Interesting radio trouble

[Kenny_Z]

I finally had new tires put on the D and it stopped the vibration problem I was suffering. Now I can turn my attention to a weird radio issue. Awhile back I replaced all 4 speakers thinking they were the trouble I was having with only the driver's side functioning. It didn't solve the problem so I put that project aside as I had more important things to work on. Fast forward to about 2 weeks ago, I hit a small bump and heard a loud pop from the speakers and all 4 started working. Now I have the speakers on the passenger side turning off occasionally. I can hit a bump, tap the top of the dash above the radio, or press lightly on the faceplate to turn them back on. They don't pop when turning back on.

I haven't taken the dash apart yet. I hope to this weekend if I get time. I'm going to check for some loose wiring but is there anything else I should look into or is my deck on it's way out? It is original.

[Michael]

I would think(with the entire channel dropping out and assuming you do not have an amp), it's an internal problem/intermittent connection in the deck.

[Cory W]

The speakers all share a common ground on the original radio. It could very well be a loose wire of sorts, or the radio living on borrowed time.

Honestly, with the age of the components, new speakers, and old wiring, I would consider replacing the radio and wiring while you're in there, unless you're completely dedicated to originality. Those retrosound radios have had both good and bad experiences in here, but would give you more listening options while allowing you to keep your original radio/HVAC plate. You could also cut the panel to accept a DIN (standard) aftermarket deck of your choice. Measure twice, cut once!

[David T]

The problem can very possibly be internal to the radio or just as possible a bad connection external to it. You are going to have to do some troubleshooting. The wiring to the speakers is very bad. It is a small gauge and the rear speakers share a common ground. Not good for anything newer and/or more powerful. Best thing to do might be to just replace all of the speaker wiring and see if that fixes things. There are shops that can repair your old unit but it may not make sense to spend much on it, it is probably cheaper to get a better unit with a lot more modern functionality. If you have the older Craig unit, if the display is not already dead it will die soon. The ASI unit isn't much better with a whopping 8 watts output! My nightlight puts out more than that! Most likely you have a dirty/bad connection inside the balance control for the speakers. My car (ASI radio) does this too. One day it will get me annoyed enough to fix it too.
David Teitelbaum

[WelmoedJ]

I've found the speakers share ground in pairs: the left side ones share a ground and the right side does too.
Up to now I haven't found any other way of ground sharing, but there's always a first for everything.

[David T]

The main problem with the common (shared) ground is if you change the radio. Newer radios will be damaged by the common ground and the wire gauge is too small anyway. Bottom-lining this:
If you go through all of the trouble to replace the speakers you should also replace the speaker wiring. The next step, someday may be to upgrade the radio and you will have to do this all over again.
David Teitelbaum

[Kenny_Z]

I've got some better speaker wire waiting for when I get into the dash area. I should of replaced that wire when I did the speakers but I was going through the "want drive delorean" stage of new ownership. The dash looked like a time consuming nightmare to dig into. Now I think I can handle it.

I didn't want to go with a new deck because I really didn't want to do anything that couldn't be easily reverted. I've heard the trouble revolving around the classic audio units and the cost isn't worth the possible troubles. I bet I could make a duplicate plate out of some sheetmetal. The only thing I couldn't reproduce would be that texture. If I do have to replace the deck I'll probably try to do that first.

I'm pretty sure this problem did exist with the old speakers, when I tested the front passenger speaker on the driver's location it did work. The front speakers looked great so I wanted to test them (in case they were worth selling). The rears were blown to pieces.

[DMCTek]

Hi Kenny,
DMC has reproduced the radio bracket to fit a modern stereo. You do not have to try and make one it has been done. These also have the correct textured finish. You can save your original bracket and stereo and leave it uncut.

[DMCMW Dave]

Hi Kenny,
DMC has reproduced the radio bracket to fit a modern stereo. You do not have to try and make one it has been done. These also have the correct textured finish. You can save your original bracket and stereo and leave it uncut.

http://store.delorean.com/p-7793-face-plate-din-radio.aspx

PS - the OEM speakers are common-grounded AT THE RADIO CONNECTOR. There is no common ground buried in the harness anywhere else. If you cut the original connector off the harness there will be 4 separate feeds (8 wires) to the 4 original speakers. Yes - the wiring is small by today's standards but it will work on a low power replacement radio. The original speakers are generally reduced to dust at this point so you need to replace them, so you may as well run new wires but you don't necessarily have to.

[Kenny_Z]

The radio problem finally bothered me enough to get into the dash to take a look. The grounds looked good but when I ran a larger temporary ground to the main with alligator clips it cleared up the radio reception and the static at louder volumes. I'll be fixing this with a ground bus later this week when I buy one. I also found that the channel for the driver's side is completely dead. I get very faint static from the front speaker if I put it up to my ear (out of the dash) and I can't hear anything from the rear but it is still mounted in the car. I also think my antenna wire is bad. I tuned into a station that I have always had reception problems and depending on how I moved the wire at the connector it cleared up or got worse. That might explain why grey electrical tape was wrapped around it.

My plan now is to reinstall the radio with the grounds fixed and then plan my next move. I'm still not convinced I want a modern deck but I would like 4 working speakers. I also have given thought to a small subwoofer and amp. I don't really think I need the extra bass but I have a wicked idea for something cool.

Decisions decisions...

[WelmoedJ]

The speakers in are cars are often exceeding 30 years of life.
How this life has been is also contribution to the state of them (car living in a dry garage or out in the open).

Usually the speaker's paper (conus) has detached from the frame causing either no signal or a lot of noise.
Front speakers seem not to deteriorate likewise (at least in the cars I have seen or own).

So you probably should consider exchanging the old rear speakers for new ones.
The same shape still is available, though the magnets are a bit taller.
This however doesn't influence the remaining space nor the proper placement of the rear panels.

[David T]

If you can you should get a good look at the cones for the speakers. When you do you will see they are NFG. A big reason they sound as bad as they do. Your next step should be to replace the speakers and the wires going to them. You should make sure the radio and the antennae are properly grounded to reduce noise.
David Teitelbaum

[Kenny_Z]

The speakers are all new, i329s up front and i529s in the rear. The speaker wire is original. I expect though that even with old wire I should get more out of the driver's side channel than quiet static. It is like I have carrier voltage but nothing more.

[jawn101]

The speakers are all new, i329s up front and i529s in the rear. The speaker wire is original. I expect though that even with old wire I should get more out of the driver's side channel than quiet static. It is like I have carrier voltage but nothing more.

I would think that just lends further credibility to the theory that the amplifier itself is gone. It's pushing voltage to the speakers but isn't actually generating any recognizable audio signal on those channels.

[Kenny_Z]

Yeah...I'm starting to settle on the fact my radio needs to be replaced. I really liked the old school look of the Craig too, specifically that amber color in the display.

I'm looking at Retrosound now because I'd like to keep the stock look. It's weird, the Nova guys have nothing but praise for them but here it seems they are trouble. I wonder if it has something to do with the differences in the wiring. Looks like I have to do some research now.