Jaguar XJ6 (X300) CD Changer NOT CONT
NOT CONT points at the changer, but the fault is usually inside the radio: a tiny resistor in the changer handshake circuit with a pad never soldered at the factory. Swapping changers rarely helps. I'd test the cable, then resolder that joint — a well-known repair, though not always permanent.
How bad is it · Safe to drive
Safe to drive — only the CD changer is affected
Radio and tape keep working. Don't rush to buy a changer — it is rarely the part at fault.
Which one applies to yours depends on your symptoms, your model year and what has already been done to it.
Likely causes, most common first
Read the check cost before the odds: a free check that rules a cause out beats a likely guess that costs money.
An unsoldered joint in the radio's handshake circuit
The handshake signal passes a small surface-mount resistor marked 223 (22 kOhm) on the main board. One of its pads was left unsoldered at the factory; it corrodes into an insulating film — first intermittent, then permanent. The part isn't broken, and the gap mustn't be bridged: it just needs solder.
NOT CONT briefly at first, then more often, then CD never comes online; sometimes EE02 in between. It stays whichever changer you plug in, and the radio may work perfectly on the bench.
Radio out: console lid screws, ashtray insert and lighter, the black divider, two nylon wing nuts under the shifter cover, the brittle chrome shifter ring (clips at 10, 2 and 6 o'clock, a feeler blade frees them), the wood cover, six screws on the centre stack. Only the top cover needs to come off; the resistor sits by the tall black heatsink at the rear corner of the board, soldered on the top side.
Remove the old solder and resolder fresh with a fine bit and a low-wattage iron — 15 W is enough, the part is tiny. Even if nothing looks wrong under a magnifier, redo it. The repair can last years or only days, so redo any grey or granular joints around it too, including the changer socket at the back.
Elsewhere in the radio: the rear connector board or the whole unit
The changer and amplifier plugs land on a separate board at the back, and the radio's hold on the handshake fades with age. If the resolder doesn't cure it, the fault is elsewhere in the radio — three changers in a row can fail on the same radio.
The known joint is fine or redone, and CD still drops out or does nothing, sometimes with no message; the cable tests good on every pin; a different radio makes the same changers work. Left alone, the radio can go from NOT CONT to refusing to switch off, then to not switching on at all.
Test the cable pin by pin; if it's good, the radio is the answer. With the radio on the bench, pressing around the board with an insulated probe while it plays can find an intermittent spot.
A good used radio (with its code; premium and standard versions don't interchange in some markets), the rear connector board moved into a used one, a professional rebuild, or a different head unit with a fascia adapter — the existing changer then works again. A specialist rebuild usually comes with a one-year warranty; a dealer swap for another factory radio may not last. If you change the head unit, one that speaks M-Bus keeps the boot changer; one on Alpine's newer Ai-NET bus needs extra cables and splicing.
A changer of the wrong generation
Later and remanufactured radios only talk to Jaguar-specific changers. From about the 1996 model year the radio queries the changer at power-up and ignores one that doesn't answer as a Jaguar unit; earlier radios accept a standard Alpine changer.
Trouble began with a newly fitted or second-hand changer: its green light comes on, it loads and ejects, but the radio shows NOT CONT or ignores it, and the CD button does nothing. A changer moved over from an older Jaguar, or a later CHA-series Alpine, is the usual trigger.
Look for 'Jaguar' on the changer door and check the radio's part number. Model year alone doesn't decide it — charts and practice disagree — so try it plugged straight in first. Bulletin 15-41 covers radio and changer compatibility. Alpine CHM-series changers use the same M-Bus as the factory radio. CHA-series units and the X308's changer run on Ai-NET, so an X308 changer won't talk to an X300 radio whatever plug you fit. The dual-mode CHA-S634 has worked through an M-Bus adapter, once the initialisation switch inside its door was set and the ignition cycled a couple of times.
An in-line interface such as the JAG01ALP (about $50, or £35–40) between the car's cable and a plain Alpine changer — recognised at once — or a Jaguar-marked changer. A changer carried over from an XJ40 may not work even with an adapter. The interface for a later radio is the Jaguar one, the JAG01ALP; Alpine's KCA-130B is not a substitute for it.
The changer socket at the back of the radio
The changer socket can lose contact with the radio's main board even when the plug is fully home.
Pressing up on the changer plug behind the radio, or wiggling it, brings CD back; replugging helps only until the ignition goes off.
With the radio out and running, press gently on the changer plug while CD plays. If that makes it work, the fault is between socket and board, not the cable or resistor.
Worth trying: reseat the contact strip between the front and main boards and resolder the socket's pins. Resoldering those joints alone doesn't always cure it.
The cable or plug between radio and changer
A loose plug on the data cable, a weak changer supply or a poor earth in the boot can interrupt the conversation.
Lights pulsing with the music suggest a weak supply; a recently disturbed console suggests the plug; failing only with the sidelights on suggests an earth. Unplugging and reseating the changer cable can clear it for a few days.
Disconnect at both ends; check every wire and the shield for continuity and shorts, wiggling the connectors while you measure — as bulletin 15-27 says. On the 8-pin round plug: pin 1 bus, 2 audio ground, 3 bus ground, 4 right audio, 5 left audio, 6 battery, 7 accessory, 8 chassis ground; with the radio on, look for 12 V and a good ground at the boot end.
Worth ruling out, though it's rarely the fault. Bulletin 15-27 says replace a faulty cable rather than repair it; clean any earth near the battery that reads over about 1 ohm to true ground.
Dust in the changer, when tracks jump too
A clogged shifter mechanism or dusty lens can stop the changer answering the radio properly.
NOT CONT together with tracks skipping by themselves.
Open the changer, clean the lens with alcohol, blow the dust out, check the small cogs, then let it play for an hour.
Worth trying. Skip lens-cleaning discs — they can damage the changer.
Home-burned discs
The original changer is far less tolerant of burned discs than later units.
The message comes and goes with certain discs.
Load only factory-pressed discs for a while.
Worth trying: pressed discs only. Not a proven cure. One shop has traced NOT CONT to home-burned discs.
Our product · Jagaux
Jagaux Bluetooth adapter for the XJ6 / XJR (X300)
Takes the CD changer's place at the factory radio: Bluetooth music and hands-free calls, AUX and USB, track changes from the radio buttons. Plug-in, and it comes out again just as easily.
X300, 1994–97
The order to check them in
The point of the order is money: each step either rules a cause out or makes the next one worth doing. Green is free, amber costs a little, red is the one to arrive at last.
Pressed discs only, for a few days
The cheapest test there is.
freeJust fitted a different changer? Check its generation
Later radios want a Jaguar-marked changer or an interface adapter. CHM-series Alpine changers speak the factory radio's language; CHA-series and X308 changers don't.
freeTest the cable, wiggling the plugs
Continuity on every pin and the shield, 12 V at the boot plug. A good cable means the radio.
freeRadio out: press on the changer plug, then resolder the handshake resistor
Remove the old solder first. Radio code ready — UK radios need it after removal; US radios of these years weren't coded. Keeping 12 V on the radio while it's out avoids the code.
free with an ironStill NOT CONT? A used radio, a rebuild or a different head unit
Specialist rebuilds run around $125–200. A used unit must come with its code.
$100–200What it usually isn't
Don't spend money here first:
If none of this finds it:
On jagaux.com
- Jaguar radio code generatorFree. For the X300 factory radio, when it asks for its code after the battery has been off.
- XJ6 (X300) radio pinout and wire colours
- XJ6 (X300) fuse boxes
- Jaguar VIN decoderConfirm your exact model year, engine and factory options before ordering parts — free.
Ratings, fuse numbers and torque figures vary by model year and market. Read the legend on your own car before pulling anything, and use the figures in the manual for your car, not the ones in a video.
Check your VIN: exactly which car you have and which bulletins apply to it.