Dead battery causing radio short?
05-10-2010, 02:01 PM
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Dead battery causing radio short?
Hi everyone,
2001 ap1; OEM original HU. The car was garaged over the winter. The battery died and the car was jumped and driven to my local mechanic (trusted-has worked on the family daily drivers with no incident for years). When the old girl left my care the radio was asking for a code which was never provided with the car. Mechanic offered to pull the radio to get the code but claims that it is now "broken" and needs replacement. He claims that after pulling the radio and entering the code that the unit turned on briefly only to repeatedly blow the fuse on his bench tester; he attributes this to a faulty radio power supply (1 of 2 on the unit). I have found no reference to any of this on s2ki and frankly trust all of you a lot more. I'm just skeptical of the story in general though have had no problem with the mech before. Is it possible the battery drain caused a problem? All fuses are checked and replaced but the problem persists with the voltage spike from the HU. All help greatly appreciated.
Smitty2k
2001 ap1; OEM original HU. The car was garaged over the winter. The battery died and the car was jumped and driven to my local mechanic (trusted-has worked on the family daily drivers with no incident for years). When the old girl left my care the radio was asking for a code which was never provided with the car. Mechanic offered to pull the radio to get the code but claims that it is now "broken" and needs replacement. He claims that after pulling the radio and entering the code that the unit turned on briefly only to repeatedly blow the fuse on his bench tester; he attributes this to a faulty radio power supply (1 of 2 on the unit). I have found no reference to any of this on s2ki and frankly trust all of you a lot more. I'm just skeptical of the story in general though have had no problem with the mech before. Is it possible the battery drain caused a problem? All fuses are checked and replaced but the problem persists with the voltage spike from the HU. All help greatly appreciated.
Smitty2k
05-11-2010, 07:55 AM
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I doubt a dead battery or a jump start would cause a radio failure.
Maybe your mechanic is right. Maybe the dead battery was the effect of a malfunctioning radio that was draining it. Or maybe an unrelated coincidence.
Sometimes, as a tech, you walk right into situations like that where its very easy to get blamed. Or maybe the guy broke your radio by accidentally dropping it or something...its possible. even though you only need to slide the radio out about 6" to get the serial#.
I'd check for shorted wires. That's usually the cause of blown fuses. If not, don't make a science experiment out of it. Ive seen used radios sell for $50 in the marketplace. Or buy an aftermarket unit that doesn't suck.
Maybe your mechanic is right. Maybe the dead battery was the effect of a malfunctioning radio that was draining it. Or maybe an unrelated coincidence.
Sometimes, as a tech, you walk right into situations like that where its very easy to get blamed. Or maybe the guy broke your radio by accidentally dropping it or something...its possible. even though you only need to slide the radio out about 6" to get the serial#.
I'd check for shorted wires. That's usually the cause of blown fuses. If not, don't make a science experiment out of it. Ive seen used radios sell for $50 in the marketplace. Or buy an aftermarket unit that doesn't suck.
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