No sound!

[hyacynth]

My dad gave me his 1990 Buick LeSabre about 2 years ago. I love it. It's always been a great car, and as long as I've been good to it, it has been good to me. I only have one complaint. The radio does not produce any sound whatsoever. The display doesn't even work, except for the clock. I've tried replacing the fuse, but that doesn't work. I have absolutely no electrical knowledge, and really no mechanical knowledge, either. I'm just a single mom who can't afford to get it fixed in the shop, but who's annoyed with having a boom box type cd player on my passenger seat. If anyone can tell me what's wrong, and how to fix it, I would greatly appreciate it. I can easily learn how to do it, I just need someone to teach me.

[HannabilRox]

Sounds like it needs replaced. It is rather easy to remove. The black trim ring around the heater / AC control "pops" out with a screwdriver. Gently pry it out from each of the 4 corners. This will reveal 4 screws which hold that whole plastic panel trim covering the heater / AC control and the radio. Remove those 4 screws (Torx 15). The plastic trim can now be removed. There are 4 more Torx 15 screws holding in the radio. Remove those and the whole unit slides out. On the back I believe there are 2, maybe 3, wire harness connectors. One is for the speakers, and the other is for power and to the power antenna. Remove the wire harness connectors from the back of the radio. There also is a thick black cable running to the back of the radio which is the actual antenna cable. That will either unplug from the back of the radio, or you need to follow it down to where it plugs into the antenna cable recepticle (should be no more that 12 inches from the back of the radio). You can easily find these radios at a salvage yard. You may be able to drive your car with the radio removed, go to the salvage yard and plug one in to your car to make sure it works. Salvage yards charge $15 for a radio. Or you can buy an aftermarket radio, AND installation kit.

You never know, maybe the wire harness connectors came out and they just need plugged back in, but I doubt it. I have a 1990 Buick LeSabre and the radio doesn't work well either.

[buickmastermind]

Get one out of an 87-90 cadillac. The one with the 5-band eaqualizer on it. Way, way more stereo for the same price. Never distorts the sound. The brackets are different, but it us the same stereo, so just take the bracket off the existing one.

[OniEmu]

I have a 1992 LeSabre Limited, and I can't get the trim off. When I try to pry off the exterior-most trim, it breaks the small clips in the back. Is this suppose to happen or am I doing something wrong?

[buickmastermind]

The trim is actually breaking off? If you already have it off, I guess you should try to find if it screwed in somewhere. Not sure if this also appllies to teh 92 LeSabre, but I think that the black piece of trim around the climate control should just pop off. under it are torx that just screw off. Usually plastic pieces of trim are being held on with screws somewhere.

[OniEmu]

thanks, ill try to do it again after school, stupid trim

[pirho451]

Originally Posted by hyacynth

The display doesn't even work, except for the clock. I've tried replacing the fuse, but that doesn't work.

Y'know, there are 2 fuses that run the stereos in the late 80's full-size FWD's. My mom used to have an '87 Olds 98 that had a similar problem. If I remember correctly, the other fuse that can cause the exact same problem you're talking about is for the interior lights. Why GM decided to use 2 fuses to run the stereo I'll never know. You may want to check that one as well (I don't know which one but your owner's manual should be able to tell you).

[creslevi]

Hi
Check out the link below, A picture is worth athousand words, Hope it helps.
Rick



http://www.carstereohelp.com/stereor...ickElectra.htm