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Welcome to FordPinto.com, The home of the PCCA => General Help- Ask the Experts... => Topic started by: dave1987 on May 22, 2010, 11:52:03 PM

Title: Radio not working in car, works fine when out
Post by: dave1987 on May 22, 2010, 11:52:03 PM
The radio in Brownie isn't working anymore, so I removed it to inspect the innards of the radio. No luck. Hooked it up to a PC power supply which also delivers 12V DC and it powers on just fine!

The fuse is good, I've replaced it with a new one.  I'm not 100% sure about the wiring in the car, but I replaced the dash harness with another one I had. The radio worked fine until the last day I drove the car. I was just driving around and it shut off, I couldn't get it to come back on again.

Any ideas?
Title: Re: Radio not working in car, works fine when out
Post by: rctinker on May 23, 2010, 12:01:23 AM
 :o Gremlins, man, gremlins!  :o
Title: Re: Radio not working in car, works fine when out
Post by: Pintopower on May 23, 2010, 03:38:06 AM
Dirty fuse base (check other items on the circuit)
Bad ground (the radio is grounded two ways, the bezel and the retaining plate)
No power at the plug (check with test light), one side is the (+) and the other is the radio light.
Come to think of it, you do mean the factory radio correct?
Maybe the radio is fine BUT the speaker failed?
Hope that helps. 
Title: Re: Radio not working in car, works fine when out
Post by: Starsky and Hutch on May 23, 2010, 10:55:37 AM
When i first seen this i thought it works when he`s out of the car dont work when he`s in the car  lolol
Title: Re: Radio not working in car, works fine when out
Post by: dave1987 on May 23, 2010, 11:24:30 PM
Fuse was my first thought. Cleaned off the terminals today and put the fuse back in, it gets power now. But when turned on you have to turn it all the way up, and even then there's just a faint whisper of audio being emitted.

Yes, this is the factory radio.

And you are right, the radio IS fine, and it IS the speaker! :)

I pulled the speaker and sure enough, it exploded! lol The original 37 year old speaker cone separated from the basket, and one of the wires on the cone tore off with a little bit of the cone still on it. The paper cone literally falls apart even by BARELY TOUCHING IT! lol

Going to stop by the junk yard tomorrow and see if I can find some decent speaker from any random car. I'm not worried about audio quality, all it needs is AM radio! :P
Title: Re: Radio not working in car, works fine when out
Post by: rctinker on May 23, 2010, 11:31:48 PM
 >:( damn speaker gremlins  :o
Title: Re: Radio not working in car, works fine when out
Post by: dave1987 on May 23, 2010, 11:36:19 PM
lol, Robert! :D :P

You should see the speaker, it's kind of funny how bad it is, and surprising that it lasted three weeks for being 37 years old and dry as hell! I was laughing when I saw it!  :lol:
Title: Re: Radio not working in car, works fine when out
Post by: Pintopower on May 24, 2010, 02:00:49 AM
Nice. Glad it's all sourced.