QuestionAgain, thanks so much, I understand a lot more now. Though, I did jump the gun after your last reply. Exactly, I guess I saw the word 'muted' and remember reading that the rear seat controls have that ability with the speakers, which does not default to 'on' once the truck is shut off, then back on. It remains 'muted' until the little button frees it's hearing again- so my final, I promise, last question: how do I find out if the possibility you mentioned, the low level line drivers being muted, is true in my system? And, let's also give a chance that the rear seat control unit is indeed the problem, can I just by-pass it? What an idiot idea to me, give the young people sitting out of reach behind you the ability to mute all speakers, and then, to just go ahead and plug in headphones, I mean really, that took incredible moronic strength to actually install in a vehicle, to me, and the thing is, the front controls have the ability to turn off & on the headphones, but if headphones are plugged in, it defaults to on, and when they push 'mute' it mutes all speakers, and their is no front control to mute or un-mute the speakers at all, let alone un-do what some annoying and quite rude person took upon themselves to engage, and if not for reading this in the owner manual, would have no clue what that little button was for, as absolutely no indication of it being pushed and thereby 'muting' and/or 'un-muting' the speakers is shown to the rear seat control freaks nor the wondering driver who has no icon, light indicator or anything that some obnoxious finger pushed a little button only available on the panel the driver probably will never see, unless for some reason you choose to sit where those button-pushers lurk, and at that, the little button has no label and shutting the car off, is still not going to default it back to on, as usually EVERY OTHER OPTION< SWITCH<AND/OR CONTROLLING FEATURE normally does, like gosh, the volume itself, if left at a high level, will default to a medium/low upon on/off the truck. Go figure! Also, as stated, the owner's manuals refer to the 'Audio Guide' and that wonderfully short and beginner reader's little irritating waste of paper is vague, tells you the on's and off's and station/cd/tape changing how-to's (the rear seat mute ability) and the only wiring or diagram area is the location of the fuses, which have been already checked and changed and cleared themselves of being the culprit. The only troubleshooting in any of it, is the general if your CD doesn't play, blah, blah, blah (dirty cd, wrong format, upside down) and that is it. Also, a friend states she had a Windstar, a 98, and that part of the anti-theft mechanism was that her factory installed stereo would not play in any other vehicle making it undesirable to steal, and even the setting off off the alarm system or a dead battery would make the stereo inoperable, until she went through the steps to -re-program it with a series of key on/off stereo off/on steps withing a few seconds of each other, thereby making the radio once again an operating unit, which I have programmed the speed dependant wipers, and the auto-lock doors features the same way, some code with the key in the ignition, which incidently is in the owner's manual, but the audio system is really left a complete mystery. Where would I find that programming sequence, as she wrecked her van and can't remember the steps. Sorry so long, but want to get every possibility out, so I can leave you alone for good, poor guy, bet ya didn't expect this Pandora's box of taunting words coming at you like this over a no-sound from stereo problem. Sorry- and thank you so much-Gosh, one more upon pushing the 3 & 5 buttons (front controls, on the radio itself) the indicator light shows the headphones on/off icon. Pushing the 3 & 6 simultaniously, you get a sort of speaker check, the display does this: SP (next screen) RF (Next) LF (") RR - LR then displays the normal station or CD mode, whatever you are trying to play, displays. One item I found, said , actually it was from a sight called ALLDATA available at my library, and this is the only refenernce to it at all, to simultaneously push the #3 button and the <SEEK and hold till the radio self-diagnostics screen appears, but doing so only SEEKS < downward. Have tried several other combos- to no avail, so if these influence any thoughts you may have, I hope it is in the direction of narrowing the problem causer, and remember, can I and if I can, HOW do I completely do away with the rear seat ability to mess with the stereo and would that alleviate my problem if it were to blame on that rear unit?-----------------------
Followup To
Question -
Tom- Thank you so much. Now, I am not stupid, but car stuff is not my gig, however, I did change an inline fuel pump on a '93 Chev Astro, took 24 hours, but did it. So I am capable of following directions, so, I have read alot about 'by-passing' the amp, and getting sound, it seems as though this is not too uncommon a problem, especially in these Ford Premium Systems. I have found my amp is in the rear driver's side panel, in the cargo area, and in fact I can see it without dismantling the trim. Getting to it, will require the effort though, so, if the amp is bad, (I have one of those 12-volt tester things, going to test it) what is the effect of'by-passing' the amp, on the stereo? I mean, if you don't need the amp, why is it there? (Really, I am not a stupid girl, I just need my internally nagging questions answered to understand fully) Is it bad for the rest of the stereo? AND--- if you can simply bypass it and have a working stereo, do they put these in the vehicle for the sole purpose of causing this sort of headache? Because, well, what exactly is an amp, what does it do, and why does it seem they go out so easily, and why must they take the entire radio with them? And of course, how do I 'by-pass' the amp? ( By the way, followed the Haynes manual on changing that fuel pump, and the van is at nearly three hundred thousand miles, with a good sixty thousand on this fuel pump. If I have good directions, I can do the job)-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
Purchased this used, has the factory installed Premium AM/FM Cassette Stereo w/CD Changer in middle armrest console, (which they call CD-DJ).
Owner's manual references the Audio guide, audio guide is vague and generalized info, no troubleshooting. Radio turns on, displays time, will change stations, volume, bass & treble all adjust, CD Changer will change discs, shuffle, you can hear it, rear seat controls adjust volume, bass, etc., everything appears to be functioning. Absolutely no sound whatsoever. Yep- checked fuses, all OK. I almost think it is the rear seat control button for speaker on/off, maybe stuck on off. No sound comes out of headphones either, except a low rushing wind sound, and in fact pushing on/off speaker button, does shut that sound on and off. Other than that, NO SOUND! WHY? Oh, have that 6cyl SOHC engine, & it's full-time AWD, with ability to switch to 4WD & 4WD Low.
Answer -
Patricia,
The no sound problem is most likely due to a problem with the external premium amplifier. The amplifier may have failed because something burned up inside of it, or the 12 volt supply to the amp is not there! You may want to call your local Ford dealer and ask the service mngr where the amp is located in your vehicle. You can use a 12volt test lamp to check the 12 supply lines into the amp, one hot at all times and one 12 volts with the stereo turned on.
TOM,
T&D ELECTRONICS
tdeser@zoominternet.net
Answer -
Patricia,
Bypassing the amp won't work because the head unit/stereo does not power amps in to drive the speakers. The amp will take to low level audio outputs from the stereo and give it a hefty boost to drive the speakers with plenty of extra sound! If you do have the book for your Ford explorer, look over the section on wiring for the amp. When you locate the 12 supply lines to the amp, check these lines with the test lamp. lastly, the amp may not be the problem causing the No sound condition. I have found on a few stereos that the low level line drivers in the stereo can be muted and no sound will pass to the external amplifier.
TOM,
T&D ELECTRONICS
tdeser@zoominternet.net
AnswerPatricia,
If you give me the complete model numbers of the amp and of the stereo I can look over the service manual for the stereo system and give you some suggections on what and where to check for problems.
TOM,
T&D ELECTRONICS
tdeser@zoominternet.net
