And another radio thread....

[Renee_1632]

About two weeks ago, my car was running perfectly (gasp!) until I parked it for about 5 minutes and when I returned, my radio wouldn't turn on. It was glowing red (it turns blue when on) so I know power was getting to it. I go two days without driving her and go out to find she's completely dead. The door lights were even out. I have a friend jump my car and my radio begins to work again. Three days later my radio dies. That night, I notice a faint glow coming from the radio when the car is off. At this point, I figure there's a ground somewhere and resolve to fix it....sometime. Also, I checked the fuses just to be safe-they were fine. Yesterday I'm explaining to my friend that the radio won't start even when I press the on button, and I push it to demonstrate.

Of course, it works perfectly.

It's worked all day today and the faint glow no longer appears when the car is off. I've never heard of a DeLorean fixing itself. And if one did, it sure as heck wouldn't be 1632. What gives?

[Jonathan]

Any other mechanical issues or general driving the car stuff? Meaning have you driven a bunch of miles and noticed anything else? How many miles/hours have you driven the car since you noticed the electrical problems? Had you ever needed to jump the battery/car before? Anything else change with the car that might have led to the dead battery?

Is your alternator belt still in good shape?

Does the radio itself have some kind of timer/auto-on or off type thing on it?

[Renee_1632]

Any other mechanical issues or general driving the car stuff? Meaning have you driven a bunch of miles and noticed anything else? How many miles/hours have you driven the car since you noticed the electrical problems? Had you ever needed to jump the battery/car before? Anything else change with the car that might have led to the dead battery?

Is your alternator belt still in good shape?

Does the radio itself have some kind of timer/auto-on or off type thing on it?

No other issues I've noticed...oh well, recently (last month) it often takes two tries to start. She'll struggle with the first attempt but always roars to life on the second try.

90% of my issues with this car have been electrical...I also replaced my alternator about a month and a half ago. I drove the car several weeks after that with no issue. The belt isn't super new, but is in ok condition. The radio was replaced in May. This is my first issue with it.

As far as I know, nothing else could have brought on the dead battery, and I haven't had a dead battery since. The only previous time I had to jump was when the alternator was on its way out.

And no, the radio starts automatically unless you specifically turn it off, which I hadn't.

[Jonathan]

So I'm thinking maybe we tackle this as two seperate issues: a) electrical gremlins causing various weird things and b) something unique to your new radio deck.

So, with this new deck (and I take it it's nowadays technology with a CD or USB and not an old Craig with a tape deck?), can you turn it on without the car running (and without the key turned to accessories)? We'll give the electrical Gods the benefit of the doubt and assume at some point it was left on and drained the battery (?).

If that was the case, you jump the car, recharge the battery, and away we go. Now for the glowing colours... any chance this is some sort of programming setting to change the face plate colour? (I don't know much about the new decks as every car I've ever owned has been the factory deck including my Craig radio in my D).

As for it not turning on at one point and then it does when your friend is watching, hard to explain that one if the battery was charged at that point. But there is a chance there is some defect in the deck. You're right at the beginning of the bath tub curve on the new deck so it might be a bad unit.

What else have you noticed that isn't right electrically on your car? and what prompted you to change the alternator? What alternator did you get? I know some guys on here have varying reviews of the amps on certain alternators as sometimes more is not better.

The usual advice still applies... clean grounds, check fuses and relays, etc. Let me know if you have more specifics on previous electrical problems and we'll see if there is a trend :)

[Renee_1632]

So I'm thinking maybe we tackle this as two seperate issues: a) electrical gremlins causing various weird things and b) something unique to your new radio deck.

So, with this new deck (and I take it it's nowadays technology with a CD or USB and not an old Craig with a tape deck?), can you turn it on without the car running (and without the key turned to accessories)? We'll give the electrical Gods the benefit of the doubt and assume at some point it was left on and drained the battery (?).

If that was the case, you jump the car, recharge the battery, and away we go. Now for the glowing colours... any chance this is some sort of programming setting to change the face plate colour? (I don't know much about the new decks as every car I've ever owned has been the factory deck including my Craig radio in my D).

As for it not turning on at one point and then it does when your friend is watching, hard to explain that one if the battery was charged at that point. But there is a chance there is some defect in the deck. You're right at the beginning of the bath tub curve on the new deck so it might be a bad unit.

What else have you noticed that isn't right electrically on your car? and what prompted you to change the alternator? What alternator did you get? I know some guys on here have varying reviews of the amps on certain alternators as sometimes more is not better.

The usual advice still applies... clean grounds, check fuses and relays, etc. Let me know if you have more specifics on previous electrical problems and we'll see if there is a trend :)

It is a new radio...the third one 1632 has had. It cannot be turned on without the car in Aux or running. Thus, it wasn't left on by an action of mine, which is why I was leaning towards a ground that mysteriously fixed itself.

The different colors can't be changed. The radio glows red when off, I presume to confirm to the owner that a circuit is being completed........somewhere. Once turned on (antenna up, music playing) the radio glows blue.

While it's possible it's a bad deck, I find it infinitely more believeable that 1) It's the 30-year-old car's fault or 2) I fouled it up during installation. However, it's gone months with no issue.

I changed the alternator because it was putting out about 9-10 volts as opposed to the healthy 13. It simply wasn't sustaining the car anymore even without radio/lights/AC. So I installed the 140 amp from DMCH. I haven't noted any other electrical issues in the last month and a half (prior to that I had a bad ignition switch, which has been fixed.)

[Jonathan]

What make or model is the new radio? Let's see if we can look up in the manual the part about it glowing red and rule out that that might be some kind of error message indication. It might have a troubleshooting chart at the back of the manual mentioning it.

[Renee_1632]

What make or model is the new radio? Let's see if we can look up in the manual the part about it glowing red and rule out that that might be some kind of error message indication. It might have a troubleshooting chart at the back of the manual mentioning it.

It's a Dual XDMA6630. It's supposed to glow red....I'm staring at the troubleshooting chart now...I don't see my issue described.

[TTait]

I'd slide it back out and check all the connections at the back of the radio. Even better, pull the center console cover so you can see what all the wiring in there is doing.

I'd also clean up the battery cables and major connections at the starter, alternator, and all ground connections.

T

[stevedmc]

You will need to remove the center console to access the area where the radio is grounded. On the passenger side of the radio bracket you will notice a small bolt with several black wires running to it. This is where your radio's ground wire connects.

I was having similar problems in 16510 and it was due to this bolt being loose. This could be your problem as well.

Of course, if the whole car wouldn't start, you may have an even bigger issue. It does sound ground related. You might need to double check the ground wire that runs from your car battery to the trailing arm. If that wire is screwed up then nothing will get a solid ground connection.

[Bitsyncmaster]

You may have an intermittent light switch that drained the battery. You can remove fuse #12 and that will kill the dome, glove, door, trunk and engine bay lights.

Even just not latching the door fully can kill the battery in a few days.

[Farrar]

It's a Dual XDMA6630.

Holy crap, I thought I was the only one with a Dual radio in my car. No one else I know had ever heard of the company. LOL

Mine also glows red, but only when it is turned off and the key is on. When the key is off, there's no power to the radio at all.

Farrar

[David T]

Sounds like a power issue so the first thing is to measure the power and ground right at the plug going to the radio. Low voltage can make the radio do weird things. It does sound like you have general electrical issues so you should start by having the battery and the alternator tested and then clean all of the "big" connections and grounding points. You are right in that most problems do NOT get better by themselves but they can make themselves worse!
David Teitelbaum

[elfking]

Holy crap, I thought I was the only one with a Dual radio in my car. No one else I know had ever heard of the company. LOL

Mine also glows red, but only when it is turned off and the key is on. When the key is off, there's no power to the radio at all.

Farrar

I see Dual's quite a bit around here, I think they are sold in the local Best Buys.... Used to see them in Circuit City / Good Guys before they went under as well... I personally don't use them but have seen them put up with a fair amount of abuse... same goes for their speakers.. not a fan but have seen them go through a river (In a Jeep) and still make noise hah.