Hi all,

First post here as I am quite a fresh owner of my first ever XJ dark green and tan interior. I car I always dreamt of and now own!

The stock radio and speakers needed an upgrade so I bought a new alpine stereo and the required adapters. When all was installed nothing happened. I am sure this old skool looking 8-pin plug is the culprit as it went into the old stereo but there isn’t any place to plug it into with the new stereo or adapters. I searched quite a bit online but wasn’t able to find anything on it. Any help would be massively appreciated!



All the best from Amsterdam where there are quite a few good looking XJ’s rolling around.

That looks like the connector for a CD cassette deck. Should not have anything to do with your new stereo.

Yeah I just found This item online and it indeed has to do with the cd changer in the original unit. But that would mean my brand new radio is dead on arrival...? What are the chances of that...

You might want to check with a test light or volt meter that you have good power coming in to the stereo and just as important that that the stereo has a good ground.

I am on the cusp of putting a new stereo in my XJ and I noticed that most require a separate ground wire.

Good Luck!

Maybe a fuse went bad on install? Check your fuses and wiring. I am not sure which fuse controls the radio for the 1998 model, but you should be able to find a diagram of the 1998 fuse box with all the labeled categories. If the fuse is not the issue, check the wiring again. If it's not too much trouble install the old radio and see if it works. If it does, then you know the trouble is the harness wiring or the new radio. Good luck.

Also, I never would have guessed the Jeep XJs were popular in Amsterdam.

That looks like the CD Player connector to me too.
Plugs in the back of the radio and lets you operate the CD Changer with the radio.
Do you have a 6 CD Player?
Do you still have it?
Would like to see a picture of it and the front of the factory radio too.

Thanks all

I connected the ground wire using ground cable that came out of the wiring harness, to the back of the radio. I would say that this is the proper way to do it...

I will definitively put the old unit back in to see what happens.

there is no cd changer on the new one. See the pics of the old unit below.

I checked the car fuse (no.17 15amp if I am correct) and the one on the radio. Both are fine.

Also just found out the speaker connector plug is less wide coming from the Jeep than the ones on my new speakers lol 🙃

Seeing how you are from Amsterdam that is the exact radio I expected to see.
Are you sure you don't have a CD Changer in there somewhere?
Cause that is what that cable is for.
Guess it could have had one and was removed by the previous owner.
Look under the bottom of the back seat on the driver's side for the heck of it.

Nope. No cd options here! The old head unit seems an oldie too. No cd there either...

Well the radio could defiantly operate a CD Changer.
See the Mode button?
That would be what you would use to receive the input from the CD Changer.
The preset radio station buttons would be to choose the disc.
Not sure what button would be used for the playing a specific track of the CD.

Oh but back to your original question, sorry for sidetracking the thread, that has nothing to do with your install.

Haha indeed it hasn’t.

my plan is to get the old unit in. See what happens. If that fires up the brand spanking new unit is dead on arrival (what would be the odds...?)

thanks for taking the time to answer and confirming the fact that the 8-pin could not be the power source...

* if possible, download the circuit or pinouts for both units...you seem to be doing that

* check for power & earth on the vehicle connector

* test power up the new unit externally prior to installation, it should turn on & off