radio on the fritz, affected by the cig lighter?

[AlphaAssault]

Today the old alpine CD changer that came with my eclipse refused to work correctly; normally it works fine, dunno why today was any different. It was stuck on one radio channel, and every time i tried to change the channel, the display would flicker then go blank. All i could control was the volume. So i figure ill get around to replacing that eventually. well later today, i cant get an adapter for the cig lighter to work, so i go to clean the grime off the lighter with a knife and i get a spark from the lighter. hmm, ###### should have turned the ignition off. but wait! the radio display is working correctly! it flicked on when i sparked the lighter. I changed the radio channel once, then it froze, though the display seemed to be working normally. Whats going on here? I didnt know the lighter and radio were connected. How do i get the radio working correctly?

 

[spawn87]

well first of all my friend when it comes to anything that is electrical why would you put a conductor (you knife) into the inlet regardless if the ignition is on or off? that could of taken a fuse out so just to be safe i check all of them so you don't have anything out in your car...as far as your radio goes was it installed with a harness or did you just cut the wires and start matching?

one thing i can tell you is your deck is pretty much done no matter what...just invest in a new one and have it professionally installed if, you don't know how to do it your self.

 

[Defiant]

Hm. Do you do home repair?

 

[spawn87]

Hm. Do you do home repair?

pictures really do say more than words

 

[97GSTAUTO]

Buy a new one

 

[ranger2339]

Ya prob. want to get a new one. Or check the wires in back, maybe they (as in whoever installed it) have it wired to the cig lighter for a 12v power output??

Josh

 

[97GSTAUTO]

Thats the location I used for 12v and ground lighting my guages.

 

[AlphaAssault]

well first of all my friend when it comes to anything that is electrical why would you put a conductor (you knife) into the inlet regardless if the ignition is on or off? that could of taken a fuse out so just to be safe i check all of them so you don't have anything out in your car...as far as your radio goes was it installed with a harness or did you just cut the wires and start matching?

it was a moment of ignorance, i admit.

ive installed radios before in these vehicles, but this radio came with the car when i bought it, so i didnt have the pleasure of wiring it up myself.

 

[AlphaAssault]

so i fixed the problem, though im not sure how. I went out to my car with the intent of opening up the center console. However, I take a closer look at the lighter, and notice there is several mm of grime (tobacco, im assuming) at the bottop of the plug. apparently i didnt get much of it off yesterday, so i get a screw driver and get ALL that crap out (with the ignition off), not just the stuff at the center connection. I turn on the ignition, and to my suprise the radio works fine. I plug my adapter into the lighter and it works fine as well. Could all that crap in the lighter have been shorting stuff out? thats the only thing i can think of...

 

[spawn87]

well thats good news if you dont gata get a new deck even better but i would make sure the wiring on the stereo is done right...or at least make sure that the job done to it was what you would of done.

 

[TheWanderer]

+1 to spawn87 on checking the wiring on the system. I just finished an install of my system this weekend (new head unit from Dual, new Orion c63 speakers front and back). I had my old head unit wired up in the car haphazardly, and when I put this one in I actually soldered the harness from the cd player to the harness I bought at Best buy to match the one in the car. Makes a big difference when its done right. No more skipping or shorting out. Plus with the new speakers, no more crackling. Gotta love the underpowered 15w 6.5in that mitsu used back in the day

 

[spawn87]

thats cool new beat in your car to listen too... the deck that came in my car when i got it was wired all funky soo i had a shop redo the wiring with the install of my new pionner deck turns out the last owner took out a fuse and shorted a wire soo good thing i took it in.