Hi! I was listening to my stereo and all of a sudden the sound went off. Red display on the Clarion and the Equalizer lights went off as well. Similar to as if I pushed the button switch to turn it on or off. After a few minutes, I pushed the button and it comes back on. So I have left it in the on position but today went I started the car... no radio or radio lights and it just won't come back on. Checked the 20 A fuse and it's good. Would this have anything to do with those things that are under the cargo buckets in the back at all? Are those the pre-amps of some kind?

Any ideas to what may have happened? How does the radio get power and signal?

 

I don't think the amps would have anything to do with that. I have unplugged the amps while the stereo was playing before and while I did lose sound in the speakers, the radio itself stayed on.

You could have a loose/bad ground connection or a loose connection to the harness. My original stereo isn't the original, original stereo, so I don't know what it's supposed to look like, but I have a ground wire that is attached to a screw on the back of the radio, not through the regular harness. If that came loose, you wouldn't have any power. Is the antenna going up and down when that happens?

It really sounds to me like there's a connection loose somewhere. Being a 26 year old electronic device, I'm reluctantly inclined to blame something inside the radio itself.

 

Thanks so much for your input, I really do appreciate you taking the time to comment:



This is what the original stock setup of the Clarion looks like. Radio on top, cassette deck under and then the Equalizer under that. I was told that the radio itself does have it's own fuse on the side. Stereo would have to be removed to access it.

Do you think that might be a possibility?

 

As it happens, i 've got my stereo out of the dash right now, working on a speaker issue. I popped out to the garage to take a look, and I do not see any fuses on the radio itself. Now, ithe harness was hacked apart and back together at some point, so if there was an in-line fuse holder, it may have been discarded by one of the previous owners. I snapped a quick picture of the back. This is taken from above the unit:



Looks like I actually need to get out the tape. Whoever did this job sort of missed with the heat shrink wrap.

You might pull the stereo out and verify all those connections are solid. It sounds like it's losing power and fuses are usually pretty binary. If it's going off and on, it sounds like a bad connection somewhere that needs to be wiggled just right.

 

Thanks for taking the time to show me the pick of yours. It's intermittent and today and yesterday it's been working. I blasted the inside (removed button) area of the on/off switch with some silicone to clean out any crap... I'll keep you posted!


Thanks again

 

there is NO fuse on the radio or inline fuse in the radio wiring. the only fuse for the radio is in the fuse box. the twin clarion amps have nothing to go with the radio or equalizer power. sounds to me as if the radio itself has a loose wire internally or faulty solder joint on the circuit board. the equalizer is powered form the head unit so if that power goes, the equalizer goes.

 

Oops, didn't mean to post.

 

I think that's whats going on with my radio. I did a fuel pump swap and mustve unplugged the amp because the radio and antenna work fine, I just have no sound to the speakers. What do I need to reconnect? Thank you.

 

The amps are under the storage bins. The power to the fuel pump runs in the same space. I would check the connections under the drivers side (Left) storage bin. There are two electronics modules under the left side storage bin. One is a two channel power amp and the other is the cruise control computer.

Good luck!

 

Kinda off subject a lil but whats that guy under the drivers seat? I thought it was for the stock stereo but when i tried to unplug it my car idled wiered

 

You have a picture? At least on an 84 or 85 there isn't anything but some wires under the driver seat. I guess there is a plug that has some wires going to the back. Might be fuel pump wires in that. All the electrical stuff is detailed in the FSM for your model year.

 

Thank you man! That was it! Much appreciated