totalslacker17

So I've managede to enter myself into a personal hell with the radio in my RX-8.

I had an iPod adapter for some time that I've wanted to get installed. Finally had some free time today and decided to have a car stereo shop that I've used in the past install it. Left it with them, came back to find that they are now claiming my radio no longer works. Was listening to it on the way there, etc, etc.

The interesting thing about it was that the radio actually worked, just that none of the controls on the front radio panel worked and the display was dead (you could still control it from the steering wheel).

They agreed to fix it tomorrow. Came home tonight, frustrated. Poked around on the web and found it was actually pretty easy to take it apart. Stupid me figured I'd just finish the job myself (haven't paid them anything).

Pulled it apart, couldn't see anything obviously wrong with regards to the radio controls.

Managed to plug in the ipod adapter without detaching anything else and it worked, but realized the cable could only be routed decently by fully removing the head unit.

So unplugged the front panel controls along with the three radio connectors. Routed everything and plugged it all back in and now it's dead.

It's interesting to note that the ipod unit does get power. I have checked all the fuses and see no signs of a dead fuse.

I did pull it back out enough to make sure I had seated all the connectors properly - they all looked good. Is there anything else I can easily check here? Some hidden reset sequence/fuse?

Of course I've lost my bargaining power since I mucked with it, might just pull it out in the morning and remove the adapter, then take it back to em...

Thanks for any suggestions!

Shannon

WikkedOne

I'm not sure how the Ipod thing connects in but I heard that some people fry their radios plugging in the AuxMod chip.. something about it doesn't line up just perfect.. also when they work on it without unplugging the battery..

I know it ain't right but I would undo what I did and take it back.. because they did mess it up.. and you only made it a bit worse..

what ever you do.. Good luck.

totalslacker17

Well I took it back into the car stereo shop - what a lovely experience that was. They agreed to fix it, but got a call back two hours later telling me to come back and get the car as they never wanted to see it again.

Nothing was fixed of course, they claim it was broken when they got it. They say they had disassembled the gear shift/parking break cover and removed the ashtray assembly, then tried the radio and found it to be broken. Clearly bullshit as why would anyone test the radio at that point? I also know they did not disconnect the battery as a red sealant mazda had left on the terminals was still intact.

So what a lovely day - now my only option is to get it fixed, then take em to small claims court. Sigh.

On the good news front I did determine that I didn't break anything further. The radio had refused to play after I put it back together as it was now turned off and none of the on-radio controls work. I found that I could eject the CD and then after re-inserting it the radio came back to life.

So now I don't see any option other than to take it into Mazda to determine what is wrong then look at taking these losers to court.

Oh, the shop that did this "work" was "The Car Stereo Company" on El Camino Real at San Antonio in Los Altos, CA. Please save your car and steer well away from them!

Also, does anyone know how the status display above the radio is connected? It seems interesting to me that this is dead as well (backlight works). Perhaps some internal connection was pulled free when they "didn't" remove the radio head unit?

Thanks for any help!

Shannon

Truckster

Sounds like the faceplate for the radio isnt attached all the way. the radio will work without a face attached, you just cant control it except through the steering wheel controls. the display connects to the face on some radios so that would go dead as well. Check and make sure that the radio is fully seated up against the face. Loosen the screws on the metal sleeve that bolts to the radio and faceplate. then try and slide the radio towards the face. or remove it completly, check the pins on the radio and face and make sure none are bent and that there isnt anything in the way. then reassemble.

I bet you thats all it is...

vdelvec

totalslacker17: Mazda is going to charge you both arms and your entire families' legs to fix it. I recommend you sent the unit to the good people at http://www.unitedradio.com/ and just pay them the estimated $110 to repair.

Also, if you go to http://209.238.89.122/Automotive/auto_request_info.asp, they will send you a prepaid UPS label to mail your busted stuff to them! How incredibly nice!!

kwescott

(If this is just a LED/illumination issue)
ok....something similar happened to us when we were installing some neons. We tapped into the power on the Cigarette lighter and blew a couple of fuses. You'll have two fuses to check. One is in the footwell on the drivers side...you'll find a listing of what fuses, control what, in your owners manuel. The second set of fuses is in the engine compartment...again, you'll find a listing of which one's to check in your owners manuel.

Hope that helps.

(If this is a more serious issue with your radio not functioning at all)
One of the guys in our area was trying to add a sub to the Bose system, and he ended up frying his radio...it doesn't work at all now, and he has an aftermarket stereo hooked up and placed in his glovebox.

Guino

I tried installing the AuxMod on the bottom of the headunit and regardless of following instructions I fried it (prob. didn't align it propperly). They actually replaced my entire headunit. If that's the connection they were using, then there's a pretty good chance that happened

RonInWaState

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discussion-3/trunk-monkey-101741/

Could be a cheap fix fur you

totalslacker17

Thanks for all the replies everyone, although I may skip out on the Trunk Monkey for a while - trunks a bit small for my fat butt

I did pull the head unit tonight and then removed the faceplate. Will try putting it all together in the morning (figured being able to see what I was doing would be more important in the assembly stage). I didn't see anything obviously disconnected with the faceplate, but it's hard to tell with the two internal connectors.

I'm hoping that will do it, given that the headunit seems to work in every way except for the faceplate controls (the lcd and heater controls are also dead).

totalslacker17

Well almost! I took a look at the faceplate this morning and reattached it to the head unit. Was hard to tell if the two inner connectors were actually attached or not, but it looked like they were. So went ahead and put the head unit back in. No joy. Big sigh, put it all back together thinking I'd just have to have it all fixed elsewhere.

Then out of frustration pushed quite hard on the faceplate - suddenly the lcd, heater controls and cd radio controls all came to life! Now, I can't get it to stay that way so tonight I'll have to pull it again (getting really good at that!) and take a closer look at those connectors. I know the faceplate is screwed in against the head unit as far as it will go, but there must be some reason the inner connectors aren't making contact.

Good call Truckster!

Truckster

N.P. man. i figured that was the case. I havent seen the radio removed from the face so i don't know how they fit but check all of that and make sure nothing is in the way, or bent or somehow otherwise preventing the face to fit against the radio fully. Look into the connectors. it is easy for small bits of lint etc to get inside there and cause the face to not fully seat....


Best of luck.

totalslacker17

Well just got finished pulling the head unit again and successfully reattaching the faceplate - yay! One of the internal connectors was barely making contact with the head unit and was quite hard to get attached (mostly as you really can't see what's going on in there so it's hard to tell if it's mated or not).

The trick was to losen the head unit shroud (the metal shroud that screws to the head unit to make the mounting plate for the face plate) on the side that wasn't mating, then push it as far forward as it would go. This got me another mm or so of contact, which was enough.

Attached the iPod adapter while I was in there and hooked it all up - in all took about an hour. Looks to all work, but guess I had better take it for a spin to be sure

Thanks again for all your help!