Competent Chicago-area installer/troubleshooter

I'm looking for someone to troubleshoot a problematic installation. A few years ago I had harnesses for a Mk2 put in two cars by a now-defunct chain. It works in both cars. I later bought a Mk2a and found that it wouldn't power up in either, though it worked in my mlord case. The installer swore he hadn't run the ignition wire to the power lead.

I was suspicious but didn't follow up, because my wife never used the Mk2. But after three years, she's learned how to use it and gets annoyed when its in my car. So I'm looking for a competent local installer to get the Mk2a working. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Odd that you're experiencing a difference between a Mk2 and a Mk2a though. The Mk2a had more RAM and a different rotary encoder module but that was pretty much it for differences.

try forcing it to home or car mode using hijack and see if that makes a difference

Why doesn't my Rio Car work in my Mark 2 docking sled?

I read the FAQ when I had them installed originally. I noticed that the symptoms (Mk2 works, 2a doesn't; no pulsing standby light) are consistent with the "power from ignition" scenario described in the FAQ. The installer insisted he had not wired them that way. One of the cars, a Golf Mk 4, required a wire run for constant power. I don't feel comfortable taking the dash apart myself, and was wondering if anyone new a Chicago-area installer who could sort all this out.

Forcing home/standby mode does not make any noticeable difference.

There's a pinout somewhere of the connector inside the sled. If you have a multimeter, you should be able to test whether the power connectors are miswired or not.

Why doesn't my player go into standby mode when I turn off the ignition?

Your mentioning "Volkswagen" brings this to mind, particularly the part about "If the player keeps on playing when you shut off the ignition, you may have the 12v permanent power swapped with the 12v ignition-switched power. Volkswagen and Audi cars are notorious for this problem, since they swap those lines on the DIN connector. Simply swap the pins on the wiring harness to fix it.

I know that your problem isn't about going into standby mode, but the swapped connector wires may be at the root of your problem if the installer had to make some accommodation to allow for it.

tanstaafl.

With Volkswagen/Audi cars as well you want to make sure it's not wired to the K-line. Installers have wired to that as it shows 12V, but then if a OBD computer is plugged while there is a load on it, it will fry the OBD computer.