I have searched and searched but have not seen anything that has helped me and before I begin to dig into my interior, I am hoping someone will suggest something I have not thought of.

Several weeks ago, I got my 87 300TD running again and made a decision not to just wait on problems but become pro active and not only fix things before they break, but try and return her to her original glory and return everything as close to original as possible. For example, I replaced replica 8 hole wheels with factory 15 hole, fixed broken outside temp display, etc. I know this will be a very long journey, but I plan to have this car for a very long time.

The PO had installed a Blaupunkt and either he or a "professional" did what "professionals" do to the wiring and butchered it. Was eventually able to figure out what they had done and got my power antenna working, re hooked speakers into the console fader, etc. The Blaupunkt CD player was on its last leg and always got very poor reception even after I fixed the power antenna. Since I am trying to return everything to original, I was talking with my mechanic and traded him the Blaupunkt for a Becker 780. He told me about the "codes" or that I may have to get it zapped at the dealership, he did not tell me that it was junk, and all it did was click when hooked up to power (he has helped me out so much in the past, I didn't even tell him that it was junk).

I was at the local pull a part a few weeks ago and happened upon a filthy looking becker 754. Did a little research and found out that the 754 was the factory radio in my wagon. After cleaning it up, inside and out, I was pretty excited and was ready to power it up. When I powered it on, I got very strange symbols on the display and only heard static coming from the speakers. I hit the scan button but it just continued to scan not picking up any signals. I pulled the radio back out to check my antenna connection in the back (which was good) and slid radio back in. As doing so, I caught the faceplate on the console and it popped off. No big deal, I just popped it back on and re installed. Now, the radio only shows the display pictured and while I hear static, none of the functions seem to work, like tuning, volume, etc as they had done before the face came off. I took the radio out and checked all the boards on the face plate to make sure they were connecting properly to the body of the radio and they were.

So for those of you who have read this mini novel (I have been told that I have a tendancy to give too much info) here are my questions:

1. Is my 754 toast???

2. Why am I getting horrible reception??
The antenna wire is connected properly to the antenna and the back of the radio. I lose the wire as it goes from the rear panel towards the back door and can't find it until it emerges under the front passenger carpet by the disconnected alarm.

Basically, I am pretty sure the 754 is gone and I will hope to find a working, reasonably priced one here or ebay but that won't solve my reception problem. Thanks to all for any input and staying with me through this long description.


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My 754 also gets terrible reception.

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1985 300D 198K sold
1982 300D 202K
1989 300E 125K
1992 940T

"If you dont have time to do it safely, you dont have time to do it"

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

The best source for all things Becker Radio related: Becker Autosound Website

I've read here on the forum that their service is excellent, to include providing free info.

Reception issues might <<speculation alert>> be related to radio installs that had cell phones. There were some antennas that had cell phone switching circuitry. You might want to check under the glove box area.

Also knowing your antenna characteristics might help. 3 wire, 5 wire, 6 wire, etc. Hirschmann has a good site, but I can't find it right now. It's possible the antenna is connected for optimum cell phone, not FM.

Welcome to the forum.

You can also look in parts to see who is parting out what car for a replacement radio.

Thanks for the info. I hadn't thought about the possible cell phone issue. I believe my antennae is a 5 wire but I will recheck. I have done an extensive VIN decoding and didn't see anything related to cell phone. However, I did see a "519 Rear Audio System." I assumed this was just the back speakers. Any thoughts???

http://products.hirschmann-car.com/SepiaPIMWeb/files/AUTA_6000_KE_PIN_Belegung.pdf

754_op_manual

Or there's the option of reading the manual:

"In the low sensitivity mode, the radio will seek only the strongest of signals. The radio will always be in this mode when first turned on."

I'd translate this to mean it's filtering, and if you don't tweak the sensitivity, then the sensitivity of the receiver is reduced. If you're trying to tune a strong signal, you're OK, but if you're trying for a weaker one, maybe not. This might only apply to auto-tuning though.

I don't know for sure if 519 means "4 speakers with fader control for rear" instead of only 2 in the dash, but that's possible. It appears from the Becker site that two-piece radios with amps and CD changers, etc, weren't available in '87.

<<edit - added>> You might also want to check the snugness of the physical structure of your antenna. There's a knee-bone-connected to the ankle-bone sort of effect between the mast and the aluminum sleeve on the top of the antenna and the chassis ground. If the antenna was replaced these may not be tight.