Giga Panel issue

[latestarter2]

Im fitting the Giga panel into an Alfa 147..using the relevant wiring kits recommended on the Alfa site namely

Connects2 CTSAR003 cable kit

Sony patch lead

The problem is this..i am getting power to the unit as the cd load/eject function is working however nothing is coming up on the display panel to allow me to play the cd's and mpe files that are on it.

Ive pressed the reset button and the cd mechanism whirrs appropriately but still nothing on the display panel and the "source" button etc is not illuminated.

any help would be appreciated

cheers

[Drumzman]

Hi latestarter2,

I think the thing I'd check is whether the two power leads all stereos have (a red and a yellow wire) are connected correctly.  I say this even though you are using a recommended wiring kit.  The reason for this is that while I'm sure the kit is fine (I've used Connects2 kits before and they've always been spot on), the wiring to your Sony stereo (that was supplied with it in the box) can be wired in a few different ways to cater for different makes of cars.

The red and yellow power wires on the Sony wiring harness should ideally be connected as follows: yellow to a permanent 12 volt supply (that's on even when the car is off - to maintain the clock function, radio presets etc), and red to a switched 12 volt supply (that is only on when the car's ignition is on).  The trouble is, some cars effectively reverse the red and yellow (switched and permanent feeds) on their wiring harness, and some cars only have a permanent and no switched feed!  As a result the Sony harness has to allow for any of these possibilities.

It sounds to me like the red and yellow wire may be the wrong way round for your Alfa 147.  So the first thing I'd try is to switch these round (you can't do any harm by trying this - it will just work or not work!).  To help do this you will find that part way along both the red and yellow wires Sony provide a bullet connector which allows you to unplug and reconnect the other way round.  The other possibility is that your car doesn't have a switched 12 volt feed (sometimes referred to as an accessory feed).  If this is the case both the red and yellow wire from the Sony stereo need to be connected to the same supply lead from the car - you will notice that one of the bullet connectors I mentioned a minute ago is actually a double which allows two cables to be connected to one supply, so hopefully all eventualities are provided for!  As I said though, you can't do any harm by trying the different configurations, it's just that only one will make the unit switch on properly so you can play your CDs etc. 

I've included a diagram below that I hope illustrates what I've been trying to explain!

Hope this helps...