So the radio might not be too high on most peoples priorities. But im leaving in a week to move across the country. I have a long drive ahead of me and riding 20 hours in silence sounds like an epic good time.

Heres the situation:

1996 SL2

Aftermarket Pioneer Head Unit was working perfectly fine, then suddenly loses power while driving yesterday. It never turned back on.

I bought a replacement, wired it up correctly and attempted to turn it on. No power.

Checked every fuse in the fuse box under the hood, they all appear 100% operational.

I dont know what to look or check for next. Any help would be greatly appreciated, and if anyones response leads directly to me solving this issue, i will PayPal gift you $20 (100% serious)

 

Assuming radio fuse is good:

Is this attached via adapter connector or hand-wired?

Loose power or ground lead. Trace with a multimeter until you find where the 12V disappears. If it does not disappear, then back trace the ground and look for a loose damaged or corroded ground connection.

And all advice here is free. We don't work for money. We work for each other.

 

Thank you so much for responding. It is wired through an adapter harness.

I dont have a multimeter, so i called a Car Audio place to troubleshoot the car. Multimeter cost about $50 and thats what they are charging me. So hopefully they can sort out the issue for me.

Ill respond back tomorrow to let you know how i made out. Thanks.

 

you can get a multimeter for much less at harbor freight. Also, try pulling the radio fuse in and out 5 or 6 times to sweep any corrosion of the contacts. If you didn't use a multimeter I don't know how you verified the fuse.

Pull a spare from the underhood junction box of the same amperage and swap it in.

 

Did you check every fuse in the cabin?

 

Just replace the radio fuse, they are cheap. If it doesn't fix the problem, you out a buck, if it does, priceless. You cannot tell a fuse is good by a visual check. Sometimes a visual check can tell you that it is bad, but it cannot tell you that it is good.

 

Indeed

 

I am with Derf (how about that?) on purchasing an inexpensive meter from Harbor Freight. They have a perfectly functional digital volt meter that will go on sale for well under $5.00 every now and then and having one would work out well for this problems.
As to the radio fuse, there is a cabin fuse box on the 94 on the passenger side of the consul accessible by removing the kick panel off of the consul. I believe the radio fuse is in there. I would assume the 95 has the same packaging.

 

Does your door chime work? If not, it's the fuse. I found out by removing the fuse for it also killed my radio in my 94 SC. I hated that damn chime and thought I'd kill it. I pulled fuses from the inside fuse box until I hit the one that killed it. Then, I didn't have a radio, so put the fuse back in it and lived with the chime.