Just got '89 Park Avenue..Radio Problem

[alphachimp]

I just bought an '89 PA and have been using it for the last month. It's pretty sweet, and nearly everything about it runs great. It passed inspection (easily, according to the mechanic). I'm really impressed that cars were built that nicely back then. Best of all, I bought it very cheaply with around 140,000 miles.

I do have one problem, which is small, but really tedious on long trips. The radio, which worked when the original owner showed it to me, has stopped working. It still displays the time, which indicates that it is receiving power from the circuit. Apparently, the issue is which the retracting antenna, but the tape deck wont work either (nothing shows on the screen (other than the clock) when you push play.

It is not clear from the owners' manual how to access the radio. Maybe the screws are under the dash, but I have not been able to see them.

I'm trying to avoid buying a new radio, or, even worse, bringing it to a place to have something installed. (Wouldn't there be some trouble if I installed my own radio with a retractable antenna?)

Any ideas? I heard other people have similar problems.

[pirho451]

First thing I would do is check the fuses. I believe that there are two different fuses that control the radio in that car. One is going to be labeled "clock" (that should be fine because the clock works). The other one controls the radio and a few other random things like the cigarette lighter. I'd check that first because I've had that happen to me a couple of times through the years in different cars.

Jonathan

[alphachimp]

I checked the fuses on Saturday, and I'm pretty sure that the clock is the same as the radio (I removed the fuse and lost clock and AC power). I then replaced the fuse with a new one, and I got power back to the clock.

The label on the inside of the fuse box says this fuse (11 i think) controls the: power antenna, radio, cig lighter, and ac (maybe some other stuff i forgot)