Car Stereos: stereo for 1996 jaguar xjr, oem radio, blown fuses

Question
I would like to replace the stereo with something up to date. Is there a stereo that would allow the steering controls to work and is there a oem looking face plate?

Thank
Tony

Answer
Hi Tony,

As far as I can tell, there really aren't any installation parts made for your Jaguar; nor did I find a steering wheel control adapter listed for that vehicle.  I'm afraid you'll probably have to do some custom work for any kind of head unit replacement.

If your OEM radio is the the type with the concave, curved face, then the actual radio opening is a standard DIN (7"x2") type.  You can install a new head unit without an adapter kit; I've done this a few times, and it works fairly well.  The new deck will fit securely, although it won't completely fill the dash opening.  You might be able to have a plastic plate custom-made to cover the gap.

As far as the wiring is concerned, I don't know of any adapter harness made for your vehicle; in fact, I wouldn't recommend using the power and ground wires in the factory harness.  An after-market deck is likely to require more current through the constant power connection than the OEM radio, and I've run into problems with blown fuses on these cars in the past.  The trouble is that a single blown fuse can affect much more than the radio circuit in these cars.  I'd recommend routing a new power connection directly to the battery or fuse box.

There's no after-market head unit that will work directly with your OEM steering wheel controls.  Generally, we use a 3rd-party adapter to link the steering wheel controls with the head unit.  The most popular steering wheel control adapter is the SWI-X, marketed by PAC and Peripheral Electronics.  However, your Jaguar isn't among the vehicle's listed for this adapter.  You might want to contact PAC directly (their web site is www.pac-audio.com) and see if they can assist you further.  

Unfortunately, I've only worked on a few of these cars, and none very recently; so I can't give you very detailed information on them.  You might be able to find more specific information on a Jaguar owner's forum.

Sorry I can't be more helpful!

Brian