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radio intermittently working 850 1993

posted by  weegi on  Mon May 23 08:25 CST 2005
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My wife's radio, specifically the fm reception, has been working sporatically the last week or so. It will work fine one minute, but the next all you get is static and nothing will come in. If you give it a good whack, it will work fine again. I suspect it must be a short in one of the hundreds of soldered joints in the radio circuitboard. Has anyone else had this problem and if so, is their anything that can be done to fix it short of having circuitboard resoldered. Thanks in advance.








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    radio intermittently working 850 1993

    posted by  someone claiming to be erikbgt on  Mon May 23 09:16 CST 2005 [RELATED]

    I have had a similar problem and have not been able to figure it out other than jiggling the output wires. The reciever portion works, but I think the amplifier is dying or has intermitent shorts. I would look into going onto ebay and buying the 816 which has a built in cdplayer (incase ur changer is dead). Good luck, its just a losing battle :-(
    Also I noticed having a good antenna(not broken off) seems to help.

    --Erik








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    radio intermittently working 850 1993

    posted by  TimeToBakeTheDonuts on  Mon May 23 09:12 CST 2005
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    last visit: Thu Aug 29 16:10 CST 2013
    [RELATED]

    If you look a the page http://www.volvospeed.com/Repair/sc816.php, you will see a later radio that has a similar release system to at least to my '95 radio - the little U-shaped arm that is shown at the bottom right of the front is used to pull it out.

    It may be that the antenna connector is bad. I would try pulling the radio out (don't disconnect the power unless you have the radio code) and flex the antenna connector while playing the radio to try to reproduce the problem. FWIW, I see in the records for my car that an *AM* problem was fixed through tightening the connection at the antenna itself.

    BTW, solder joints can go "open" with age through fatique. Unless someone poured some metal shavings in you souldn't have a short. This doesn't decrease the debug pain that someone will have to go through if it indeed is on the circuit board. Good luck.








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      radio intermittently working 850 1993

      posted by  cgrammer on  Tue May 24 14:15 CST 2005
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      last visit: Thu Jul 28 20:56 CST 2011
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      I agree that flexing the antenna connection may get it to go back on temporarily, but it may not be that connection that is the problem. (I'll explain in a moment.) Mine does this also - I've had it out and apart more times than I can count.

      If I pull the radio out of the dash (still plugged in) and flex the antenna connection, it comes back on. It usually does not stay on when I push it back into the dash.

      As I said, I've dismantled the radio on the workbench a number of times, connected a surplus antenna wire and tested continuity when flexing the connection. I even replaced the end of the antenna wire with a plug from Radio Shack. There is no break in the antenna connection itself.

      What I suspect is happening is one of the other internal connections - maybe the base-circuit board to back-circuit board - has the problem. When you move the antenna connection it flexes something else somewhere. I've tried bending the pins a tiny bit on that board-to-board connection to no avail, but I have not closely examined the solder connections yet.

      It's just beyond the limits of my testing equipment to test further at the moment, though. I simply need time and a spare speaker.

      If I figure it out I'll post something here.

      Meanwhile, the CD player still works ...
      --
      Charles Grammer - '93 245 (140K), '96 850 (170K)








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      radio intermittently working 850 1993

      posted by  weegi on  Tue May 24 01:16 CST 2005
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      Thanks erik and time to bake for all the helpful info. I've been looking on ebay and I could upgrade to a 816 radio (built in cd) for around $250, but it's in my nature to try to fix it if I can. I guess I can't make it any worse by tinkering with a few things. Time to bake, I thought the antenna might be the problem as well but wouldn't the am not work also, or does the am not need as much reception as the fm. When the fm isn't working the am seems to work fine. Very fustrating. Anyway, I'll pull it out and try to wiggle the antennna connection to see if it makes a difference. Thanks again for all the helpful information.








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        radio intermittently working 850 1993

        posted by  TimeToBakeTheDonuts on  Tue May 24 19:43 CST 2005
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        last visit: Thu Aug 29 16:10 CST 2013
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        Well, it sure sounds like there is an intermittent connection somewhere. I mentioned a place to start. As we see, the antenna connection may not be "it". Debugging the board itself is a lot more exhausting - I have done it myself a few times. If you have a "freeze" spray that can help locate a joint if it works cold and then acts up when warm. To replace your radio (NOT upgrade) is a lot cheaper than an 816, I believe, on ebay. If it isn't a simple antenna problem, it would be worth looking into. The am may not be affected the same way. Another thing to try is temporarily replace the car's antenna wiring with your own length of wire. Make sure the connection to the center conductor is decent and rap on the radio and see if you can get it to fail. Otherwise, spring for the 816 - I am not ready to do that - I am putting up with the changer in the trunk :( and saving my money for: struts, spring seats, possible RMS failure, food, etc. Don '95 854T







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