I've got the stock Becker Grand Prix radio in my '86 300E and I've been having a strange problem with it for the last several months. It started one day when I opened the ashtray and the radio turned off. When I closed the ashtray, it came back on. I mostly just avoided opening the ashtray - no problem. Then, one day when my son was sitting in the passenger seat he rested his left leg against the center console and...the radio turned off. He moved his leg off of it and it came back on. Over time it has become more sensitive to the point where now it turns off from the centrifugal force of a right hand turn, or by just lightly pressing on the right side of the console, or if you crack open the ashtray just an 1/8" or so. Sometimes it stays off and I have to push the console the opposite way to get it to turn back on. I've pulled the ashtray and the lower wooden center section to check things, but I can't find anything wrong. The wires I can see or feel have no effect on the radio when I move them around, yet when I put everything back together, the problem recurs.

Does anyone have any ideas? I suspect I'm going to have to pull the entire center console, but I'm trying to avoid that if at all possible.

Thanks for any help.

Gary

It has to be a short - probably the ground. I would pull the radio and reinstall it.

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1982 Mercedes-Benz 300CD
1982 Mercedes-Benz 240D - stick

I don't think it is a short, otherwise it would blow the fuse for the lighter/radio circuit. I would more suspect a connector has come loose. Pull the ash tray and the bracket behind it. You should find a wiring harness that provides power to the lighter. There should also be an adapter circuit that ties the radio to the same power source. See if one of those connectors has come loose.

Just my $.02,

Wes