Very Frustrated! Help

[bimmer206]

My Kenwood Excelon (will find model) flip out deck will only stay in the the cd (horizontal) position.

Description: When i take the faceplate off, the housing swivels in to what would be the (on or off i.e. normal) position. When i snap the faceplate in like i normally would after removing it, it imediately rotates to the horizontal (insert cd posistion) and does not turn on or rotate anymore. This is an older (2003 i think) model. ANy advice would be awesome. This is really pissing me off. I will post vieo and model number tomorrow.

[Garageaholic]

Looks like you need to get yourself a new faceplate.

[george graves]

Stuck buttons? Semen? Do you have a black light? Has someone been masturbating in your car?

Just throwing that out there man.

[bimmer206]

I did let my friend Hugh Hefner borrow my car the other night. When are you going to make more of those dome light dimmers George?

[george graves]

I'm going to be giving one away free in a photo-contest starting later tonight/tomorrow - just as soon as I write the post. Anyone can enter too. You just need a camera and a tripod.

[bimmer206]

I'd like to buy one. Or you could do a write up and benefit the community? No ideas on my faceplate?

[george graves]

Sorry - no write up. It requires a circuit board full of parts.

Have you cleaned the contacts on the faceplate and deck? Luke will be along to help you - he knows this stereo stuff better than I do.

[bimmer206]

Well then I'll buy one. I'll clean the contacts tomorrow. Would a scotch brite or steel wool work best for those. Paging stereoinstaller. PM me when your selling them. Whats an approximate price for your relay?

[george graves]

Delay units are $55 shipped.

Pencil eraser would be about as abrasive as you'd want to go I would think. I'd start with a q-tip and alcohol.

[Eric Giles]

Ahh, the infamous Kenwood Excelon MASK faceplate...what you are experiencing is the most common problem that these head units have. Basically, there is a flex/ribbon cable that connects the motorized base the faceplate attaches to, to the main circuit board. Over time, that cable starts to break at its bend points causing the problem you have. You can buy replacement flex cables from either ebay or pacparts.com for around $20-30 I think-it's been a while since I bought one. I will say that it's a pain to replace, and I have never seen one that has been fixed stay fixed for too long-the problem will start happening again.

I had one of these come in the '87 325is I bought and it had the same issue-replaced the cable and it worked fine for a while, then started doing it again. I would pull the radio out, pull off the top cover, reseat the cable where it attaches to the main board and all would be fine again for a while. In the end, I did the smart thing and replaced it with an Alpine CDA-9835.

My advice? Do what I did and replace it with something better.

[bimmer206]

What would you guys recommend as a low priced quality receiver?

[StereoInstaller1]

Jvc kd-r900

[Gerta]

Jvc kd-r900

Note they were on sale on amazon for $199 ... I just picked one up.

[Eric Giles]

Another option would be to try to find a Clarion DXZ785USB-these have been mentioned in previous threads on this forum. They have been discontinued and are harder to find, but I see that Amazon has refurbished units for sale. It has many high-end features but illumination that matches our E30's. My main gripe is that the faceplate sticks out of the dash a bit, and the display can wash out in direct sunlight, but for the price it is very hard to beat.

[bimmer206]

This is whats happening
youtube video *i was unable to figure out how to use the youtube button here
My uncle works at car stereo warehouse so he could get me 50% off any receiver maybe they have the Jvc kd-r900