I just bought a 98 Formula that did not have a radio at the time of purchase.

I recently was given a monsoon HU out of a '00 Camaro.

I installed this thing and I hear the CD player components move around once it is plugged in but nothing else happens. The clock will illuminate but thats it.

Other variables:

This car at one time had a monsterous system as there are about 2 miles of cables/cords/wires in the hatch. Also has JL audio speakers through out the whole car.

Any help on where to start is appreciated!

Josh.

 

It sounds like you have a power problem. There are two power supplies for the radio - constant (battery) power on the orange wire and ignition-switched power on the yellow wire. If you have constant power but no ignition power, the clock will work and the CD player can eject CDs but you can't turn the unit on.

I would check the RADIO fuse in the fuse panel at the left end of the dash first. If that's not the problem, use a test light or multimeter to check for power on the yellow wire in the black 10-pin connector (next to the orange wire) at the back of the radio. If you don't have power there, you'll have to trace where there is a break in the circuit. Use the tester or meter to check that there is power at the fuse (just because a fuse is good doesn't mean it's passing power). If not then you have a break between the BCM and the fuse. If you do have power at the fuse then the break is between the fuse and the radio.

 

Thanks for that. I read the monsoon FAQ page and printed out the pin-out diagram. I'll start checking wires this afternoon and get back with you. Thanks.

 

i have the same problem. my radio fuse it only getting .04 volts i cant figure out why. all other fuses are getting 16 volts. help.

 

Are you sure you're using the meter correctly? 16 volts is way too high for a 12 volt system - you'd be boiling your battery.

Do the power windows work? The radio fuse and the power windows circuit breaker both get power from the BCM as part of the Retained Accessory Power (RAP) circuit. If that circuit is dead then neither will be getting power at the fuse/circuit breaker.

 

If neither the clock is on or the stereo(pioneer) does not work at all. Is it safe to say it's the Bcm? My car started draining my battery a while back. Since then I have pulled the stereo out and the drain had stopped.

 

No, it's safe to say you should get out a test light or multimeter and do some testing. My first guess would be the head unit anyway. Do your power windows work? If so, the BCM is not the problem - it powers the windows and radio on the same circuit.

Check for power on the orange wire at all times. Check for power on the yellow wire when the ignition is on. Check for ground on the black wire. Those tests will give you an idea where to look for the cause of the problem. If they all check out then it's probably the head unit.

 

how could i be using it wrong? explain?
no my power windows dont work i have manual windows

 

Kool, thanks a bunch. I have always wondered when searching on here. Could it even have been possible if I had a bad BCM when the only thing not working is the stereo. And others seem to have their windows, locks and stereo not working. And that I had only one issue. One odd thing I would like to mention is that right before my HU(2 sided flipdown face) went dead. Was that when I had it closed it was fine. As soon as I pressed the button to have the other half of the face slide down. It seemed like it was posessed and it would just keep opening and closing by itself until I was able to get it to close.lol

 

There are several possible mistakes that can be made while using a multimeter. It could be on the wrong range or even the wrong setting (amps vs. voltage) or you could be measuring between the wrong points of a circuit. Voltage should be read between the source and a good ground. If you take a reading across a component you are measuring the voltage drop from the component rather than the input voltage. In any case, it is impossible for a 12 volt battery to produce 16 volts at rest and if you had the car running then the voltage regulator would have to be defective to produce that much voltage.