Hello,

I'm posting on behalf of a friend. He owns a 2001 Dakota. Recently he found his truck battery was dead (not sure why) so he replaced it with a new one. Upon doing so, his stereo wouldn't work. He checked the fuse for stereo, it was fine. He's been to 3 Dodge dealerships and nobody can figure out what the problem could be, that stereo now won't work.

Can anyone think of possible things for him to check / or things he can suggest a service person check out?

He's thinking he's going to have to buy and install another stereo but I think before he does this, he needs to try to get to the root of what happened to cause this in the first place.

To note: I'm not sure if his stereo was factory or after-market. Not sure if he had an amp or not. Could there be a fuse within the stereo itself that's been blown? Say he had an amp, maybe the amp blew? or if you had a blown amp, would stereo still power on?

Thanks in advance,
vortecgirl

 

the radio should turn on even with a blown amp... the amp is jsut for your sound... if its an aftermarket stero.. tell him to look in the owners manual and see if the radio has an internal fuse... probabally cause could be a voltage spike right into the radio.... but that itself is a problem.... as a " lets see if this works", tell him to disconnect the battery over night and see if the radio comes on when he reattches the cable

 

He just sent me another email not long ago. He tried what you suggested -- he disconnected battery, let it sit (now for how long I'm not sure), then reconnected - stereo still didn't work. And yes - the stereo is a factory stereo. Said he's going to check to ensure wiring of stereo is okay but I can't see why it wouldn't be -- seems too odd to me that stereo doesn't work only after battery went dead -- seems to me to be too much of a coincidence -- and why would there suddenly be a wiring problem if it was fine up until battery died?

If I were him, I'd be wondering why out of the blue, the battery just died -- but that's just me.

Any other suggestions?

 

well you said he checked the fuses...

(1) Check the fused B(+) fuse in the junction block. If OK, go to Step 2. If not OK, repair the shorted circuit or component as required and replace the faulty fuse.

(2) Check for battery voltage at the fused B(+) fuse in the junction block. If OK, go to Step 3. If not OK, repair the open fused B(+) circuit to the Power Distribution Center (PDC) as required.

(3) Check the fused ignition switch output (acc/ run) fuse in the junction block. If OK, go to Step 4. If not OK, repair the shorted circuit or component as required and replace the faulty fuse(s).

(4) Turn the ignition switch to the On position. Check for battery voltage at the fused ignition switch output (acc/run) fuse in the junction block. If OK, go to Step 5. If not OK, repair the open fused ignition switch output (acc/run) circuit to the ignition switch as required.

(5) Turn the ignition switch to the Off position. Disconnect and isolate the battery negative cable. Remove the radio receiver from the instrument panel, but do not disconnect the wire harness connectors. Check for continuity between the radio receiver chassis and a good ground. There should be continuity. If OK, go to Step 6. If not OK, repair the open ground circuit to ground as required.

(6) Connect the battery negative cable. Turn the ignition switch to the On position. Check for battery voltage at the fused ignition switch output (acc/run) circuit cavity of the left (gray) radio wire harness connector. If OK, go to Step 7. If not OK, repair the open fused ignition switch output (acc/run) circuit to the junction block fuse as required.

(7) Turn the ignition switch to the Off position. Check for battery voltage at the fused B(+) circuit cavity of the left (gray) radio wire harness connector. If OK, replace the faulty radio receiver. If not OK, repair the open fused B(+) circuit to the junction block fuse as required.


i looked in my repair manual.. email him that to see if it helps

 

thanks a lot, f0x, I emailed it to him

 

my money says the ground for he head unit has become unplugged or disconnected. tell him to pull the factory head unit out and check all connections behind the head unit. i will be $100 that the head unit's power cord or ground has become disconnected.

 

your welcome.. even virused information is also a useful tip... if you ever need help with anything car, truck, diesel related... ask away