This morning was going so well, coffee, breakfast, etc... Then upon starting up the car I noticed my radio would not turn on. Here's the scoop... 1990 420 SEL with factory AM/FM cassette, not modified. Yesterday I turned the radio on by pushing the cassette into the player. Everything worked fine. Starting up this morning, at 20 degrees F, car ran fine, however, radio would not turn on or off. The LCD has only the readouts for the base and treble on the left side and an FM readout on the right side. No station readouts. Also, when I put a cassette in the lights all work, the FF and REW works, but no sound. What can I do. I already checked fuse 18, its good, and removing it did not make the LCD readout change. Also, the antennae goes up and down as it normally would when the radio is on. Thanks for the help.

Hunter,

It sounds like your head unit is on its way out. You probably have a short inside the unit. I would be much more cost effective to replace it with an aftermarket CD AM/FM unit than to have it repaired or go looking for a used one (who knows how long it will last). Definitely do not go to the dealer to purchase a replacement.

I replaced mine with an Kenwood Masking face, which rotates to a flat screen when the ignition is turned off. This is a much better alternative to carrying a face plate around with you. The unit is self amplified unit and also has a CD player. It's a much better upgrade than the Becker that came with my car.

Do have it professionally installed as our cars have a MB amplifier which will have to be removed or bypassed.
I do not think its a DIY item unless you have the wiring diagrams for the radio and speakers.

My $ .02 on this.

Tony

Pass by your nearest dealer and have it recoded, it's worth a try, they will send you a tech with a small electronic pen. It worked for me and ran fine every time since. It's worth a shot anyways. BTW the dealer isn't supposed to charge you anything for that. I wasn't charged, but a garage near my place wanted 60$can for the same thing!