Factory Radio is intermittent (Page 1/1)
Tempus_Fugit JUL 14, 07:36 AM
Hello fellow Fiero enthusiasts.

I purchased a 50K mi. 86 GT last winter and have done a ton of work on it to get it road worthy and presentable. All good and it is working well.

The radio worked sometimes, and other times it would not come on, although you can hear a thud/click when the power is switched on.

So I sent it off to 1factoryradio for repair and bluetooth/aux upgrade. When I got it back it (after 2 months and having to call them repeatedly), it has the same problem. The bluetooth is really cool btw.

Any how, does anyone know if this is some kind of easy fix? I am done with 1factoryradio.

Symptoms:
Sometime it works, and sometimes it does not.
When not working, the display does not light, also makes a click/thud when power switch is turn on.

I would really like to save this radio because it has the BT upgrade.
fierosound JUL 14, 11:32 AM
Check all fuses and wiring...

[This message has been edited by fierosound (edited 07-14-2019).]

fierosound JUL 14, 11:42 AM
It could be a bad/loose ground.
Location of ground G201
RWDPLZ JUL 14, 01:03 PM
Unplug the cigar lighter and check the BAT fuse
theogre JUL 15, 12:24 AM
Yes unplug cig lighter. Crap lighter socket can cause problems for radio and other things w/o blowing Bat fuse.
See my Cave, Sneak Path and Lighter

Old GM units will fail for several reasons...
Either/both plugs have problems. 2 pin has standby power to keep clock alive etc. rest and main power is on big plug. shown above.
After that any crack solder joint, 30+ year old caps and more in the "head" can kill them outright or be very intermittent. Even if you "fix" a problem somewhere else is still a problem.

Is part of why many vendors stopped selling most to all units w/ this plug setup. Even if they get working radios, they have to do more work to hope they work when installed. Example "Re-Capping" takes time and money and most don't want to spend for that.

------------------
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave

randy86 JUL 15, 09:13 PM
Have seen this happen many times, take the cover off the radio. Follow the ground and power pin onto the main board, then use a magnifying glass to look at the solder. I will bet money you find a crack in the solder. Also look at the pins in the plug, push LIGHTLY on the pins and see if any recess, could be the pins are not fully connecting. Use a paper clip or similar to test the female terminals and press lightly and see if one of them recesses.