QuestionMy original battery just went dead. I replaced it and the negative cable. All seemed ok until I turned on the radio. The radio just emits a loud almost feedback type of sound. All radio functions appear to operate ok by observing display- stations change, band change, time etc. however the volume doesn't effect the sound level. NO static just a feedback type of sound. The balance and fade do not have any effect. Same loud drone. what caused this and how can i fix it?
Thanks very much.
Ron
AnswerHi Ronald,
Your question just came up on the "pool" to which it was forwarded, thus the delay. If you can't recall any insult to the battery system as the result of the battery going dead (such as a too high voltage jump start), then about the only things I can think are that the ground point for the new negative cable may be loose or not clean metal to metal, or possibly that the circuit to the radio that is always connected to the battery (maintains the radio presets) was damaged electrically in the failure history. You could try removing fuse 19 behind the dash which will cut that circuit (and also all the interior lights, etc.) but just as a test to see what happens without the extra voltage source. The radio should still work. Does it hum when it is set for the tape/cd player? Is it a base/premium/high end premium system that was installed by the factory or an after-market?
Use the 'thank/rate' tab below to get back with any answers, but without having to wait for me to be available to take a question,
Roland
i did try to jumpstart with no success prior to replacement. I removed fuse 19 - no radio at all, no display or any sound. I removed fuse 4 alone - no radio at all, no display or sound. I then removed both 4 19 for 30 min.- no radio all, no display or soaund. After replaced both bad sound returns and display functions properly. Volume controls no effect on vol. Just discoverd that the radio does work(I guess i never turned the vol control up enough). It sounds more like alien communication with extremely unintelligible radio fighting through the 'feedback' sound (its not a true feedback - not clean and lower frequency), a rough hum might be better description as u say. So the radio is functioning. This must be some kind of grounding prob.? or is their some security or anti theft mechanism? i checked the manula no such mention, only the ignition key stuff... This is the radio that comes with the LXI, somewhere i read its a step or two improved over the std. stock one. I Appreciate your help, Thanks Ron
Hi Ron,
The manual shows that the radio itself is grounded by means of the chassis case connections to the dash structure rather than a wire. But you might verify that by trying to push on it one way or the other. If the power amp in the trunk on the left side (if your set up has that feature which is the most premium model),it does have a ground on floor pan next to the rear door opening several inches back from the front edge of the opening, no doubt hidden under the rug. If it is a 'medium' radio, then the remote amp is on the right cowl in front of the passenger door opening. In that case there are two grounds just in front of the door opening, a few inches above the floor where the antenna wire also passes through.
If the radio was 'off' when you tried to jump start the car then I would think that the only circuits that could have been harmed are those connectec to the #19 IOD fuse. So if you are into looking inside the radio I would suggest looking at the traces from that pink wire (pin 7 of the gray plug) to see if there are any electrolytic capacitors that look to be wet under them, on the surface of the board. One of those may have been blown by overvoltage. The manual also suggests checking any aftermarket device like a cell phone or radar detector as the source of noise.
Thanks for the evaluation and nomination. Please let me know if you find any solution.
