Car stereo stopped working

[A2Z]

Having trouble with my new car radio.

It seems to keep cutting out. A while ago I was listening to it and went to turn up the volume and the whole unit died. I removed the radio, checked the connections (nothing wrong), put it back and it started working again.

Last week (I hadn’t listed to it for a while) the radio was working but I noticed that all the presets etc had been reset.

Today the unit just will not work. Again, I removed the unit and all the connections (2 block connections and the aerial) were all in place. The fuse on the back of the unit was fine. I believe the stereo runs off the “room” circuit but all other things (interior light, heated rear screen, cig lighter) all work fine. I even put back the old Aiwa unit that used to work fine but this now longer works. The new one is a Kenwood (if that helps)

I am suspecting a faulty connection in the loom or fuse but I am running out of things to check. The car has just come back from the garage after some cill and engine work (the aerial was put in the boot when I picked it up…probably just to get it out the way) I suppose the battery was disconnected for this but everything runs fine now except for the radio

Any ideas?

[DennisTheMenace]

Check your earth for the unit it could be something as simple as that ,

[A2Z]

DennisTheMenace said:

Check your earth for the unit it could be something as simple as that ,

Thanks Dennis,

Kind of hoped you would see this.

How do you check the earth in this location?

[pmanson]

Denny - Anyway of freeing up an electric ariel? It's certainly not as long as it used to be!

[DennisTheMenace]

A2Z said:

DennisTheMenace said:

Check your earth for the unit it could be something as simple as that ,

Thanks Dennis,

Kind of hoped you would see this.

How do you check the earth in this location?

Do a check at the back of the unit with a multi meter if you have one , set it to continuity and touch the case and the metal frame of the dash behind the radio , you should get a good reading with no resistance if you do try a bit of wire from the radios casing to the dash and see if it comes back to life , also with the meter chack voltage to the constant 12volts and your ignition supply .

[DennisTheMenace]

pmanson said:

Denny - Anyway of freeing up an electric ariel? It's certainly not as long as it used to be!

get a CB style one like mine

Just squirt some wd40 down it mate , looked like it needs a good clean .

see all thes posh gadgets go wrong

[A2Z]

A2Z said:

DennisTheMenace said:

Check your earth for the unit it could be something as simple as that ,

Thanks Dennis,

Kind of hoped you would see this.

How do you check the earth in this location?

Having a read through the manuals the earth is the black wire on the "power" iso connector (the other being for the speakers). Nothing is loose. It appears that the problem is with the car (or me!) rather than the radio as the old one does not work either.

Does the aerial need to be connected? I seem to remember when I was fitting it I was getting nothing from the unit until I connected the aerial.

I thought two connectors and an aerial would be easy but it's clear that I am boxing above my weight on this.

[DennisTheMenace]

That makes me think more that its an earth problem , the unit would be getting its ground through the ariel rather than the harness try a bit of wire between the radio chassis andan bare bit of metal on the car , it should come to life .

[A2Z]

DennisTheMenace said:

That makes me think more that its an earth problem , the unit would be getting its ground through the ariel rather than the harness try a bit of wire between the radio chassis andan bare bit of metal on the car , it should come to life .

Dennis,

Just a quick note to say thanks. I followed your advice and it has started working again. Cheers mate.