Audio Systems: Car audio repair, radio cd cassette, crank sensor

Question
The radio/cd/cassette stereo in my 96 Chrsyler Sebring LXI has
not been working correctly. The amplifier(?) in the trunk has
Infinity on it, but the face of the radio does not show any Infinity
marking, just Dolby. I have not been able to get any FM
reception for a very long time, but the AM reception was fine.
After having the distributor, crank sensor, valve seals, valve
gasket, wiper control replaced, the AM reception was
overwhelmed by static and eventually became sporadic.  I had it
checked by a repair shop and they replaced the mother board. It
worked okay - I got FM reception for about 90 minutes of
driving time the day I picked up the car. The next  morning, I
could not get the AM stations  until I got closer to town where
towers located. The FM reception was also spotty. When I turned
the engine off, with the switch still on, the AM reception cleared
up. I took it back to repair shop, he tried a different antenna.
Now he says the tuner board is bad. Could this be the case?
Now I am looking for a used radio to salvage a tuner board from
if it will be cheaper than replacing with an aftermarket unit,
which I probably should have done from the start. What other
years, makes of Chrysler products would have a radio that would
be compatible with my system. I have seen some on ebay that
look the same, but are from later  years, different makes of
vehicles. Thanks for your help.

Answer
Very thorough explanation!
I would not doubt many components are failing or are about to.
However, the answer is simple on any 10 year old factory system. Replace it.
You might consider an in dash 50 wattx4 CD unit that could power all new speakers. Or (depending on your volume needs) you could add an appropriate component 4 channel amp to solve the power requirements.

Your best bet for attaining parts and specific info (particular to your vehicle) for this will be from www.crutchfield.com. They have online assitants/CSR's that can guide you right through this and will be sure you have (or are at least aware of) every adaptor you need (the 1st time). A zealous (yet careful) novice can do the installation with their help.

Alternately, you could hire out part of the (or the entire) job to a professional shop in your area.


I hope this helps and please do not hesitate to ask more questions if needed (though Crutchfield will probably be able to handle nearly all of them).
Best of luck.

Sincerely,
Jerry Mael