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OEM MK4 stereo Head Unit Compatible with MK3 harness?
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Got_Air
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Joined: April 10, 2020
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 27, 2022 8:33 pm    Post subject: OEM MK4 stereo Head Unit Compatible with MK3 harness? Reply with quote

I could use some MK3/4 expertise from my fellow VW enthusiasts. I have a 1996 GTI with no stereo, but the factory harness and connectors are all intact. A friend gave me a MK4 single din cassette head unit which I just plugged into the MK3 harness (the brown and black connectors fit), but I can't get the head unit to turn on. It's definitely getting ignition power as evidenced by all the red backlit buttons illuminating when accessory power is tuned on, and the red LED anti-theft light blinks when you switch the ignition off, but that's about all it will do. It is completely unresponsive when I push the power or any other buttons.

Could it be that though the connectors fit, the wiring is slightly different between generations, thus incompatible? If so, does anyone have a MK3 head unit they'd like to get rid of?

Thanks!
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Butcher
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2022 7:24 am    Post subject: Re: OEM MK4 stereo Head Unit Compatible with MK3 harness? Reply with quote

To answer your question, I do not know

Usually the DIN style plugs have the same pinout so I suspect they would be the same. I also know that many manufacturers use a data signal for the radio to know the key has turned on/off. It's not the circuit 15 circuit like the old days.

To find the real answer, I would find a wiring diagram for the radio and see if it matches what you got in the car. You could find someone that knows what they are talking about, because I am not it.
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Got_Air
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2022 6:36 pm    Post subject: Re: OEM MK4 stereo Head Unit Compatible with MK3 harness? Reply with quote

Thanks for the reply, Butcher. After a bit more research, I learned that one wire needs to be bridged and an extra pin added to the connector for the MK3 harness to make the MK4 head unit work with it. Apparently it's pretty easy to do, but that was more effort than I wanted to put into it, and I kind of liked the idea of having my GTI be factory original, so I sourced the correct MK3 head unit on eBay. Problem solved!
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77kafer
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2022 12:04 pm    Post subject: Re: OEM MK4 stereo Head Unit Compatible with MK3 harness? Reply with quote

Quote:
so I sourced the correct MK3 head unit on eBay.


Do you still have the MK4 headunit that you aren't using?
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Supposed to be 77käfer, but there are no umlauts on an american keyboard

Overheard on 27 June 07, one lady to another when they saw my Harli in a parking lot at West Point, "maybe he found it on the clearance aisle at the Volkswagen dealer"
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