Radio Help

A couple of days ago my radio, tape deck, and clock quit working in my 95 dakota; however just yesterday the clock came back on and was working fine. Today; however the clock, radio, and tape deck do not work. I checked the fuse, and it was still good. So I took my dash apart, and decided to see if there was a loose connection to my radio, but the connections were good. (Has this happened to anyone else?)
Here is where an expert could really help. I check to make sure that the ground wire was grounded, and indeed it was. A round thick wire, which I am assuming is the antenna hook-up was also connected. There were two other connections one was a black plug with wires of various colors, I suspect these go to the speakers, and the other plug was grey with also with wires of various colors. I turned the key to accessory position, and using my voltmeter I measured the voltage of each wire to the ground. only two wires had a voltage, the Pink wire and the Red with white stripe wire, both of these wires are in the grey plug and both had a voltage of about 13V.
Now for the questions: Is my radio just dead? (<--I think it is) or Does my truck have some eletrical issues? (<--I hope not). Any help would be great.

I messed around with my radio again today and wow the radio, tape, and clock all work again. This is crazy, but hopefully they will continue to work. :biggrin: but :dunno:

The radio has loose connections inside. This is a common thing, but annoying as hell.

Take it apart and resolder the board, if you know how.

Buy another radio off ebay...?

It's NOT your truck's wiring or electrical system :)

Slantsixness

If I were you, I'd use this as an excuse to buy an aftermarket stereo and put it in...

Thanks alot for the help. Thats what I figured just loose connections, it has come on and off alot in the past couple of days.
I went to a few junk yards and asked about used stock CD players, and the prices were too high one place said $200, the other said $150 so i think i will just buy a new after market one.
But i am a little concerned how is the raido reception on after market units?
and what would you guys recommend?

I spent 240 on my really bad ass CD player, i get all my friends and my family in awe when they watch it in action. i got the JVC KD1100. JVC and Panasonic are both good brands costing you 150ish +. my suggestion is to look for all the features you would want which would include a diffident WARRANTY. 1, 2, 3, 4 yrs? Mine displays what the name of the song that is playing when i burn the CD, but not the original disk. best non-skip is obviously best, unless you want to look like wayne and garth in that one waynes world when their singing in the car and the song keeps going out.
the first and last are just the two most important things, others might include not being able to eject the disk without the faceplate, the faceplate detaches, remote control (kinda cool, and it keeps your eyes on the road as they are extremely basic and easy to memorize where the buttons are and what they do.) just whatever you do, 1. only pay for parts, dont pay to have it installed, go somewhere else *it doesnt take long, and isnt hard*. 2. trust your first instinct. i knew i wanted mine, but didnt have enough money for it, and learned that i could go back within a month and exchange it for a better one so i had one to get me temporarily.
parts you have to buy include wires and the harness at about 35$. there is no others required unless you have an amp-sub-or aftermarket speakers. then it might be more for more wires, and then you may have to pay for the installation for custom fabrication or wiring...

the radio reception should be even better than what you have now, i think you would have the digital radio tapedeck, if its wired to the antenna right it would be even better. stock is just enough to get you by. afternarkets let you decide on brands, stock you dont have a choice so they would throw the cheapest one in there and charge you an arm and a leg for it... it sucks but thats the way i see it...

aftermarket radios are fine reception wise.... i get the same with my Pioneer cd player in my dakota as i did with the factory radio. plus they are much better in sound quality, and look really good in the dash... but as was already said buy the radio, the mounting kit, and wiring harness and do it yourself because it is outrageous how much people charge to install these.

I always use Sony decks because they are so cheap and so good, so if it gets stolen it's no big loss...

people really charge an arm and a leg to install? :loser:

if i buy an aftermarket stereo, and anyone even mentions an installation fee. i walk right out, and say "ill go somewhere who cares about their customers." Audio Express is known in my state as "The Home of the $1 install", i wouldnt pay it, because theres a shop 2 miles farther that does it for free and the hardware is cheeper. my CD players MSRP is 310.00 just the base unit... no wiring or harness.

dont get me wrong Sony is good but they divercify themselves too far to be considered good. they make everything electrical and that cant be good. i would recommend going with some company that specializes in audio and not alarm clocks, gaming systems, computers, home theater, personal audio, TV's, VCR's, DVD players/movies, Movie production, Dvd-Cd R/RW disks, boombox's, telephones. get the hint? (try and support domestic industries) :2cents: :2cents:
panasonic (maybe)
JVC (good)
Rockford Fosgate (DEFFIDENTLY) *dont know if its spelled right
KLH (possibly)

This is my personal interpretation and judgement. do what you will as you will have to live with your decision and not me.

I think that a company that can make more electrical devices than one certain kind, knows what they're doing.

Rockford Fosgate is a wicked company, they know how to make good speakers and subs!

JVC= CRAP (i just hate JVC, they are actually ok. Did I say I hate JVC?)
KLH= CRAP

SONY= VERY GOOD (not best)
Rockford Fosgate =excellent (too expensive)

Pioneer, KLH, Alpine, Sansui,Aiwa,Blaupunkt, Harmon Kardon and Denon are all companies that used to be great, but they whored thier names for big bucks so cheap Asian manufacturers could sneak their poorly made crap into the U.S. and Canadian markets without us knowing that the company isn't even parent (name) owned anymore.

At least Sony, Kenwood, Technics(panasonic) Clarion and even JVC are still parent owned.

Buy a Clarion pro audio, or a Panasonic with the MP3 player built in.

Let me say it again... I hate JVC.

peep this out and you'll see something bad ass! (my pop up blocker wont allow me to access the link that allows you to post pictures instead of webpages which i did...)
:useless:

http://www.etronics.com/product.asp?stk_code=jvckdlh1100&store=&catid=317&AID=2681114&PID=1358132

http://www.ultimateelectronics.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=3419&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=1533&iSubCat=1600&iProductID=3419

http://www.ultimateelectronics.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=402&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=1533&iSubCat=1580&iProductID=402

you just have the same problem with JVC as i do with sony, only i have logic to back me up.
I have a boom box that doesnt have power after 2 yrs., i have a 19" TV/VCR combo that the circuit board fried, (close out sale from monkey wards) personal CD player that was dropped from about 32 inches onto carpet however doesnt work AT ALL. an alarm clock that if the dog wagged its tail the wrong way it would reset and i would need to redo the time and timer. my boss has got a Vaio (sony computer. i love sony so much taht i dont even care how they spell it) that needs a special program to run windows XP. (not a nic card, actually additional software to run microsoft's programs) ive got a 50 watt home theater subwoofer that according to lemon law in a week i could have a replacement because i get a new one according to lemon law. 3 strikes ur outa there... (meaning i get a new one) tell me sony's good!?!

although maybe i could afford the fosgate amp and dual sub's and kenwood in the cab on 6 bucks an hour but thats just me. (pizza boy hookup rocks) but hey :gives:

Sorry you've had bad luck with sony.
I have plenty of Sony products. I don't have problems with them. I have 2 VAIO Laptops, use them all the time. Televisions, stereos, cd players, clock radios, satellite recievers, MD recorder, A betamax!, and countless other pieces. I've never had major problems with anything sony. I worked for Sony for 8 years.
I don't own 1 (that means ZERO) Sony car Stereos. I don't care for them, but they are fairly trouble-free, too, I just don't like the styling.
I use kenwood, when the factory radio sux.

JVC is a poor little second-rate Japanese company. Cheap crap. Even the Korean stuff (LG, Samsung) has got JVC beat by a mile.

I've got an 88 Dakota that had a new radio installed because the old one would get very quiet and/or cut out entirely. Now the new one does the same thing, it works fine in the shop. Is my truck possesed?

I have a Sony and have terrible reception. The Unit sounds great with a CD, But I can't even get the Main radio stations in, and I live in a large city. Ive checked the antenna connection, and the large black wire is plugged in, but it dosen't pick up ANY stations well enough to listen to. Any suggestions? Ive listened to all my CD's way too many times...... 87 Dakota.......