XCarLink questions, tips, tricks, and issues!

[kwbdc]

I am using my XCL with a trunk handle camera I sourced from ebay. It looks great and was working very well but then decided to quit at one point and it came back to life. It then went dead again and hasn't been resurrected since. I too wonder if it is heat related. Admittedly I have not disassembled my trunk to check for loose connections, partly because all the connections were soldered and taped or shrink tubed so I sort of doubt it's that. I also run an in-line fuse and that fuse is still good. I have a spare camera I got from XCL but to test it means I pretty involved removal in re-installation. The XCL until itself still works as I can still use it to feed video from my digital media player.

I very much miss my rear view camera.

This is the one I got:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Car-Parking-...166e94&vxp=mtr

The one you sent me is still going strong!

[TheHeiko]

Good to hear! I was wondering if you still used yours or switched when you did your touchscreen setup. Maybe you being in the beautiful PNW helps, or I just have bad luck.

[kwbdc]

Good to hear! I was wondering if you still used yours or switched when you did your touchscreen setup. Maybe you being in the beautiful PNW helps, or I just have bad luck.

maybe a little of both!

[B G 8er]

+1 my back up camera through you is still going strong as well. Just as mentioned before and has been this way from the beginning, every once and a while the picture goes ballistic. Usually returns to normal. Hopefully it will be a new US requirement soon on all new cars. Agreed, once you get used to having one, you don't want to be without. I was more concerned about the trunk handle switch eventually going bad.

[Booya]

+2 mine still working great. Not a single problem installed with the XCL and reuse when switch over to the touch screen. The night vision is bright as day with the help of the LED plate lights.

[achilleas101]

I hope there are still some users of XCL out there, an issue i have...

next to perfect install
inc a 12v relay in reverse power line
camera is a good quality boot handle type

The problem i am getting is when selecting reverse while the engine is running, the camera feed comes on after a second or so, stays on for 8ish seconds then goes blank, if i try again with the engine still running its just a blank screen. Only after the car is switch off for some time, the camera will only work once, and for about 8 seconds.

I have emailed XCL and waiting for a response.

i and others earlier in this thread had the same issue. a ground loop isolator helped resolve the issue about 90%. I still get horizontal interference lines, but after a while, doesn't really bother me. The relays and power regulators did nothing to help for me.

this is the one i got: http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-NOISE-FI...item3cb564e7b6

you basically attach it between the taillight power and the power lead going into the XCarlink.
Red wire goes to the green wire on the XCL, black to ground, and blue to the taillight power.

now, i have my camera grounded in the trunk, and this grounded in the front right fuse panel. If i remember right, i tried putting this in the trunk and it didn't work well.

I also tried adding a 2nd one to see if it would help more, but it didn't.

[Mina08]

Thankyou, i will try this out

i and others earlier in this thread had the same issue. a ground loop isolator helped resolve the issue about 90%. I still get horizontal interference lines, but after a while, doesn't really bother me. The relays and power regulators did nothing to help for me.

this is the one i got: http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-NOISE-FI...item3cb564e7b6

you basically attach it between the taillight power and the power lead going into the XCarlink.
Red wire goes to the green wire on the XCL, black to ground, and blue to the taillight power.

now, i have my camera grounded in the trunk, and this grounded in the front right fuse panel. If i remember right, i tried putting this in the trunk and it didn't work well.

I also tried adding a 2nd one to see if it would help more, but it didn't.

[dtoobin]

What do you guys use for navigation? I'm tempted by the system because I want navigation... What's the easiest way to get the best out of it?

[Mina08]

I also got a mirroring device to attach to the XCL so it shows what ever is on my phone, i use WAZE or Google Maps

What do you guys use for navigation? I'm tempted by the system because I want navigation... What's the easiest way to get the best out of it?

[dtoobin]

I also got a mirroring device to attach to the XCL so it shows what ever is on my phone, i use WAZE or Google Maps

The mirroring device is pretty expensive... Is it worth it or would hard wire be better?

[Mina08]

There are cheaper alternatives out there, that fit.

The mirroring device is pretty expensive... Is it worth it or would hard wire be better?

[Mina08]

Installing a filter tomorrow.

[Mina08]

Well thanks to all for the help, i installed the filter 2 hours ago and is running perfectly, fingers crossed.

[bermudakid]

Since nobody could answer my last question maybe someone could comment how well phone screen mirroring works with the xcl?

[Mina08]

The one i order is on its way, when i have plugged it into the xcl module i will give some feed back, i went with a medium price point when buying one to see if it all works well.

Since nobody could answer my last question maybe someone could comment how well phone screen mirroring works with the xcl?

[TheHeiko]

The one you sent me is still going strong!

+1 my back up camera through you is still going strong as well. Just as mentioned before and has been this way from the beginning, every once and a while the picture goes ballistic. Usually returns to normal. Hopefully it will be a new US requirement soon on all new cars. Agreed, once you get used to having one, you don't want to be without. I was more concerned about the trunk handle switch eventually going bad.

+2 mine still working great. Not a single problem installed with the XCL and reuse when switch over to the touch screen. The night vision is bright as day with the help of the LED plate lights.

That's great to hear guys. I'm glad that little mini-GB worked out so well.

I got mine working again! I finally had some time to take my hatch trim apart to check connections. I discovered that a thin red wire, I think the power wire, got severed somehow. It's a about a 20 gauge wire so not thick but would take a little force to cut. Now to see if something else goes wrong.

I had extra incentive to fix it because I just got my rear bumper painted after an unfortunate my-fault scrape. I don't want any mor "rear incursions".

[Mina08]

Installed the Mirror cast device today

Easy and quickishinstall, and stashed the box obove the glove box for a snug fit.
Quality is pretty good playing videos, the mirror of my phone home screen/apps is okish, connection was easy via wifi.

The only problem is no sound? I have also noticed that my aux is not working since i installed my XCL. Going to have another read of this thread to see if i have missed something, i did notice a blue connector from the original loom was left blank?

[Mina08]

So as i understand, i need to move the the blank blue connector directly to the back of the Stereo harness ( i only have the blue one)

"you might have the issue i was having, my AMI wasnt working, it showed whats on the screen but no audio. what happened was, that big main harness that you take from the back of the radio and bypass through the XCL adapter, the thing is there are 2 smaller connectors on there, a green and a blue one, they're like these little rectangle connectors, there is no bypass for that on the XCL adapter so as of now you probably have them not connected into anything. what you have to do is pop those 2 plugs out of the factory harness and pop them into the adapter so they actually connect in."

Is it obvious where the blue connector plugs in on the harness connect diretcly to the stereo? any feed back would be good before removal
cheers

[Mina08]

Ok moved the blue connector and now the aux is working, but still no sound from the wifi box, i will try to connect to video 2

[dtoobin]

Installed the Mirror cast device today

Easy and quickishinstall, and stashed the box obove the glove box for a snug fit.
Quality is pretty good playing videos, the mirror of my phone home screen/apps is okish, connection was easy via wifi.

The only problem is no sound? I have also noticed that my aux is not working since i installed my XCL. Going to have another read of this thread to see if i have missed something, i did notice a blue connector from the original loom was left blank?

Is this one the same one that is provided by xcarlink? Cause I saw a few on ebay as well for cheap

[Mina08]

Its not from XCL . 35€ from flebay, i wanted to test first with a lower cost device, and if it works well i can upgrade to a better device.

[dtoobin]

Its not from XCL . 35€ from flebay, i wanted to test first with a lower cost device, and if it works well i can upgrade to a better device.

How does google maps or whatever app you use look on it?

[Mina08]

Looks ok actually i will take some more pics soon

[dtoobin]

Looks ok actually i will take some more pics soon

cool thx! do you notice any lag with the mirroring?

[Mina08]

None really

[dtoobin]

^cool thx. So I can basically get the xcarlink + the wifi mirror thing and be set? I won't need anything else?

Also, for people that bought this from the UK, did you also have custom fees?

[Mina08]

Thats right


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MYFASTA4]

do you have a link for your mirror cast device?

[Liquid Smoke]

yes please post a link, i found a few here but they are all hdmi, but need the rca ones for the xcarlink. i originally got my xcarlink to do something like this but didnt want to use all these adapters and stuff to use hdmi that way, right now just pretty much using it for the rearview cam. but something like this would be perfect.

[Mina08]

I still have not had time to take the glove box off and check why i still don't have sound, hopefully this week.
If you want to spend the money go with the XCL mirror device, mine was cheaper as i wanted to see how it works, but so far so good (except sound), hopefully post a vid later.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3511979300...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
They responded to email directly with my issue, it did take nearly 3 weeks to get by standard mail

http://xcarlink.co.uk/product.php?pr...3&cat=4&page=1

http://xcarlink.co.uk/product.php?pr...8&cat=4&page=2

[Mina08]

Anyone had a problem with sound through the XCL?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mina08]

No answer from XCL about the lack of sound, going to try and plug direct to Aux
Here some pics and vids

Itunes


Home screen


Google maps


Video



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mina08]

Ok just got my reply from Owen at XCL, there module does not support audio, will have to plug into the aux.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mina08]

So finally got the aux extension from the phono RCA leads plugged and installed, i have to say for the price i paid and where the mirror box came from its pretty good quality video and sound, just as good if not better than my BT connection, no lag what so ever and no hiss/interference.
Only had it going a day 100%, so will have to see if it holds up.

Cheers

[amz]

Help! Kind of panicking right now, and can't find it in the thread (only have access to mobile devices, so search is limited). When plugging the harness into the stereo does the blue cable go on the passenger or drivers side? Imagine I'm looking at it from the front of the stereo.

Edit: Post 959 has my answer, thanks!

[stonner]

Hello,

I have found that my XCL is interfering with my DAB radio signal. Has anyone else had a similar issue or have any idea what could be causing it????

[hanyoung]

Very nice, but I have some issues with the mirroring. One of the main goals is to be able to wirelessly transmit the smartphone screen to the Audi MMI sans wires. Gets pretty annoying if you have to remove phone, and plug in the aux / headphone jack.
Anyone have any experience with using this with the tune2air on an iphone? I wonder if that would bypass the sound issue.
I tried this with my iphone4 back in the day and had the same issues with the sound through a 30-pin A/V adapter through the xcarlink, so it may not work

[hanyoung]

Also, looks like it's on amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Andoer-Screen-...ifi+mirror+box

[hexc0de]

I'm noticing that my display either flashes black for a split second or distorts whenever i turn my high beams on. Is anyone else experiencing this? It's as if the voltage to the xcarlink drops for a moment when the high beams are turned on and then stabilizes shortly after and the display looks normal again. I'm wondering if adding a capacitor will help.

[Mina08]

when i added my filter, all the interference went away, no issue now