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radio cuts out - a miracle... long text

Micha

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Vancouver
hi guys!

i have a 87 laredo and since a few days a problem i can't explain nor pinpoint:

the speakers of my radio (jvc headunit) suddenly stopped putting out sound. from time to time it starts playing again for a few seconds and then it gets silent again.

the radio itself works, tested it in another car and also another radio in mine - the cutting out of the sound remains in my car with whatever radio installed.
the four speakers cut out exactly at the same time, thus ruling out a faulty wire or two (and what are the odds that all four speaker connections faill EVERYTIME synchronous?)

the radio keeps on playing (color lc-display, i'd notice a power loss there) and the sound is gone for minutes, comming back usually inly for split seconds after driving over some bumps. it is likely to play when i start up the car before i move it at all. then it cuts out, too.

this would look like a faulty power- or ground, but the speakers are all connected via the stock harness and the radio is fine.
i did not have any fancy sound system installed when i got it, so i kind of doubt that there is a stock amplifier in between the radio outlet and the speakers. that would be the only reasonable explanation i could come up with, though. if an amp (that i don't know of) keeps on loosing power or ground it would produce the said effects...

anybody had that before? were there stock amps? and where would i have to look for it? did i just oversee the easy and obvious? i'm kind of pissed with no radio so i'd appreciate any help!

thanks a lot,

micha
 
I'll leave it to some other poster to answer if high-end 87's might have had a separate amp, but I'd definitely consider the possibility if yours appears to have come with the optional Jensen system sometimes seen in Wagoneers, etc. My 87 was a lowly Pioneer, and there was nothing like that in it, but on that one the speakers did not share a common ground, so that otherwise obvious solution is out. Can we assume that this is a radio plus tape or CD player, and that it cuts out on all sources? I ask because if it's just a radio issue, and the radio mutes on low signals, you might look at the antenna connection.
 
I had something like that happen when one of the spearker wires (JUST ONE!!!) was shorting against a ground (it wore through and rubed on the metal. Funny thing was that as I figured out what might be the problem on my 60 mile back home, you'd see me pop the door open while flying down the freeway and shut it again so that the wire would reposition itself for a while and work for a while till it rotated/moved again to rub against the metal and short out.
 
matthew:

jiip, it happens on all sources (fm/am, cd, ext. input).
also all the speakers have separate live and ground wires each. and my stock door panels have only the standard speaker covers, no jensen system fitted.

Kejtar:
i will check this. it is the easiest assumption. nevertheless it seems illogical that all the speakers go quiet. will check for unwanted grounds tomorrow, giving the doors special attention...
if i disconnect the speakers directly at the radio one by one, the rest should come alive again after the shortened one is taken from the whatever circuit the internal radio amplifier may have, don't you think?

thanks for the help so far, guys.
if anyone has additional ideas, please share!

micha
 
Micha said:
if i disconnect the speakers directly at the radio one by one, the rest should come alive again after the shortened one is taken from the whatever circuit the internal radio amplifier may have, don't you think?

Yup, although you might have to turn the radio on and off to cycle whatever logic it has inside that shuts off the speakers.
 
Kejtar said:
Yup, although you might have to turn the radio on and off to cycle whatever logic it has inside that shuts off the speakers.

Kejtar, I think you're onto something there. If it's shutting down with an overload protection, it would indeed take only one bad speaker wire to do it. Depending on how that's done, you might have to wait a while for it to reset. It might be possible to find the bad one with an ohmmeter.
 
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