unit . Might be coding difficulties? Approx £400 ?

3. Upgrade to MIB2 . Carplay would be a nice feature but at what cost……

4 Do nothing and live with the problem till we buy a newer car in a few years probably a Golf Gti.

A big problem here is finding a Spanish outfit that would do the job or part of it. We arent due to drive over to the UK anytime soon.

MIB code is Harman HSA309 5G0035043D. Hope those are co

I am open to suggestions, sourcing or even a Spanish audio outfit

 

[DV52]

@Varche : hmm...... OK. If you are certain that the MIB is faulty and if you have opened the housing cover to check that the problem is NOT an internal connector, or loose wire - then you should be aware that the MIB has what VW call "Component Protection" (CP).

VW claim that CP is intended to combat the black market trade in stolen parts

CP means that your existing MIB is kind-of licensed to your car's VIN. So, if you retrofit another MIB into the car, a CP error will be generated because the new MIB will NOT be licensed to this car's VIN. The normal effect of a CP error on a MIB is no sound.

The ONLY official way to delete a CP error is via a dealer - who connects the car to VW's remote central server to check if the MIB has been reported as stolen and if not, issues a new license for the VIN.

That said, some MIBs on sale have been hacked to avoid CP errors

Consider CP when buying a new MIB

Don