Battery change = dead sterio.......

JagerMarty · Post by **JagerMarty** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 7:03 pm

Well,
just had my weak as p*** battery replaced and goes great by the looks, trouble is the sterio is dead. The unit won't turn on or light up or do a thing. Just wandering how bad this is?
The battery man sent me up to Freeway CarAudio and they think it might be just a fuse. Anyone care to guess which fuse covers the sterio??
What if the unit needs a code as well? I don't have a code for it! The unit came with the car but isn't an original one
It's a Panasonic VX900 tape cd tuner, it's a nice powerfull little unit and I want to keep it.
Just after some opinions from the car audio guys here as to how bad this might be?

fto12345 · Post by **fto12345** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 3:11 am

Hi,

If the stereo were working fine before the battery change and if it really is the fuse then it'll most likely be the fuse on the actual head unit. Not the car's fuse.

Although car's fuse would be the easiest one to check first.

The fuse for the radio in your car is the box under your bonnet.
I can't exactly remember which one it is but it'll be the one in the middle row towards the front of the car. There should be three fuses and it should be one of them. Just pull them out and look through the light with it. If there are a wire broken in one of them, then just replace that.

Otherwise, check the one on your head unit. You will have to pull out the gear surround and pull out your head unit. And hopefully, behind that you should see a little fuse stuck in there some where. Pull that out and check.

If it's none of these then I don't know.

Hope this helps,

Deeps · Post by **Deeps** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 11:46 am

fto12345 wrote:Otherwise, check the one on your head unit. You will have to pull out the gear surround and pull out your head unit. And hopefully, behind that you should see a little fuse stuck in there some where. Pull that out and check.

I also think it is the fuse at the back of your head unit. Pull it out and the fuse will be connected to the power wire of your head unit (usually yellow or orange). If that is fine, check the fuses in the car aswell. I think the workshop manuals and/or the car manual tell you which fuse is for which device. You could also take the long route and check ALL fuses

Let us know how you go.

Daz_FTO · Post by **Daz_FTO** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 2:55 pm

Not sure on panasonic units but i know from experience some head units actually conceal their fuse at the back of the unit. I had an alpine unit have a fuse along the power wire, and my current on has one covered by a black piece of plastic.

Failing a fuse you should check your cables - make sure there is no break in the positve line and that your earth actually is an earth. I know the unit came with the car - but did you get a manual or something?

JagerMarty · Post by **JagerMarty** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 3:07 pm

Thanks for the replies,
have just finished work so am going to start lookin for fuses. I don't have any manuals or paperwork for the sterio, only a short list of features I found with a websearch.

JagerMarty · Post by **JagerMarty** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 3:59 pm

Well this is weird, checked the engine bay fusebox, all seemed ok so moved onto the sterio. Pulled the head unit out, heaps of wires everywhere, connections, checked the fuses - all ok. I notice one single male-female set of plugs that are not connected....mmm... I plug them together and sure enough the sterio lights up!! Works well, tested it etc.
Those 2 were not connected before but they seem to make the difference now. Is it common practice to have 2 sources of power to a car sterio??
I'll keep an eye on it, hope everything goes well.
Thank go I didn't have to deal with codes that are back in Japan

Daz_FTO · Post by **Daz_FTO** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 6:32 pm

you have one power cable from battery, and one power cable from the accesories. That way it can remember things like time and programmed radio stations ,etc... Always the way though - if it dont work check it all again.. usually something you have missed.

JagerMarty · Post by **JagerMarty** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 8:40 pm

Not sure what you mean by accessories? This connection I made was not connected before the new battery went in, but now suddenly I have the sterio back again. The radio presets were still there too..... odd.
thanks for the reply

Daz_FTO · Post by **Daz_FTO** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 10:36 am

It is odd that it wasnt connected prior to the new battery going in...

Most stereo's as i said have two power connections - one being that directly to the car's battery and another to the accesories. When i say accessories i am referring to the circuit that is switched on when you turn the key on your car. As you know there are 4 positions for the key to be turned to... Off, accessories, run and start(i dont know - but the most forward position to turn the car engine over). Anyway, if the car stereo wasnt connected to an accessory circuit it would be on permanently - maybe the previous owner had both accory and battery power leads connected to the battery? It behaves similar to the remote wire for the amplifier - turning the unit on when power is going to it. I probably havent made it too clear - too early in the morning to be writing for me

hope something in that mess helps