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RADIO PROBLEMS

Discussion in 'Technical Q&A' started by arkferrari, Jan 2, 2011.

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  1. arkferrari

    arkferrari Karting
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    Feb 9, 2004
    211
    Hot Springs, AR
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    B.F. Mitchell
    #1 arkferrari, Jan 2, 2011
    Original factory Ferrari FM/AM cassette car stereo with Becker 6 disc changer in my 1999 355F1 when purchased in 2001. Absolutely NO PROBS until recent replacement of window motor on driver's side by Ferrari dealership. Now after starting the car, I can not turn the radio on by pressing the "ON" button.....repeatedly! After driving for 5-10 minutes, SOMETIMES I can turn on the radio by pressing the "ON" button but not always. When the car ignition is off, I can turn on the radio simply by pressing the "ON" button. BUT...start the engine and the radio goes off! Please help for this perplexing annoyance.
     
  2. Mitch Alsup

    Mitch Alsup F1 Veteran

    Nov 4, 2003
    9,742
    #2 Mitch Alsup, Jan 2, 2011
    I had forgotten they even put a radio in my F355.....has not been on in the last decade.....
     
  3. FerrariDublin

    FerrariDublin F1 Rookie

    Jun 14, 2009
    3,457
    Dublin, Ireland
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    Greg
    #3 FerrariDublin, Jan 2, 2011
    Check voltage with engine running. Might be going too high and radio is protecting itself? Maybe voltage regator or alternator problem?
     
  4. Darolls

    Darolls F1 Veteran
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    Jul 2, 2003
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    Sparky
    #4 Darolls, Jan 2, 2011
    This may seem odd but have you checked for a blown fuse? I had a similar situation a few years ago but it was a work/non-work situation between the sound system and cabin lights.

    After about and hour of diagnostics the tech finally decided to check the fuse block and yep, there was a blown fuse. Replacing it fixed everything.

    Apparently, since the fuse was blown, voltage was periodically being scavenged through other circuits causing the intermittent anomalies.

    It's been a long time but that's the way I remember it.
     
  5. DGS

    DGS Seven Time F1 World Champ
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 27, 2003
    73,023
    MidTN
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    DGS
    #5 DGS, Jan 3, 2011
    +1 Also check that the ground at the stereo is low resistance ground to frame. If the ground has lifted, then you might get by when nothing else is on, but the ground may be floating with the voltage of some other device.
    (Like having a "ground" through a light bulb: if the light is off, you can get ground, but if the light is on, you have voltage instead of ground.) (Similar to voltage scavenged through other circuits, with a bad fuse.)

    So your first check should be to look at the voltage across the stereo's input leads (power and ground), both with the car off (stereo works) and with it on (stereo doesn't work).

    The car's voltage can vary from around 12.0V to around 15V when charging, so most stereos have internal voltage regulators.
    If the voltage at the inputs is within that range, but the stereo shuts itself off when the voltage is higher or lower than when the car is off, the internal regulator in the stereo may have gone bad.

    If the car is running odd voltage, then I think the car's regulator is inside the alternator, on that era's Bosch alternators, so they both get replaced together.
     

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