'97 T-Bird Radio problem

[Terryfor21]

Hello,
Recentely the battery had to be replaced,the radio will not power up afterwards,all fuses check ok and the radio is getting fulltime 12 volts as well as 12 volts switched,the power antenna will not work either.I hope this radio is not coded ,it is the premium sound system.

[97Bird]

Welcome to the forum. Unfortunately I can't answer your question about the radio being coded but that's what it sounds like. Call your local Ford dealer and ask them. Maybe someone else in here can answer your question.

[97Bird]

I don't find any information in the service manual saying the radio is coded. Did everything work before you replaced the battery? Has anything been done to the car just before you noticed the radio didn't work (jump starting, adding wires under the dash, etc)? Does the CD player work? Are all connections clean and tight at the battery and ground locations? It sounds like you have had the radio out to take voltage readings. At the black radio connector that has all 8 pins in a row, measure the voltage between pin 3 (gnd BK/LG) and pin 8 (mem pwr BK/O). You should have 12V at all times. Measure from pin 3 again to pin 6 (ign Y/BK) and you should have 12V in ACC or RUN. Do the same tests using pin 7 (gnd BK) in place of pin 3 and you should get the same results. Let me know how you make out with these measurements.

[Terryfor21]

I just took the radio out of my Contour and put it in the T-Bird,it powered up and the power antenna came up.I will probably go to my local junkyard to look for another radio.

[Selectron]

I used to do a lot of car radio repairs here in the UK back in the early-to-mid '90s, and every Ford radio or radio/cassette that I ever handled had a fuseholder fitted, immediately adjacent to the power pins. The radios would differ but the fuseholders always looked pretty much the same - a small black plastic plate on the back of the radio, measuring 1" x 1/4" which could be levered up either with a fingernail or a small screwdriver, to reveal the fuse, which would normally be a T3.15A - this fuse rating was often stamped on the plastic plate. The fuse itself would be 3/4" (20mm) x 1/4". It would be worth checking to see if you have one of those.

[Terryfor21]

I don't see anything that looks like that.

[97Bird]

Did you do any of the tests I suggested?

[Terryfor21]

Yes '97 Bird,I did those checks,voltages were ok.I am going to my local salvage yard and see what they have in radios,since the radio from my Contour worked in the Bird.