1995 factory radio troubleshooting

[gadget73]

depending where it is, it might do it. These use 5v logic switching to flip from tape to radio. Not sure if it pulls high or low to go to tape mode but either way if the voltage is too far off it won't act right.

[sly]

Leaky caps don't help anything, so getting that replaced will help something. Whether it's the root of the problem or not remains to be seen.

[87gtVIC]

Very much thanks to Sly for taking some time out of his day to take a look at my ailing radio. Didn’t find anything explicitly wrong the the tape deck, but he did clean up a corroded trace on the board and replaced a leaky capacitor. I won’t find out if that did the trick until we get back to Arkansas; however, I’m very appreciative of the time and effort he was willing to put in for me. Thanks!

Awesome.

[Giraffe]

Very much thanks to Sly for taking some time out of his day to take a look at my ailing radio. Didn’t find anything explicitly wrong the the tape deck, but he did clean up a corroded trace on the board and replaced a leaky capacitor. I won’t find out if that did the trick until we get back to Arkansas; however, I’m very appreciative of the time and effort he was willing to put in for me. Thanks!

[gadget73]

the switch seems to be just a simple slider thing. If thats sticky, it may just need to be cleaned and then it will act right. Not sure if its pulled back forward when the tape ejects or if its spring return but I can see if its gummy it may hang in the wrong position.


anyway, for the aux in, here are pinouts for the back of the radio and for some commonly available jacks. Leave the loop status pin empty. Signal return is ground, the others are self-explanatory. Basically you connect the radio terminals to the jack terminals. I don't happen to know exactly which pins are the right ones to go into that connector unfortunately but I'm sure its something that can be worked out.

[Giraffe]

Does an antenna shave mean you still have just the cable hidden up behind the fender?

I have a FM modulator in my car for when I want to listen some music I dont have on tape and The reception is really strong, so strong that I dont even raise up the antenna.

If push comes to shove maybe you can pick up a stubby antenna and just tuck it up behind the fender liner and it would suit your needs.

Unfortunately, no. I was young(er) and dumb(er) and ditched the entire antenna, base, and cable assembly when I had it done. "The exhaust is all the music I need!" and all that.

these can do line input very easily. That square plug on the back with the dummy connector in it has signal out and signal in from the optional CD player. If you break that connection and feed your own signal in, it goes direct to the amp instead of through the tape or tuner parts. Sounds much better. Just need a 3.5mm jack with internal switching to do it.

That's a pretty interesting way of doing it. I'd need to see a wiring diagram of the final product, though. I'm not completely illiterate with this stuff, but I've forgotten a lot of what I used to know.

With a wired in modulator, the car antenna is of no consequence, the car lead plugs into the modulator, but the modulator has it's own lead that then plugs into car radio, feeds signal direct.I think for a wirelss connection, you could just use a universal replacvement and put the antenna anywhere in the car, like under a seat or floormat even.

This actually may be the best course of action for me. I was just looking at some of these and they can be had for pretty cheap.

went through my 92 radio service manual, reasonably sure the blue thing is the eject solenoid. Its not purely mechanical on these, the buttons trigger the solenoid to pull and it does stuff via the magic of springs.

I think the switch that does the radio/tape selection is on the circuit board. At least thats what I think the manual is telling me. I didn't spend a ton of time studying it. The other problem is the 92 manual covers 5 different mechanisms, and I'm not 100% I'm looking at the right one since the radio in question doesn't have a part number specifically covered by this book.

That's what I was thinking. I couldn't see any sort of mechanism on the tape carrier that looked like it was a mechanical switch to tell the radio a tape is inserted. I'm thinking the wired FM modulator may be the best bet for me since it'll eliminate the problem I'm having with the tape deck.

[gadget73]

went through my 92 radio service manual, reasonably sure the blue thing is the eject solenoid. Its not purely mechanical on these, the buttons trigger the solenoid to pull and it does stuff via the magic of springs.

I think the switch that does the radio/tape selection is on the circuit board. At least thats what I think the manual is telling me. I didn't spend a ton of time studying it. The other problem is the 92 manual covers 5 different mechanisms, and I'm not 100% I'm looking at the right one since the radio in question doesn't have a part number specifically covered by this book.

[tbear853]

I would have used a modulator (like the one I use in my GM) instead of the tape adapter if I hadn't had the antenna shaved when the car was repainted in 2010.

With a wired in modulator, the car antenna is of no consequence, the car lead plugs into the modulator, but the modulator has it's own lead that then plugs into car radio, feeds signal direct.

Does an antenna shave mean you still have just the cable hidden up behind the fender?

I have a FM modulator in my car for when I want to listen some music I dont have on tape and The reception is really strong, so strong that I dont even raise up the antenna.

If push comes to shove maybe you can pick up a stubby antenna and just tuck it up behind the fender liner and it would suit your needs.

I think for a wirelss connection, you could just use a universal replacvement and put the antenna anywhere in the car, like under a seat or floormat even.

[bgreywolf]

I'm still eyeballing the blue thing. It really looks like the metal arm in front of it comes down to touch it when the cassette is inserted.
Is there a little post in the blue piece that might be stuck? Or maybe a magnet that used to be on the metal arm that has stuck itself to the blue thing?
It looks easy enough to remove and replace if that's what it is (for that matter, any of that era tape mechanisms with a mechanical eject, as a whole unit).

I might be barking up the wrong tree, but I really get the feeling it's in that part of the mechanism.

[gadget73]

these can do line input very easily. That square plug on the back with the dummy connector in it has signal out and signal in from the optional CD player. If you break that connection and feed your own signal in, it goes direct to the amp instead of through the tape or tuner parts. Sounds much better. Just need a 3.5mm jack with internal switching to do it.

[87gtVIC]

Does an antenna shave mean you still have just the cable hidden up behind the fender?

I have a FM modulator in my car for when I want to listen some music I dont have on tape and The reception is really strong, so strong that I dont even raise up the antenna.

If push comes to shove maybe you can pick up a stubby antenna and just tuck it up behind the fender liner and it would suit your needs.

[Giraffe]

I would have used a modulator (like the one I use in my GM) instead of the tape adapter if I hadn't had the antenna shaved when the car was repainted in 2010.

[tbear853]

I bought a couple spares for my '95 Tbird, same radio exactly. Ebay, maybe 10 years ago, cheap and working units, but I don't often see them now. The one in the car lost the tape door, but wide black tape fixed that as I never use the tape anyway, I just use my XM on a modulator and FM 87.9 ... Modulator might be "the fix" for you, it feeds a signal in through antenna lead.

[sly]

ok. Let me know.

[Giraffe]

If you were still in Texas, I would say come and visit me, but it's quite a bit further to DFW now.

I’m actually going to be in DFW in a week and a half. I should have some free time. I’ll bring the radio if I can’t fix it. I’m not seeing anything out of the ordinary. It’s nice and clean inside, so I don’t see excess dust being an issue. I’m stumped.