Hank Fletcher

A few months ago I had some ignition problems with my car, so I took it to the discount mechanic in my area and he fixed the problem. But even though he fixed the problem, it somehow interfered with the CD player, which was working fine until then. My brother-in-law installed the CD player before the car was mine, and he now lives in New Zealand, which kind of makes it hard for me to go over this with him. I know nothing about car audio, and neither did my discount mechanic - he checked the fuses, but everything was okay there.

I've heard through the rumour mill that my now completely inoperative (it's just totally dead) CD player probably has some sort of anti-theft feature? I'm completely clueless, but I'm presuming there's someone out there who has an idea about what's going on, so please share! I drive a lot for my job, and being able to listen to my CDs really cuts down on the loneliness factor!

Nigel Goodwin

Some car audio systems require a code inputting if the power has been disconnected, personally I've always thought it's a really useless protection system - but it makes it really dificult for the owner.

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Andy1845c

Is it a factory CD player? After market? I know some factory units have anti theft features built into them. If it is factory, call a dealer and see what they have to say. I just installed a cheap one in my girlfriend's car. That dosn't have any code or anthing like it. I'd imagine the more expensive units might have somthing. You might need an owners manual for it.

Does it do anything at all? light up, display any messege, ect. That would atleast tell you there is power to it.

Is it possible the discount mechanic unhooked it by mistake when he fixed your other problems?

Just one more thought..... you say he checked the fuses, but if its after market, there is a good chance there is a fuse inline with the power lead on the back of the unit, as well as a radio fuse in the cars fuse box. Check both. if you have a volt meter or test light, check for power at the fuses as well.

Seems like if it was a code protect unit, it would have to atleast light up and respond to the code input.

mister_e

Depending of the car brand, the radio (even if original) may have a fuse at the back. BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Volks, Porsche are some i remind... but most of them need a unlock code...which your car dealer or some radio-decoder can give you.

Many new honda Accord (over 2003)(and another Acura model i don't remind) share the same LCD for the radio and the fan/A/C control. They all fail one day r another. I see a load of them each week. Problem is easy to fix... but still need a unlock code.

As others says, most(see all) after-market radio have inline fuses or one in the back and If it was only about the code, the display would prompt for it... don't worry too much, sure it's only fuses or blowed PCB tracks.

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mister_e

Not me, it's good daily business for me for used car dealer, car dealer, customer etc etc. I do a lot of those radio decoding in here as i don't have many competitors... i know it's not the same case in Europe and UK

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audioguru

Yeah, there are a lot of stolen car radios in Montreal.

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Nigel Goodwin

Purely as a matter of interest (as I have one), do you know anything about the radio cassette fitted in a mkII Fiat Punto? - the radio is keyed to the serial number of the ECU, so you can't even put it in another Punto, and certainly not any other car.

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ThermalRunaway

That's extremely annoying. Nobody is ever likely to go through the trouble (and risk) of breaking into a car so that they can steal a standard Fiat Punto radio cassette player. I don't think it's got any street-cred with the boy racers.

The real reason Fiat have gone to the trouble of creating such a sophisticated code lock system is so that you are forced to return the vehicle to the dealer should you have any problem with it, and then they can shaft you.

Brian

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Nigel Goodwin

As you know, they nick ANYTHING!.

No, you can just fit a standard radio, cassette, CD player, whatever in the same space - you just need a mounting plate, which is freely available. But it's a LOT better than the silly keycode system, which causes a HUGE amount of trouble.

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HarveyH42

Fiat Punto? Is that a spanish name? Got a hunch that one would generate a lot of laughter at work...

mister_e

I don't know about Fiat, but most GM and Cadillac have the same system. GM will need a match between the radio PIN and the computer pin + few maths algorithm, if both match, then you're in business... unless it will just write.. RADIO LOCK. And there's no way to bypass it with a numeric code.. you need to match EEPROM and computer. Most cutomer/used car dealer will go to the dealer... If you decide to buy a radio from a junk yard to change your own, just exchange the EEPROM, and enjoy!

As most radio decoding process, you need 1 working, one not working and few/many hours/days to discover how to make it work. I do GM now.

For FIAT, i can't tell, but maybe you could talk with one of my contact on your side.
http://www.davidsonelectronics.co.uk/

If the unit is made by Blaupunkt, it shouldn't be a big problem.

Audi need a numeric code only once, but if you transfer it into another car, he will prompt for a code... which can be read using some test point in the bottom of the radio. Same thing for most new VolksWagen.

Stolen or not, most of my customer a Used Car Dealers and Junk-Yard. Many buyed their used car from USA, and when they ask for USA code it may takes days/week before having it... while they have it the same day with me.

Also, the Dealer database is not 100% bug free. Worst are BMW, Mercedes, VolksWagen. Weird eh?

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Hank Fletcher

I finally got a minute to take out the CD player and find out what was going on. My brother-in-law installed (or had installed) this CD player when the car was my sister's, and it seems that all he did was twist and tape the wires. Is that normal for after-market installations? Anyways, some of the wires came apart as I took out the player, but to keep things simple I just gave them a more secure twist and made sure they were well insulated when the player went back in.

Turns out Andy was right. There was a 5A fuse/filter (and incidentally, also a 0.5A fuse on the display line) behind the player for its power line, and sure enough, the fuse was blown. It must have gone when the mechanic was checking out the ignition problem that started it all - guess he should have taken out the main radio fuse under the left-side dash first. Anyhow, $0.25 and a new fuse later, I have tunes in my ride again. Thanks, guys!

audioguru

My car radio is the upgraded one with a lot of power and a 10" powerful sub-woofer. It is even better than the very powerful system I put together for my son's car.

Now the rear view mirror is loose from the vibration of the sounds. It will be fixed under warranty.

My teeth and my eyeballs have also become loose from the vibrations. Their warranty has expired a long time ago.

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Hero999

audioguru, I hope you don't drive around town listening to hip-hop with the windows down and the volume up, making peoples' windows vibrate.

I just fitted a really cheap radio cassette (from eBay) in my sister's car as she wants to listen to her MP3 player she uses a dummy cassette.

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ThermalRunaway

My car stereo system is like that. If I turn it up LOUD and then look in the rear-view mirror it's like... is that my mirror shaking, or my eyes?!

Brian

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