KIMI 3 - 1984 Series 3

[ian65]

these stereos were the top of the range in the mid 80's, fitted to quite a few top end cars.... Jaguars, Range Rovers etc. These days they are just an old radio cassette... I want to retain mine as it's a period stereo and original fitment but I'm looking for ways to update it if possible, ie. mod it to run an aux port, sd card/usb player, or DAB.... not much info out there though.
Good to see you've taken the plunge Malcolm and stripped one down... I've got one in bits on the bench as well.
Do the sound level leds work on your stereo? Only the original E950 has this nice feature, the MK2 version didn't have them.

[Casey]

Sadly no sound level LEDs.

Yes, being the original fitment I do want to fix and retain it. I might look to see how easy it would be to add some aux audio input - via Bluetooth would be nice.

I've managed to get a copy of the E950/951 service manual with the circuit diagrams and PCB layouts, so that might help

[Casey]

Took about 30 minutes to locate it, but I found the pesky dry joint and fixed it It was nowhere near the FM module that I first suspected.

Very satisfying to get back to my old electronics troubleshooting days! I had the circuit diagrams, which had some helpful notes about expected voltages ate various points. I quickly spotted the FM module wasn't receiving the 8 volt power input it should have when FM is selected. I traced back the primary source of the voltage to an IC pin and it was fine, then traced it to 3 pin 2SD571 NPN transistor being used as a drop down voltage regulator. As soon as I touched a voltage probe onto one of the 3 pins of that transistor, bingo, FM sprang into life

If you look closely at the left solder joint you can see the tell-tale black mark, showing the joint has a void and is compromised.

Dry joint 2SD571 Clarion E930.jpg (41.22 KiB) Viewed 13568 times

I re-flowed all three joints - FM now solid as a rock!

Dry joint 2SD571 Clarion E930 reflow.jpg (41.69 KiB) Viewed 13568 times

I did spend some time looking to see if I could tap in a bluetooth receiver somehow, but decided it was going to be too complicated and I wanted to get the unit back in the car and working, so shelved that idea for now.

Whilst everything was still in piecse, I decided to remove the front panel and remove 35 years worth of grime before reassembling everything.

2020-03-20 18.11.04.jpg (178.34 KiB) Viewed 13568 times

All cleaned up and back together. That was a right old game. I think a masochist designed that casing

All tested fine on the bench - the sound quality is quite amazing through some cheapie AIWA speakers I had to hand. Just have to get it back into the car now!

Bonus Ian, I was wrong, this model DOES have the rather cool LED sound level indicators!

2020-03-20 19.15.37.jpg (122.08 KiB) Viewed 13568 times

It's taken me a good few hours, but very happy with the result.

[Hobbawobba]

Awesome work aye bro!

[KYPREO]

Sterling effort!

[myatt1972]

Brilliant job there Malcolm

[Casey]

I have to say it was very satisfying to get this unit fixed.

TBH, how on earth the thing hasn't failed completely by now with the many hundreds of solder joints (many look to have been done manually), operating for 36 years in a harsh environment, is pretty amazing

[danny]

I bought this unit from a scrapyard in Holland. Connected it up to my home stereo and it works fine. Onely one LED on the equalizer doesn't light up. Biggest issue is the front pannel. The clearcoat lacquer is peeling of at some places. Wonder if i can get this sorted out. Any suggestions?

[Casey]

I'd be tempted to remove all the buttons, then see if you can find a solvent to remove the remaining lacquer with a small brush or cotton buds. Trouble is, will the solvent attack the silk screen markings. You'd need to test carefully. Once removed, you might find no need to replace the clearcoat, leave bare.

Be great to get it looking like new again!

[Casey]

LED should be easy fix, if just the LED has failed. If the driver electronics, more complex. However, I'd guess all the equaliser LED's are driven from same source, and connected in parallel, so likely LED or simple connection fault.