355 Thank you for posting the Youtube Radio No Power video.

The guy who posted the video must be genius.

 

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/difference-between-sony-xr-f20-and-xr-f21rds.625607/

 

I actually knew you were going to attempt to fix the radio after I posted the video and also knew my chances of bamboozling you into selling it to me cheap was gone.

 

A bit of a back story for ****s and giggles if anyone cares. Johnk has had this broken headunit for a decade. I knew about it because every now and then he would randomly mention it. During the last year I decided I wanted one as well, so John knows I've been randomly pressing him for his broken unit. I wasn't sure what was broken about it (initially), but I was sure I could get it fixed. I was hoping John would fold and sell it to me cheaper than what working units were going for. Figured $1000 bucks would entice him. Or make a stupid wager with him over 355 valuations or something to pry it off his hands.

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/posts/148477359/

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/posts/148486145/


I finally acquired a working unit for myself a few months back, so I was less interested in bugging John about it, but if he was still willing to sell it to me cheap, I would jump on it, fix it, sell it (for$3-4k), and rub it in after . Someone recently revived an old thread on the Sony radio. I recall watching a video on Youtube on how to fix one while I was searching for one, just in case someone sold me a broken unit. Figured I'd give John a little easter egg by posting the video and see if he would pick up on it (he did), which I knew would solve his power issue . I knew he was gonna give it a go.

I was just laughing and smiling this morning -- the irony of John not realizing who he was thanking when he made this post .

 

I feel like $1000 would be enough for me to part with mine. That would buy me the Blaupunkt referenced in the thread and I’d still have enough leftover to pay for the install.

My GTS is high mileage. I’m not precious about having an OEM stereo, just one that’s aesthetically pleasing with Bluetooth to stream my audio.

 

Send me pics. If it’s good, I’ll take it.

 

John,

They still do repairs on the Ferrari/SONY XR-F20 unit. The Factory Car Stereo Repair website is very old school and a bit hard to navigate. But he links to another page of his website: Car Stereo Removal, Replacement and Repair

He generously posted his DIY video to help those owners who feel comfortable doing the no power repair, but he'll gladly do the repair in his shop for those who prefer that route. The only thing he can't repair is the tape mechanism as some parts are no longer available.

I don't have a radio in my F355 Challenge...


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Those are the mandated shielded master ignition switch and left and right fan switches.

But my 550 has the Ferrari/SONY XR-F20 unit...


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When I bought the car in 2007, the tape mechanism wouldn't retract the cassette into the unit. I sent the radio to the SONY Repair Facility in Laredo Texas for repair. As my radio was just a few years out of production at the time, they accepted the unit for repair. Their advice was to use the cassette mechanism frequently to keep the lubricants viable. That's why I have a cassette in there.

In 2014 I had a No Power problem and called the SONY Laredo facility. They told me they no longer repaired the unit and referred me to Factory Car Stereo and Repair who fixed the problem and also cleaned and lubricated the tape mechanism.

Barry

 

I called him when I got the referral from SONY. He's easily reached that way.

I use the radio and CD changer primarily. I use the cassette player every so often to keep it operational as I was advised to do.

I wonder about the longevity of the battery on the circuit board. Mine was replaced when he serviced it in 2014.

 

I am pretty sure that yours was leaking anway. Mine appeared to be in good shape from the outside, too. However, the trace right below was corroded, which indicates that there must have been some kind of acid. It was obviously supplied by the big round acid container - or supercap, as you'll call it

Leakage is a very common problem with these supercaps (or electrolytic capacitors in general) when they get old. I hope you did not re-install the old one after fixing the trace, did you?

 

We need installed pics John.

 

Are you running plate delete?

 

JVC isn’t exactly OEM in 1995 is it?

 

Do you have a plate delete? These are even harder to find than the Sony Radio these days.

 

I’m not seeing wrecks occurring often in the U.S as they do in Europe/UK… at least in the last few years. Sony’s were primarily in 98-99 cars and that’s assuming the previous owners didn’t try to update them to more modern ones, which I think occurred at a 50% rate.

Euro 355’s are getting scavenged before U.S buyers are aware. I do see plenty of tool boxes for sale though, although I haven’t tried hunting them down.