My FB came with a clarion head unit installed that would not work, i havent bothered messing with it but now that ive been doing lots of street driving it would be nice to have some tunes to listen to. When i hit the power button or any of the buttons on the headunit it is dead, nothing happens. But if i flip down the face and press the eject cd button it will eject any disc i put in it. Does anyone know why it does this and how i can fix it? Also is there a way i can test the head unit off of the car, like say manually running wires to a power source just to see if i can get it to turn on? I can get the exact model and all that of the head unit when i get home from work. TIA.

 

Take it out and to a repair shop. Almost anything with power goingto it will eject, sounds like something else is wrong with the unit. If you just want tunes, go to Circuit City and pick up a cheapo headunit.

 

best buy bench tests decks for $20. the cost to replace the unit will be less than repairing it. buy a new one and have say best buy do it. they dont charge to install the deck if you buy the deck from them and its over $100.

 

Thats what i was planning on doing, i just wanted to see if there was anyway to fix it before i went ahead and bought another one.

 

What do you guys think of this head unit, does anyone have any experience with this thing hooked to there ipod?
http://www.alpine-usa.com/en/product...model=CDA-9857

 

Do yourself a favor, go to Crutchfield.

www.crutchfield.com

Get everything you need for install with every headunit. Full comparison shopping. More headunits (among other things) to choose from than Best Buy or Circuit City could offer. Friendly tech support for ANY answers you may have. I've always done business with them, never once been dissatisfied.

You'll thank me later.

And, I myself don't prefer Alpine, I'm a Pioneer person. Alpine has ugly looks and doesn't seem to reproduce sound that well.

 

The reason i want the alpine is because of the new ipod support they've got. Supposedly you can plug the ipod into the head unit and scroll through all your ipod menus from the head unit itself. As far as i know this is the only head unit that can do this. Ill check out crutchfield right now, thanks for the link.

 

I may be wrong, but won't a CD eject with just power to the memory line? I think so. This may be a simple fix. There are two power wires on the back of headunits. One has power all the time (memory) and the other is suppose to have power when the key is on. If the second doesn't have power, the lights and stuff will be off, but you should still be able to eject CDs.

Take the HU out and check the power wires out. It may be a blow inline fuse, the fuse could be missing, or the power may not even be hooked up. You never know with previous owners. Once you can verify that both power wires are getting power (when the key is on) and the unit is grounded and if it still doesn't work, then go shopping for a new one. It's worth a shot to check it out and that way you can use the money for other things if the unit is fine.

If you have any questions on testing, let me know and I will help you where I can. Good luck.

Kent

 

Thanks alot for the advice kent, im semi-retarded when it comes to wiring,ill check it out when i get home.

Sam

 

sam, go with teh 9857.! its phenominal! you can use the kce-422i cable and link it to your ipod and control your ipod's library through the deck!

 

Thats good to hear. **** I pretty much bought my ipod so i could use it with that headunit....and watch movies at work....

 

iPod is an MP3 player. Other major name brand headunits offer MP3 plug-in capabilites.

 

Yes but the other head units that support mp3 players will not charge the mp3 players battery, also i dont believe you can scroll through your playlists and songs through the headunit, you have to use the player itself to scroll through the songs which would kind of be a pain in the ***. Plus my friend works at best buy and i can get that alpine headunit for about $200.

 

You should be able to. My headunit is MP3 disc capable and has scrolling features. Could always give Crutchfield a call if you saw others that caught your fancy. But, that's just me.

 

I understand your trying to help, ill try messing with this head unit when i get home, if i cant fix it ill send crutchfield some emails to see if the other headunits can do what the 9857 can.

 

Screw e-mails, call them. Better response time, plus you can ask any questions that come to mind and NOT worry about taking up their time like with some places that give you that feeling.

Plus, from the sounds of it, your current headunit is dead. Time for a new one.

 

It definately doesnt sound like its dead at all. Sounds like the constant power is there but not the accessory power as said before.... I dunno forsure but the same thing happened to me, and it was just an inline fuse behind my deck that was either in the stock wiring or wired into the stock stereo, because it was in there when I got the car and it was completely stock. Definately check that both power wires are functioning before anything else.

I believe in most cases the colours are yellow and red:

Yellow should be on all the time.
Red should be on when the key is turned.
If that doesnt do it, get it fixed.

Edit: Just for clarification the colours reffered to are on the CD deck's wiring harness. Not the cars wiring.

 

Just take the damn thing out!

 

hahaha, need to get a new test light then ill F with it tomorrow.

 

If you can get the head unit out with the entire wiring harness, the easiest way to test it is twist the red and yellow wires together and touch them to the positive terminal on your battery and ground the black wire, either on the battery or on the body of your car. By doing this you are making it think the car is on and power is going to the wires it should be to turn the radio on, you may need to press the power button once you do this, but if it doesnt turn on and the fuses (either in the yellow wire or in the back of the radio itself) are intact, then the radio is pretty much shot and you are better off replacing it.

 

How am i going to get the red & yellow wires to the battery?

 

^^^ By taking the headunit out!^^^^

 

.. i know im ashamed of myself, 10 minutes after posting that i realized how much of a dumbass i was. To regain my self confidence i blamed it on the fact that ive had 10-12 hours of sleep this whole week and have been at work/working on the car non stop.

 

Tested it out just now, and the sumbitch turned on as soon as i hooked the ground to the battery, what does everyone think may have happened? yellow & red wires connected backwards? Looks like im going to have to re wire this thing...i hate wiring. JW what kind of electrical connectors do you all like to use?

 

Solder everything with heatshrink!