Upgrading the Autotrail 13ELE2000 - Possible?

[davida71uk]

Good Evening,

This is my first post, so "hello" from Solihull. Hope everyone is looking forward to a summer of finally being able to get out, fingers crossed it happens.

We recently purchased a 2010 Autotrail Mohawk on a Ducato 130 base. It has the 13ELE2000 head unit. I would like to upgrade the head unit to a more modern system, CarPlay, DAB etc as well as upgrading the speakers. I prefer to have a separate Nav system and use a Tom Tom with truck routes so don't really have an issue with losing the Nav in the dash head unit. I'm looking at double-DIN systems from Pioneer as a replacement.

Please could I ask the forum if anybody has also successfully upgraded this unit? We have both a DVB-T and a Maxxview Dome and a certain amount of YouTubing and Googling would suggest that access to the FTA satellite channels is switched through the 13ELE2000 (AUX-2). Although we've so far only worked our way through the manuals and got the DVB-T working on the front and rear screens.

My concern being that upgrading the head unit may render something within the wider media system unavailable.

Looking forward to reading the forum's thoughts on this.

Stay safe.

Thanks.

David

 

[davida71uk]

I have searched through a number of other posts related to the 13ELE2000 and while Xtrons seemed to be the preferred destination, that unit is no longer made. So I am wondering how the other media functionality may differ by replacing the unit with a Pioneer unit for example?

Can anyone recommend a mobile installer in the Solihull/Birmingham area? Wiring schematics and vehicle electrics are far beyond this mere mortals powers of understanding.

 

[Phill D]

hi welcome.

i have a 2012 130 Ducato and i had no issue upgrading the double din head unit as i do not like the inbuilt sat nav and wanted a better sound. i also upgraded the door speakers and tweeters not difficult just need a bit of care and patience removing and replacing trim panels etc and the correct cable adaptors to suit ( which are likely to be included with any new DD unit you put in.

 

[Gellyneck]

We've got a 2013 Savannah and changed out the 13ELE2000 head unit about 3 years ago. We were one of those that went for an Xtrons unit that is now discontinued.

The change was pretty simple however we also needed a surround plate and aerial cable adapter for the new unit. There was some tweaking of the cable connections on the back to enable the permanent power supply from the leisure battery.

Whilst you don't want sat nav built in the 13ELE2000 has a built in DVB-T tuner, hence the reason you can view Freeview TV channels the signal being received by, probably, a Status aerial, so you'll either need to ensure the replacement unit has similar or the ability to connect to an external DVB-T tuner.

By front screen I assume you mean the drop down one between the cab seats, if so, this is fed from the 13ELE2000 head unit.

The rear screen is almost certainly an optional TV that is fed a signal from the VisionPlus aerial amplifier and will have it's own built in tuner.

Diabalo also has a Mohawk and has changed out the original head unit and may be able to advise on any issues he encountered.

Any further questions, ask away, but remember you only have 5 free posts before you need to subscribe. Even just getting this question sorted will recoup the £15 paid!

 

[davida71uk]

Thanks Gellyneck, appreciate the response. Yes I did mean the drop down screen. So it would seem that the 13ELE2000 is central to the TV functionality, not as easy as just plugging in a double dinn unit as I feared. Where's the A-Team when you need them?

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[davida71uk]

Subscription purchased also as I've no doubt there will be further knowledge sought.

 

[Darloman]

I changed the original ELE unit on my 2011 Mohawk because it was very poor quality and the screen failed. I (or at least got Vanbitz to do it for me) had a Pioneer head unit installed. To ensure I could still receive TV I installed a separate Freeview receiver which is use to supply the drop down tv. The Pioneer has an auxillary input/output which I use to take the output from the Freeview receiver to feed the small screen on the Pioneer unit itself and the drop down tv. Works well plus the radio is far better. I was not bothered about having a built in Satnav as I use a Snooper Satnav. Replacement units can be purchased which include a Satnav if desired. Vanbitz will no doubt be able to help.

 

[Gellyneck]

FYI davida71uk
If you want to make sure a Funster gets notified of a response in a thread if you put an @ and then type in their forum name it pops up an alert to them. That's what I did above and you should see a little red box next to the "bell" at the right of the blue menu bar above.

 

[Diabalo]

My issues was as Gellyneck describes and my rear TV has it's own tuner, I suppose there is no reason why you couldn't use the cab tuner if you did some additional Ariel cabling. The only thing that gets on my tits is not being able to turn the cab screen off while watching the dropdown screen, so I just cover it over. The Extron units are available just different models to the one I fitted. So far it has worked very well.

 

[davida71uk]

Darloboy, thanks. Contacted Vanbitz, funny, they advised they no longer quote for this type of work as "many motorhomes now come straight from the factory set up and installed". That could be interpreted as "we don't want to touch that old junk thanks".

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[davida71uk]

Had a good result with this earlier today, thought I would share my joy. Apparently during the lifecycle of the 13ELE2000, Autotrail received so many complaints about the setup that a separate DVB-T receiver was installed. This meant that the 13ELE2000 was no longer acting as the FTA receiver for the DVB-T antenna, it was only running the audio for the DVB-T and FTA Satellite (Maxxview). So, the double dimm is a straight swap as a Pioneer unit for example has an aux in for TV audio. I wondered what that second box was in the consumer board cupboard