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My radio

546 views 7 replies 3 participants last post by  Corona 
#1 ·
When I turn on my ignition at night and when all of my dash lights up my radio won't and I would tap it and the lightning on my radio would come back on again is their a bulb going at or something?
 
#2 ·
sounds like a basic problem of dry joints/dirty contacts on the bulbs in the radio.
Do you mean the lights in the buttons on the radio itself, the lights on the display (sid unit) above the radio, or all the above?

I've had to fix blinky lights in my sid unit, was a case of pull the unit out (it pulls out by sticking things in the holes on each side, angling them and pulling) and then pulling out and re-inserting the lights (access from the back) and I resoldered the joints on the light plugs, because I'm an electronics nerd and I always resolder anything old.

Andrew
 
#3 ·
Corona said:
sounds like a basic problem of dry joints/dirty contacts on the bulbs in the radio.
Do you mean the lights in the buttons on the radio itself, the lights on the display (sid unit) above the radio, or all the above?

I've had to fix blinky lights in my sid unit, was a case of pull the unit out (it pulls out by sticking things in the holes on each side, angling them and pulling) and then pulling out and re-inserting the lights (access from the back) and I resoldered the joints on the light plugs, because I'm an electronics nerd and I always resolder anything old.

Andrew
the lights in the buttons on the radio itself
 
#4 ·
Ah, well they're not that hard to get to either. Pulling the radio out can take a little more effort though, depending on whether or not you have proper din radio removal tools (I don't).
First time I pulled my radio out it was a pain, I used coathangers shoved in the holes on either side of radio and lots of wiggling/pulling and swearing. Fingers shoved in the cassette slot can help as long as they don't get stuck. An often easier way is to pull the SID out first and then you can hove your hand in the hole and push the radio out.

Either way, once the radio is out you'll see a number of clips around the sides holding the front face on, unclip them and the face comes off. There can be some resistance but don't worry, there's no clips as such inside, just a push-fit plug between the face the rest of the radio.

On the inside of the face there's a circuit board with most of the controls attached to it. I've had to fix the volume dial a couple of times, and it's attached to this circuit board, by memory the buttons and their lights are too. It should be easy to see them at this stage and wiggle them around, clean the contacts, resolder contacts if you've got a soldering iron.

The fact that they work with a wiggle suggests the globes themselves are fine, although this can be a good opportunity to replace them if you can find replacement globes easily enough. Save opening up the radio in the near future if one does actually blow.

Andrew
 
#5 ·
Corona said:
Ah, well they're not that hard to get to either. Pulling the radio out can take a little more effort though, depending on whether or not you have proper din radio removal tools (I don't).
First time I pulled my radio out it was a pain, I used coathangers shoved in the holes on either side of radio and lots of wiggling/pulling and swearing. Fingers shoved in the cassette slot can help as long as they don't get stuck. An often easier way is to pull the SID out first and then you can hove your hand in the hole and push the radio out.

Either way, once the radio is out you'll see a number of clips around the sides holding the front face on, unclip them and the face comes off. There can be some resistance but don't worry, there's no clips as such inside, just a push-fit plug between the face the rest of the radio.

On the inside of the face there's a circuit board with most of the controls attached to it. I've had to fix the volume dial a couple of times, and it's attached to this circuit board, by memory the buttons and their lights are too. It should be easy to see them at this stage and wiggle them around, clean the contacts, resolder contacts if you've got a soldering iron.

The fact that they work with a wiggle suggests the globes themselves are fine, although this can be a good opportunity to replace them if you can find replacement globes easily enough. Save opening up the radio in the near future if one does actually blow.

Andrew
i'll just leave it like it is it sounds too complicated and a dealership would be $$$ not worth it
 
#6 ·
heh it does sound pretty long winded from that post doesn't it.... :eek:
It's really not, I've just checked and I have still got the photos from last time I pulled my radio apart, I was always going to write up the procedure, so when I get around to it I'll let you know - the photos show that it's pretty straightforward.

Andrew
 
#8 ·
ah, I hadn't read that guide on planoff - they're great photo guides there.

I've been planning on adding line in on my headunit, except that I'm aiming for bluetooth instead of hard connection, so that I can just play music over bluetooth from my phone, no stuffing around with wires.

Pretty straightforward to do using an off the shelf bluetooth audio receiver. I am working on making a smart source selector similar to an aftermarket one available for 93's, can't remember the name. Basically it'll work by hitting the cd button once to switch to cd, or twice quickly to switch to bluetooth. If I can decode the diagnostic netowork in my car I'll make the track names display on the sid. My car has a stupid diagnostic though (Australian, '95 built, '96 feature set, not obd2 but has obd2 plug) and I'm having trouble figuring it out.

Andrew
 
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