Stereo and speaker problems

[jstokes]

All of a sudden, the sound from my car stereo went silent. The radio still appears to work, all the tuners and knobs still respond on the digital readouts of the stereo, but I have no sound whatsoever. It is an AM/FM stereo with CD player, all factory. Thanks for your help, if anyone has experienced this and knows a self-fix, please let me know.

J. Stokes
Dacula, GA

[bermis519]

Just an idea, but does your car have onstar? I know when onstar is on it will cut out the speakers....i don't but an idea...

[jstokes]

....I have it in my Tahoe so I know what you're talking about. Thanks for the help anyway.

[phewop118]

Since you have the cd player, it probably means you have the external amp that's mounted inside the trunk. It may not be getting power or it may have died quietly. See if you can get a multimeter and see if power shows up to the wires going into it. With it off (or dead), your factory head unit will function perfectly normal, but no sound will come out. Also see if the harness is all the way in the amp, as it could've been jerked by something in the trunk.

[jstokes]

Thanks very much. Do you have any idea exactly where in the trunk area the amp is located? I did have alot of junk piled up toward the back of the trunk recently, and it may have jerked some wires loose when I got it all out.

[phewop118]

It is mounted to the underside of the rear decklid. Open your trunk, stick your head in and look up. The silver thing with heatsinks on it is the amplifier. Some older models (like 00-01 base models) did not have seperate amps, so you may not have it. If there is no amp, you'll need to replace the radio.

[selsner04]

I also am having problems with my radio working and the speakers not working. I had the power thing checked out and all is geting power to the amp in the trunk and to the radio. Could it be the radio?

[phewop118]

Check and see if it's getting an audio signal.

[selsner04]

I am not sure what I am looking for when you say look to see if there is a audio signal. I know nothing about wires and stuff on the radio. I know that a friend checked with a meter to test the voltage of everything going in and out to the radio and the amp. It all turned out good. He has installed many radios and amps and stuff and could not pinpoint the problem. He suggested that maybe it was the radio itself. The amp was getting power. I know that everything is run from the radio to amp, then from the amp out to the speakers. I can see on the radio the station that is playing and what song is playing, I can even turn off the messages in the message center on the dash, just cant hear a thing.

[phewop118]

Get a multimeter on the signal wires from the radio to the amp. See if the voltage increases when you turn up the volume on the head unit.

[selsner04]

The meter does not move when done....

[phewop118]

You may need to set the multimeter to detect very low signals, as that signal would be low if it is there. If none is detected, try replacing the radio with an ebay or junkyard one. They are not very expensive.

[extremetint]

I had the same problem the radio is junk you need to take it to get fixed or go to local junkyard and find a new one.