If your stock radio is on drugs like mine was...

...and acting weird, like the speakers will turn on and off randomally, there is a fix.

1. Remove the radio
2. Take out the screws that hold on the Al heat sink (I think there are like 8 of them)
3. Carefully pull out that circuit board (it looks like an amplifier board to me)
4. Reflow (stick an iron to the connections and add a little flux+solder) the solder connections for the main connector, the one where the 2 big connectors plug into
5. Put the board back in place (be careful of those 6 or 8 pins that have to slip back in)
6. Stick the heat sink back on and put the screws back in
7. You're done!

 

mine is wierd, they will turn on and off randomly, but when i shift it all ways happens, and if i hit my center section(where the shifter is) then they will all turn back on, is that what yours did?

 

Sort of. The real test is to pop out the deck and leave it hooked up to the wiring harness, then turn it on and jiggle the cables. If the speakers tweak out and you haven't messed with the stock wiring at all then I guess give my solution a try.

 

[G]

my vr4 radio had similar crackling problems so i took it apart & their were 3 pennies floating around on the circuit board /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif

 

Nice. How the F did they get in there?

 

Quote:
mine is wierd, they will turn on and off randomly, but when i shift it all ways happens, and if i hit my center section(where the shifter is) then they will all turn back on, is that what yours did?



#1185 did that, exactly. I added an additional 12ga ground wire run somewhere, I don't recall (from one of the mounting screws on the radio, it grounds to the center console), that seemed to fix it. Prior to that it had been getting progressively worse, most of the speakers would cut out, and I could slap the center console down by my right knee, and they would all come back for a bit, it was AWESOME. It has an aftermarket head unit now.

#880 seems to have started doing this as well, I doubt I'll even attempt to fix it this time, why bother? For a few dollars in mounting hardware/etc., I gain a dash pocket, and any $100 cheap CD-player is far superior to the stock unit.

Sure, I'll keep the stock pieces around just in case these cars end up being worth buku bucks someday, but how many of us really think that will happen?

 

[Hertz]

I don't think that stock radios on a DIN-sized car will be a pre-requisite for a collector VR-4. Period radio (90's): yes. Stock radio: no. Especially since it won't play burned CD's unless they're on "Audio" discs. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Now, if it was a bitchin' 8-track, or something unique and built into the car, perhaps.

 

[s_firestone]

The same advice for the LCD display if your missing characters. Cold solder joints.

 

[G]

Quote:
Nice. How the F did they get in there?



probably from the previous owner. maybe their kids put them in the cassette flap /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

Ok, haven't had these issues, just occasionally turns itself up when sitting at lights. Anyone else experienced this?