QuestionQUESTION: Ok this is kind of a long story-
I own a 1977 Chevy Impala, which started out with the one speaker in the dash and the radio not operational. I bought a Pioneer CD player from the thrift store I work at one day, and it was in really nice shape. I also found 4 Delco speakers to fit in my car as well. Anyways after a few months, it just quit working-it wouldn’t turn on one day, and then after driving a few miles it turned back on, but the next time I turned my car on it didn’t turn on again. I figured there might have been something wrong with it when I bought it, and as I only spent $10 on it, I wasn’t too concerned.
So anyways I finally found another good deal on a NEW CD player, the Pioneer DXT-2266UB car audio package at Walmart. I installed it with the same speakers that I was using and it turned right on, but shorted out about a week or 2 later in the same way the other one did-it wouldn’t turn on, and then it did, and now it won’t at all.
I ran a multimeter to the harness that connects the wires to the back of the CD player and it was showing the right amount of voltage needed to power the CD player, and none of the fuses were blown. I double-checked to make sure everything was connected correctly, and it sure seems like that to me. I have talked to a few people and they all seem to think something different is wrong with it. Someone suggested permanently running the ground directly to the battery. Someone else told me if a CD player goes like that, they can usually be reset via a reset button (I had to do this more than a few times to a CD player in my car before this one, an ‘84 Caprice) however, this player does not have a reset button.
Could it be an unsteady ground in an old car? Or what else could it be?
Thank you for your time.
-Josh
ANSWER: Is it just the cd player not working? Does the radio work (AM and FM)? Do the display panel lights come on?
If the ground was bad you should read a voltage between chassis ground and the ground connection at the CD player unit.
If the connector on the wiring harness is not firmly and snuggly connected it could be the contacts have corroded or worked loose. Check that out.
In tough cases like this it sometimes requires to bring out the player and bench test it; that is bring it out of the car; set it up on the fender or bench, run long leads to the battery and ground connections and connect one or more known good external speakers to it for check out. Then, one by one clip leads from the radio to the speaker connectors to check them out. Then, reinstall it and again make sure you have a good bare metal ground connection, etc...... It may take time but you will learn all about the player and the car connections.
Hope you get it working.
PS: Do you know how to check the speakers? They can sometimes go bad and your amp may be working just fine but the speakers are open circuit from too much drive.
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QUESTION: Checked the ground. I got, from what I'm reading, around 1.7 volts between the bare metal ground and the ground of the connector to the system. I also read about half a volt between two different sections of the bare metal ground in my vehicle. is that enough voltage difference to do anything like that? The system runs on 12 volts.
Also, I do know how to check speakers, but all of the speakers still worked after I put in the new CD player after the old one shorted out in the same fashion, so I debunked that as a problem.
I also had a worker at a sytem installation place look at it, and he thought it might be the positive lead; but I have 2, and both do not make any difference. One was the positive lead from the old radio and the other was put in when I installed the CD player and goes directly to the fuse box.
AnswerI would say you have a bad ground - or multiple grounds. The ground on the radio chassis should be Zero Volts. The ground on the connector should be Zero Volts.... 1.7 volts is way too high. Ground wire should be screwed down to a connector that is face to face with bare metal - meaning it has been sanded through the paint and it is bare metal to bare metal. An option it to run a big fat ground wire from the head unit all the way to the battery terminal.
Try that.
