(T) Punto Active and Blaupunkt CD/MP3 Player

Hello there,

I recently got myself the current (2003) Punto 1.3 JTD Active, which is quite fun :)
As the car was sold with the radio-installation only (6 speakers plus cabling), I actually wanted to use one of the original radios manufactured by Blaupunkt for Fiat.

Therefore I acquired the cd/mp3 player by Blaupunkt on eBay for a good price.
When I went to the Fiat dealer in order to fetch my car, they asked me if I had any radio to be installed, which is why I gave them the radio I bought on eBay.

The sales agent said "Oh, It's the cd/mp3 version; I figure this might not work," yet she went to the tech-guys who tried to install it anyway.
After a few minutes she came back, telling me it did fit in yet it didn't work and a LED near the odometer had lit upon the installation of the radio.
According to the technicians this was due to some incompatibility between the radio and the electronic equipment of the Punto.

I was also told that each Blaupunkt/Fiat radio was coded so as to work in the exact car it was initially installed in only. The eBay seller I got the radio from told me he got the radio from a Punto Sound.
The only option I have would be to use the cassette-only radio by Blaupunkt or any other cd/mp3 player.

Meanwhile I installed another radio (Grundig) which does not look quite as nice as the original cd/mp3 player would.

My questions thus are:

Is it true that I cannot use the Blaupunkt cd/mp3 player in a Punto Active under any circumstances?
If not, how can I circumvent the problem that appeared at the dealer's?
(Should it be of any help, the car was bought and is running in Germany; dunno if Fiat produces somewhat different cars here.)

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Cheers,
Christian

well all seems a little strange to me, the bit about each radio only working in the car it was installed in im pretty sure is not true, unless this is something new they have started. normally there is code you get with each official fiat/blau radio and when you install the radio you have to input the 4 digit (think its 4 ) code into the radio to make it work.

2001 Punto sporting in sprint blue with matching Mr Bump air freshner all together now mmmmmmm

The sales rep was definitely not talking about the theft protection code, I'm sure about that and I do have it.
As far as I have learnt the electronic system communicates with the radio over (yellow?) plugs that are connected to the radio in addition to the ISO power and speaker connectors.

I figure that an LED would light up only if the electronics get to know about the radio being installed but my Punto doesn't have the yellow plugs used for communication so that the radio cannot have talked to the board computer; hence I can't really figure out what's going on. One thing's for sure, I don't wanna mess up the electronics having to see the next garage [8)], but thanks so far!

you are correct about the plugs. normally there is the stanard iso plugs for power and speakers, but also there are 3 small blocks joined together yellow red and cant rember otehr colour, anyway they plug into the back of the stereo and one of them prob the yellow like you said. is what the onboard computer in the car uses to check that you have installed the security code into teh radio.

seems strange that you dont have the yellow plugs, but that would explin why it dont work.

in my car i got blaupunkt daytona mp3 cd player and installed that into my car its great. you just need a fascia adaptor (£10) to make it fit the space for the original stereo. and as its an after market stereo you dont need the other yellow plugs for the onbaord computer to use it. this may be your best option to get an aftermarket stereo as without the yellow plug i dont think an official fiat steroe ill work

2001 Punto sporting in sprint blue with matching Mr Bump air freshner all together now mmmmmmm

Yeah, I guess the radio doesn't work because there is no additional plug, yet I have no idea how an LED near the odometer is supposed to light up then if the radio is connected like any other one.

But thanks so far, mate!

Back with some news:

I found out that the radio uses Pins 1 and 3 of the Power Connector to communicate with the body computer. As these pins are not at all connected in my Punto, all it states is "CANCHECK", which - according to the manual - means that it is trying to communicate with the computer.

Hello

Me too with the same problem: installed a 2005 Blaupunkt CDMP3 unit in my 2002 Punto, only to get this CANCHECK message.

Yes I have found clues that it CAN be done: one has to remove a microchip from the head unit to disable the feature of the radio communicating with the car.

I am sure of this. In my country, many people buy 2nd hand cars from Japan and the UK. Most cars come with their radios locked and in fact by having such a chip removed, enables the unit to work properly.

Blaupunkt have a similar system cause I have been researching this.

Now can anyone proceed on this clue and tell me which microchip to remove?