wiring harness compatibility between different Kenwood CD players

[JohnEyles]

I've gotten a broken Kenwood Excelon KDC-X859 CD/MP3 head unit (vintage
2002).
A bad faceplate ribbon cable; I can NOT believe Kenwood does stand
behind this
crap (witness all the postings in this group about failures of these
cables)
and I'm very tempted not to buy from them again.

That being said, if I DO buy a new lower-end Kenwood unit (KDC-MP2032),
how likely is it that the existing wiring harness (the one currently
connected
to the broken Excelon) will plug right into the new unit ? In other
words is
the connector and pinout on the new unit likely to be identical ?

Thanks, John

[MOSFET]

I know for a fact Kenwood changed wire harness configurations a few years
ago (I can't recall now exactly when). I had this same issue come with a
friend's HU, and a new wire harness was necessary.

MOSFET

"JohnEyles" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> I've gotten a broken Kenwood Excelon KDC-X859 CD/MP3 head unit (vintage
> 2002).
> A bad faceplate ribbon cable; I can NOT believe Kenwood does stand
> behind this
> crap (witness all the postings in this group about failures of these
> cables)
> and I'm very tempted not to buy from them again.
>
> That being said, if I DO buy a new lower-end Kenwood unit (KDC-MP2032),
> how likely is it that the existing wiring harness (the one currently
> connected
> to the broken Excelon) will plug right into the new unit ? In other
> words is
> the connector and pinout on the new unit likely to be identical ?
>
> Thanks, John
>

[JohnEyles]

I called Kenwood and they think it's the same, but the guy just looked
at the
manuals for the two units. I looked at the manual pdf's and came to
the
same conclusion. I'll find out for sure tomorrow.

John

> I know for a fact Kenwood changed wire harness configurations a few years
> ago (I can't recall now exactly when). I had this same issue come with a
> friend's HU, and a new wire harness was necessary.
>
> MOSFET
>
> "JohnEyles" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> >
> > I've gotten a broken Kenwood Excelon KDC-X859 CD/MP3 head unit (vintage
> > 2002).
> > A bad faceplate ribbon cable; I can NOT believe Kenwood does stand
> > behind this
> > crap (witness all the postings in this group about failures of these
> > cables)
> > and I'm very tempted not to buy from them again.
> >
> > That being said, if I DO buy a new lower-end Kenwood unit (KDC-MP2032),
> > how likely is it that the existing wiring harness (the one currently
> > connected
> > to the broken Excelon) will plug right into the new unit ? In other
> > words is
> > the connector and pinout on the new unit likely to be identical ?
> >
> > Thanks, John
> >

[MOSFET]

I hope so. Perhaps the change I'm referring to happened MANY years ago and
it is not relevant to your issue.

Good luck,

MOSFET

"JohnEyles" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> I called Kenwood and they think it's the same, but the guy just looked
> at the
> manuals for the two units. I looked at the manual pdf's and came to
> the
> same conclusion. I'll find out for sure tomorrow.
>
> John
>
>> I know for a fact Kenwood changed wire harness configurations a few years
>> ago (I can't recall now exactly when). I had this same issue come with a
>> friend's HU, and a new wire harness was necessary.
>>
>> MOSFET
>>
>> "JohnEyles" > wrote in message
>> oups.com...
>> >
>> > I've gotten a broken Kenwood Excelon KDC-X859 CD/MP3 head unit (vintage
>> > 2002).
>> > A bad faceplate ribbon cable; I can NOT believe Kenwood does stand
>> > behind this
>> > crap (witness all the postings in this group about failures of these
>> > cables)
>> > and I'm very tempted not to buy from them again.
>> >
>> > That being said, if I DO buy a new lower-end Kenwood unit (KDC-MP2032),
>> > how likely is it that the existing wiring harness (the one currently
>> > connected
>> > to the broken Excelon) will plug right into the new unit ? In other
>> > words is
>> > the connector and pinout on the new unit likely to be identical ?
>> >
>> > Thanks, John
>> >
>

[e-nigma]

"JohnEyles" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> I've gotten a broken Kenwood Excelon KDC-X859 CD/MP3 head unit (vintage
> 2002).
> A bad faceplate ribbon cable; I can NOT believe Kenwood does stand
> behind this
> crap (witness all the postings in this group about failures of these
> cables)
> and I'm very tempted not to buy from them again.
>
> That being said, if I DO buy a new lower-end Kenwood unit (KDC-MP2032),
> how likely is it that the existing wiring harness (the one currently
> connected
> to the broken Excelon) will plug right into the new unit ? In other
> words is
> the connector and pinout on the new unit likely to be identical ?
>
> Thanks, John
>

Kenwood has used the same basic harness for about 8 years.
the lower end unit may not need all the wires of the higher end unit.
for example, the higher end unit may use a illumintion wire, but the lower
end one will not.
but all the power and speaker wires will be the same