PCM 2.1 Repair

[moa]

HI,

My PCM 2.1 has decided not to turn on.

Does anyone know a good place to get them repaired?

I did think about just getting an aftermarket but after reading up, not sure it's good idea. All the MOST kits seem to lack Fader control which is a show stopper for me as I need 70% rear for a nice sound on my Bose. Also, not sure i'd actually end up with better audio either, especially at decent volumes. I already have Dension BT kit which gives me phone and streaming BT, while keeping all the current feature working.

So, I think repair of PCM might be best, if I can.

Help?

 

[jonno_]

Maple audio, Bath
Cartronics, Byfleet
Or Tore @Begvillefx - site sponsors.
GL

 

[Frankyboy]

Mine has played up from day one have you tried holding down radio channels 148 at the same time it's like a reset for them....I'm still not happy with mine so thinking about going down a pioneer head unit or similar.

 

[moa]

Thanks, I'll give the 148 thing a go (tried.. nothing. still dead as a dodo) , didn't know that.

I was also looking at getting a 2nd hand one on ebay, but then someone said even if you get a working one, its' £200--300 to get it 'coded' for the car!! agh.

It's not just swap in like another HU would be then?

Turning into a real pain...

_________________
2005 Carrera 3.8 2S Cabriolet (with hardtop)

 

[moa]

Maple audio, Bath
Cartronics, Byfleet
Or Tore @Begvillefx - site sponsors.
GL

Was not sure where 'Tore @Begvillefx' was/is?

Cheers

 

[jonno_]

No worries - see bottom of far left ads
Or

https://www.bergvillfx.com/

 

[Mac68]

Moa, are you saying that you cant swap one pcm2.1 for another without costly recoding?

 

[2tone]

I had PCM 2.1 problems (intermittent on/off) so took it to Cartronics along with the amplifier and paid to have both units tested , amp all good and approx
£800 to repair PCM and no gaurantee it would work correctly. :sad:

Found a company in High Barnet (can post unit to him)

Nova Car Tech, small but very helpful, and for alot cheaper £280 my PCM is fixed and still working although I still cant get it to hold a time or change the date format. :?:

Happy hunting

 

[2tone]

I had PCM 2.1 problems (intermittent on/off) so took it to Cartronics along with the amplifier and paid to have both units tested , amp all good and approx
£800 to repair PCM and no gaurantee it would work correctly. :sad:

Found a company in High Barnet (can post unit to him)

Nova Car Tech, small but very helpful, and for alot cheaper £280 my PCM is fixed and still working although I still cant get it to hold a time or change the date format. :?:

Happy hunting

 

[moa]

Moa, are you saying that you cant swap one pcm2.1 for another without costly recoding?

Well, this seems to be my understanding for reading. If I'm wrong and I can just plug a working 2nd hand one in, I'd love to know that!

I had PCM 2.1 problems (intermittent on/off) so took it to Cartronics along with the amplifier and paid to have both units tested , amp all good and approx
£800 to repair PCM and no gaurantee it would work correctly. :sad:

Found a company in High Barnet (can post unit to him)

Nova Car Tech, small but very helpful, and for alot cheaper £280 my PCM is fixed and still working although I still cant get it to hold a time or change the date format. :?:

Happy hunting

Thanks for that. I might give them a whirl then.

This is proving way more difficult and costly than I hoped it would be.

 

[Mac68]

Moa, are you saying that you cant swap one pcm2.1 for another without costly recoding?

Well, this seems to be my understanding for reading. If I'm wrong and I can just plug a working 2nd hand one in, I'd love to know that!

Good news I swapped my PCM2.1, which had been playing up for months, without requiring any codes. I just plugged in the replacement and it worked! It even remembered addresses etc from the previous owners use of the SatNav.

Mac68

 

[moa]

Moa, are you saying that you cant swap one pcm2.1 for another without costly recoding?

Well, this seems to be my understanding for reading. If I'm wrong and I can just plug a working 2nd hand one in, I'd love to know that!

Good news I swapped my PCM2.1, which had been playing up for months, without requiring any codes. I just plugged in the replacement and it worked! It even remembered addresses etc from the previous owners use of the SatNav.

Mac68

That's really interesting to know!! Were you on the MOST/Bose? I think this might be my issue...

Anyone been able to do this with a Bose?

 

[Mac68]

Ah very good point, I'm non Bose.

 

[Mani]

I have 997 with PCM 2.1 with Bose. The head unit failed completely and I searched google for PCM repairs. The first company that came up was Cartronics also known as PCM repairs. The seem to have the monopoly on Google natural search, I can only assume they get most of the PCM business here in the UK.

I called to ask what the best thing for me to do was. I was told to send in my faulty head unit to have a £79 assessment to determine what was needed. Only then could they tell me how much it would cost to repair. I asked for a ball park figure and was sternly told there was no way he could give any idea of cost until he saw the unit.

Given the failures on these items are normally fairly common, the range of problems cant be large, I asked what an average price was to repair, again, I was told it doesn't work like that, no idea of price could be given unless he saw the item.

I asked what the best and worst case scenario was so that I could way up my options. Again, no help with that at all.

I asked what the average cost was of his last 10 repairs. Again no prices given and he came across as rude and arrogant.

So, I quickly decided that I would not be giving any business to them and investigated more online. I found some other forum posts where other people had the same experience with Cartronics, one person had a quote of £800 and decided to take the unit back and look for alternative solutions.

I assume that once he has the unit the customer has a higher chance of accepting his quote, whatever it is.

My PCM 2.1 has the part number 997.642.143.02 which is the PCM 2.1 with Bose. The identical unit for cars without Bose is 997.642.141.03

I read on another post that that cars that have Bose can use the 'non Bose' PCM 2.1 and it was plug and play with no coding needed. Apparently it doesn't work the other way around though...

I found a very nice PCM 2.1 'non Bose' on Ebay for £130. Plugged it in and it fired straight up and worked perfectly. The functions on the steering wheel all work too.

So for anyone that has a similar problem, I would say that Ebay might be a much better option than trying to get their unit repaired.