Radio/cd On The Blink

[Socks]

It's just stopped working all of a sudden. The only thing it will do is eject a CD, so there is some life in it!

 

Any thoughts? Was thinking possibly battery related... you know, the whole Eco mode thing (?) My car's a 2001 2.0 HPi Exclusive. I believe the problem happened before but somehow was resolved, can't remember how... I've tried the disconnecting the battery, btw.

 

TIA

[moon_monkie]

Mine's doing the same nothing most of the time and then all of a sudden works for a couple of minutes? Any Ideas?

[seefive]

Mine's doing the same nothing most of the time and then all of a sudden works for a couple of minutes? Any Ideas?

 

Mine did the same. internal fault in the radio. I scrapped it and replaced with a Sony from Halfords sale (£50). The Sony plays MP3 discs (brilliant! 14 albums on 1 disc in full cd quality), accepts an Ipod if that's your thing and doesn't randomly retune preset buttons like the old Citroen/Clarion did. Sound quality is on a par with the original.

 

The only downside is the C5 is equipped with CANBUS electronics interface, so I have to switch radio on and off manually. Not a real hardship. Connection to the remote stalk is possible, and canbus can be accommodated , but these are expensive and not really worth it imo.

 

You can't get a straight replacementfor these radio's - they aren't made any more, so the only other routes are specialist repair (£???), or ebay plus vin coding. (probably about £100), and you still can't play MP3

 

No brainer really...

[moon_monkie]

Thanks for the response. I decided to folllow suit and have fitted a Sony unit that is tailor made for iPod connectivity (i.e. has a proper dock lead that comes out the back so this goes into the glovebox and all works perfectly with full control of the iPod). Not really fussed about the steering wheel controls or display as I'm getting so much more with this unit. Best of all it only cost £70 from Argos!

 

One small issue though is that it loses its memory when the car is turned off and locked so I have to retune each time. As far as I can see all the leads are connected correctly in fact everything else is ok and you don't even need an ISO lead (mine's a 2003). So even though the continuous power cable is connected as part of one of the plugs it obvously still loses power between use.

 

Has anyone encountered this before and if so how did you get round it?

 

Thanks

Jon ;)

[paul.h]

The power supply to the radio can not be direct from the battery if the power goes when the ignition is turned off. There is also economy mode which switches off the power supply after about 30 minutes to protect the battery - this may be your problem if you have connected in to the normal radio supply. Some radios may also have an internal battery to maintain their memory and on first connection need a long time to charge up - if your power is on the economy mode protected side then you need to keep the engine on for a day and keep going for long runs. May be worth looking inside the radio to see if it has a battery.

[seefive]

One small issue though is that it loses its memory when the car is turned off and locked so I have to retune each time. As far as I can see all the leads are connected correctly in fact everything else is ok and you don't even need an ISO lead (mine's a 2003). So even though the continuous power cable is connected as part of one of the plugs it obvously still loses power between use.

 

Has anyone encountered this before and if so how did you get round it?

 

Thanks

Jon :(

 

Check to see if you have "auto power off" selected on the radio. Mine did this until I disabled this feature. It would come on as I unlocked the car, and go into demo mode and lose all the settings. Now it comes on in standby mode, with all memories preserved.

[old'uns]

common prob on VAG cars, '99 Ibiza ISO connections, normally Red is perm live, Yellow switched?

had to reverse these 2 wires to retain settings.

got a pioneer H/U on C5 plugged straight in no problem.

so much for standard ISO plug-in !

[seefive]

common prob on VAG cars, '99 Ibiza ISO connections, normally Red is perm live, Yellow switched?

had to reverse these 2 wires to retain settings.

got a pioneer H/U on C5 plugged straight in no problem.

so much for standard ISO plug-in !

 

Switching the wires didn't make any difference with the Sony. I think the problem here is the strange power protocol of the radio. If you push the off button once, it goes into stanbdby mode ( lights still on but no sound) This is how you should leave it. The permanent feed will switch off after a couple of minutes and it will go dormant (lights off).

When you unlock the car, it instantly comes back in standby mode, just as you left it (disc will play from the exact point it was, radio stations and all settings intact).

 

If you push and hold the off button a second time, it will go dormant, and can be switched back on with the mode button, and everything's fine. However, if you lock the car after the "double switch off" , that's when the trouble starts. On unlocking the car, it re-initialises, goes into demo mode and returns everything to factory settings - presets all wiped clean. Selecting the "auto off" option in the redio menu has the same effect.

 

I only know this because I found out the hard way!

 

Does the Pioneer come off and on with the ignition/canbus signal?

 

Cheers

[moon_monkie]

Hi, the leaving in standby mode doesn't make any difference with my Sony H/U. It loses it's settings whether I leave it on standy, switch off completely or remove the facia etc... I've also checked the auto power off settings and that is disabled aswell so it can only be the power the unit it receiving from the car once it's locked. I will try switching the yellow & red wires when I get a chance to see what happens otherwise I'll have to pick up a continuous live from somewhere else (maybe the 12v or cigar lighter)?

 

Thanks

Jon

[techbod]

from most of the newer cars ive worked on you need to find a permanent live for the memory due to the way the factory radio wiring is installed to prevent battery drain ( your bypassing the standard wiring with you aftermarket radio ) unless you buy the proper cable adaptor which will link the steering wheel controls and the dash display,

some times changing the orange wire to the red and viceversa it could work but not always

[moon_monkie]

Hi, a quick update on the radio problem. I've now solved it thanks to Old'uns suggestion of swapping the yellow & red connectors over. It seems that the constant live and switched live connectors are the opposite way round on the C5 to the way the Sony H/U thinks they should be. Consequently all sorted no need to reprogram everytime and me happy.

 

Thanks all !

 

Jon

[techbod]

well that good news and a cheap fix ;)

[old'uns]

Does the Pioneer come off and on with the ignition/canbus signal?

 

Cheers

 

No, i just turn it on & off 'old stylee' ;)

i also couldn't be bothered to pay £50 ish+ to connect to the original stalk controls and use the dash display

[seefive]

No, i just turn it on & off 'old stylee' :rolleyes:

 

Here's a real strange thing. My Sony radio started acting up today - power going off and on intermittently. For a while it actually came on and off with the ignition, which it never has before. It's reverted to how it was now - "permanent" feed brings it on in standby mode when I unlock the car, then switch on manually. Very strange how it behaved just like a switched feed for a short while.

[seefive]

Here's a real strange thing. My Sony radio started acting up today - power going off and on intermittently. For a while it actually came on and off with the ignition, which it never has before. It's reverted to how it was now - "permanent" feed brings it on in standby mode when I unlock the car, then switch on manually. Very strange how it behaved just like a switched feed for a short while.

 

Update on this one. I am now on my third radio this year!

 

The original Citroen/Clarion unit only works for very short periods of time, so is unusable.

 

The Sony started cutting out as noted above, then started giving me the silent treatment - going into mute mode for long periods of time. At this point I started to suspect the car phone kit (Nokia professional istalled before I bought the car).

 

I have now bought a JVC unit which has a switchable telephone mute. It was initially cutting in and out rapidly, but when I switched off the mute - everything's fine! The new units still plays MP3 cd's ( my main requirement) and cost £60 - not bad, and certainly cheaper than getting the phone kit de-installed or repaired. I bought a plug-in cradle/charger/speakerphone custom designed for my phone on ebay for £10, so all sorted now. ( I hope)