Jump to content
SAU Community

Locked Clarion Headunit - Unlock?

bigkevracer

By bigkevracer,
in Car Audio & Electrical

 Share

Recommended Posts

bigkevracer Grand Master

bigkevracer

Posted
Posted

I've got a Clarion VZ400A headunit, and the other day I had the battery disconnected. When I reconnected it, the headunit prompted me to enter the anti-theft PIN. First couple didn't work - even though I was sure I had it right, and next thing I know I'm locked out.

Clarion tell me I have to send it to them, and it'll cost me $118 plus the cost of shipping it to them. No one local in Adelaide can do it apparently. My local repairer is following up and will let me know if they find anything.

Does anyone know if there's an alternative? The deck was only ~$400 anyway, not sure I want to spend over 1/4 of that just to reset it. Surely there is something I can do myself?

Any experience, thoughts, suggestions, etc would be great. Thanks!

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/389946-locked-clarion-headunit-unlock/
Share on other sites
Carbon 34 Grand Master

Carbon 34

Posted
Posted (edited)

damn we used to just pick up the phone and call clarion,, blaupunkt to unlock the deck with dealer id and sn# handy . did they change the setup , havent touched one of either in many years.

can I say ryan your mod shopping list of items in your profile is a theft waiting to happen, I would advise agaist the exact details of what the car has in public fourms . my advice to you , take it or leave it

Edited by Carbon 34
bigkevracer Grand Master

bigkevracer

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Good point Troy, was thinking about reducing it anyway. Other side is it helps new guys work out what to shop for, but they ask anyway... :whistling:

I did pick up the phone and call Clarion to try and sort this. They've been helpful identifying the shortcomings of their headunits, however in this case it was simply 'Remove the headunit and mail it to us'.

I've got the local repairer working on it and is going to call me back, but they told me they didn't have the jig to fix it so they're looking for an alternative (they haven't looked at it yet - it's still in the car).

I'm inclined to remove it, and either repair it and sell it, or sell it for someone else to fix, since I wasn't 100% on it. Just hadn't made my mind up about replacing it yet.

bigkevracer Grand Master

bigkevracer

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Was speaking to a few places today, looks like I'll give Clarion warranty another shot.

I was certain I had the code right, and apparently there have been reports of Clarion decks 'forgetting' the security code. I'll chase it up with them and see if they'll do anything.

I remember back when I was in high school, we had a laptop computer program. Macs running the latest and greatest MacOS 7.5.3 system. A few of the geeks ran password protection, and quickly found if you had a space in your password, the password would become corrupted and your computer would have to be formatted to get it unlocked and working again.

Seems like times haven't changed too much...

bigkevracer Grand Master

bigkevracer

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Not sure if this will help anyone else, but I found out some things on Friday.

Ends up I did have the code wrong, my bad.

However it also ends up that Clarion weren't entirely honest, and if you disconnect and reconnect the power enough times (3-4?) it reverts from the locked screen to give you the keypad. You then get three cracks to guess the code before you lock it again, so have to goes, turn the car off, back on, another two goes, etc until you get it right.

Sounds like a pain, and probably easier not to use that feature. I've now recorded my code in Evernote so I can put it in later if needed, and hopefully this helps someone else.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO SEND IT BACK TO CLARION! They replace an IC in the deck if you need the password reset. If you just need it unbricked to have another crack, you can do it yourself, without sending it back to Clarion.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • GTSBoy
      Mistakes were made, my R34 Story

      By GTSBoy · Posted

      I neglected to respond to this previously. Get it up to 100 psi, and then you'll be OK.
    • MBS206
      Mistakes were made, my R34 Story

      By MBS206 · Posted

      I agree with everything else, except (and I'm rethinking this as it wasn't setup how my brain first though) if the sensor is at the end of a hose which is how it has been recommended to isolate it from vibrations, then if that line had a small hole in, I could foresee potentially (not a fluid dynamic specialist) the ability for it to see a lower pressure at the sensor. But thinking through, said sensor was in the actual block, HOWEVER it was also the sensor itself that broke, so oil pressure may not have been fully reaching the sensor still. So I'm still in my same theory.   However, I 100% would be saying COOL THE OIL DOWN if it's at 125c. That would be an epic concern of mine.   Im now thinking as you did Brad that the knock detection is likely due to the bearings giving a bit more noise as pressure dropped away. Kinkstah, drop your oil, and get a sample of it (as you're draining it) and send it off for analysis.
    • GTSBoy
      Mistakes were made, my R34 Story

      By GTSBoy · Posted

      I myself AM TOTALLY UNPREPARED TO BELIEVE that the load is higher on the track than on the dyno. If it is not happening on the dyno, I cannot see it happening on the track. The difference you are seeing is because it is hot on the track, and I am pretty sure your tuner is not belting the crap out of it on teh dyno when it starts to get hot. The only way that being hot on the track can lead to real ping, that I can think of, is if you are getting more oil (from mist in the inlet tract, or going up past the oil control rings) reducing the effective octane rating of the fuel and causing ping that way. Yeah, nah. Look at this graph which I will helpfully show you zoomed back in. As an engineer, I look at the difference in viscocity at (in your case, 125°C) and say "they're all the same number". Even though those lines are not completely collapsed down onto each other, the oil grades you are talking about (40, 50 and 60) are teh top three lines (150, 220 and 320) and as far as I am concerned, there is not enough difference between them at that temperature to be meaningful. The viscosity of 60 at 125°C is teh same as 40 at 100°C. You should not operate it under high load at high temperature. That is purely because the only way they can achieve their emissions numbers is with thin-arse oil in it, so they have to tell you to put thin oil in it for the street. They know that no-one can drive the car & engine hard enough on the street to reach the operating regime that demands the actual correct oil that the engine needs on the track. And so they tell you to put that oil in for the track. Find a way to get more air into it, or, more likely, out of it. Or add a water spray for when it's hot. Or something.   As to the leak --- a small leak that cannot cause near catastrophic volume loss in a few seconds cannot cause a low pressure condition in the engine. If the leak is large enough to drop oil pressure, then you will only get one or two shots at it before the sump is drained.
    • GTSBoy
      Help! Leak coming under transmission

      By GTSBoy · Posted

      So..... it's going to be a heater hose or other coolant hose at the rear of the head/plenum. Or it's going to be one of the welch plugs on the back of the motor, which is a motor out thing to fix.
    • MBS206
      Mistakes were made, my R34 Story

      By MBS206 · Posted

      The oil pressure sensor for logging, does it happen to be the one that was slowly breaking out of the oil block? If it is,I would be ignoring your logs. You had a leak at the sensor which would mean it can't read accurately. It's a small hole at the sensor, and you had a small hole just before it, meaning you could have lost significant pressure reading.   As for brakes, if it's just fluid getting old, you won't necessarily end up with air sitting in the line. Bleed a shit tonne of fluid through so you effectively replace it and go again. Oh and, pay close attention to the pressure gauge while on track!
×
×
  • Create New...