'97 XLT Audio Power Issues

[kc_golf]

For about a year now I have not had power to my radio and I can not figure out why. I finally decided to fix the problem and after reading several postings on this site, I thought I had the solution. However, that is not the case. I switched out the HU (thanks to ebay) thinking that could be the reason….. it wasn’t. Thanks to ebay once again, I switched out the factory amp thinking that could be the reason…… it wasn’t. Can anyone assist me on what could possibly be causing the radio to not work?

I can see that power is getting to the HU because when I press the CLK (clock) button, the correct time shows for about 10 seconds then goes away. To make the situation more confusing, in the winter, when it got really cold, in the morning when I would start my explorer the radio would work for about 20 mins then quit (this would happen several days in a row). Then, in the summer, when it would get really hot, the radio would work for about 20 mins then quit.

I’m not sure if this helps to pinpoint the problem or not, however, when the explorer is started and then put in drive, the doors automatically lock. When the radio is out, this feature does not work, but for those 20 minutes intervals in the winter and summer when it would work, so would the door lock feature…. IS THIS NUTS OR WHAT??????????????

I have a ’97 XLT - AM/FM radio with cassette and 6 CD changer. I believe it is the JBL system.

Any help would be greatly appreciated…….

 

[TTG]

Probably a bad power or ground wire. If there's a bad connection that could explain why it somestimes works and sometimes doesn't. That's my opinion, others might have other opinions though.

 

[kc_golf]

is there an easy way to check both the power and ground wire?

 

[TTG]

Running a new wire off the battery isn't too hard. Especially if you've already done it a few times, then it's cake. Other than that... try hooking up another CD player in there or something.

If you get the same results then you know it's the wiring. There's a grommet under where your parking brake pedal is(sorta). Just run two relatively small guage wires through and hook them up to the battery. That's not going to fix the other electrical problems caused by the bad wiring in place(door locks, anything else you haven't noticed yet). You might want to check and see if cleaning the terminals/getting new ones helps any.

Random thought: Would running a new power wire for an aftermarket head-unit clean up your sound any?

 

[SkanlaxJMO]

my 2 cents is it's a bad acc wire seeing that with the stock radio you can look at the clock with the truck off.....its most likley a blow radio fuse. It woudnt be the 12v hot wire becuse you would have no display. also adding a 12v hot line in place of the 12v acc would cause the radio to be on 24/7.

 

[TTG]

Relay it off the switched power wire... which might not work if thats the problem.

Just for fun, take a multimeter or test light and hit your switched power wire when the truck is in acc position.see if any power is coming through.

 

[SkanlaxJMO]

i think you should make sure the radio fuse(the one in the fuse box) is ok.

 

[Supersnizzz]

Your radio will show the clock if you hit the button even if the car is off. It seems like your radio is just not realizing when the car is on or not. Just find the wire used for supplying power when the car is turned on. I forget which color it is.

 

[SkanlaxJMO]

Your radio will show the clock if you hit the button even if the car is off. It seems like your radio is just not realizing when the car is on or not. Just find the wire used for supplying power when the car is turned on. I forget which color it is.

i think its the red one...or yellow.......that wire is the 12v acc...i think its the red....ill check in the morning.....

 

[Supersnizzz]

thanx for backing me up so fast... i can never remember wire colors

 

[TTG]

Should be red.

 

[kc_golf]

the fuse is fine, that was the first thing i checked. regarding the power wire, there is no red wire. the wire colors are setup like this...

tan - purple
blue - green/red
purple/white - black
brown - green
white/red - white/orange
green/black - blue/black
orange/black - yellow
gray - blue/red

 

[SkanlaxJMO]

it could be the white red one.....im looking right now for a schematic of the jbl system.

 

[kc_golf]

i found some schemaics in a previous thread. it appears that the wires i described are for the speakers and the cd.

http://www.jpghosting.com/showpic.php?image=secureimgcontent_5e47abd936fa18ba29f1c2ca41dd3264.gif

now that i can figure out which wires are for power and which are for the grounds, now what do i do?

 

[SkanlaxJMO]

test the acc power to see if it is getting power.....i seriously dought it is the ground. also look for breaks in the wire while your back there.

 

[kc_golf]

well, after struggling with the wires for awhile, nothing was happening. i decided to check the fuse again, and sure enough, SkanlaxJMO you were right. i pulled the fuse again and in my anger, and with the help of a screwdriver, i drove the fuse back in and voila, power was restored. it appears as though the fuse was not going in all the way causing the power loss.

thanks everyone for all your help………….

 

[SkanlaxJMO]

hahah i hate it when that happends....