Radio question

My 355 has one of those Sony detachable faceplate radios. As it gets older there seems to be a problem - whenever I go over bumps the radio shuts off and then restarts. My guess is that the electrical connection at the back of the faceplate is losing connection. Any suggestions on repair?

 

Could also be the connections to the back of the radio...in fact that may be more likely. Try removing the faceplate, and cleaning the connectors on the face plate and radio with some electrical contact cleaner on small swabs. If that doesn't help, hunker down and check the connections on the back of the radio...or pull it out.

 

I agree with Dave, but it sounds like it a likely source could be the ground. You may want to try to prove this by clipping a supplemental ground wire to the back of the unit with alligator clips.

You could maybe push on the faceplate to help isolate a faceplate problem.

Mark

 

Grounds are so often overlooked in favor of the 'hot' side of components, and Ferrari manuals always recommend good ground maintenance. I'm not saying this is the case here necessarily--Just don't leave them out in troubleshooting.
Good Post!

 

For the flat contacts at the face plate and the bent contact, try contact cleaner. Don't just spray it on but wipe the contacts, both of them.

Even though they are gold plated, it's usually only about 30 microns thick and they can still get dirty and develop a film over time.

If you don't have contact cleaner, a simple trick is cleaning the flat contacts with a pencil eraser.