Hey guys,
In my W123 I have a Becker Grand Prix cassette radio that I love dearly, however it somehow shorted out and/or died. I'm not looking for pity here, but since these radios seems fairly unwanted and ubiquitous, I'm wondering if anyone has one laying around that they'd let me have for very cheap? Again, not looking for pity, but I'm a student without a whole lot of cash to sink into the radio. Let me know if anyone can help me out!

Thanks!
Kevin

Maybe cross post in Audio and Multimedia, since that's the location where people ask how to remove the unwanted and ubiquitous Grand Prix.

Finding a fully functioning one may be tough. Or search some of the various PNP threads and ask if someone can find one.

You may also find repair info in the Audio thread. You have checked all four (maybe?) of the fuses that affect the radio? Or the fuse on the back of the radio itself?

Depending on the specific failure mode of your Becker (and if it's still the OE installation and not a re-installed radio after a replacement) you may check some easy to do items before replacing:

Keeps blowing fuse. A little help?

From post 10 in that link --

The radio has separate power for the light bulb (switched off the console light circuit from fuse #1) and power from the ashtray circuit (switched by the ignition switch and fuse 4) which also produces a switched output for the antenna. Wiring color codes are inconsistent. Depending on your switch positions you may test hot across several wires. And of course you have continuous hot from the battery for the clock (unswitched - and I'm unsure if this has a fuse in the fuse box- maybe fuse 2, or is fused at the radio).

http://www.tehnomagazin.com/Auto-rad...-Connector.htm

The light circuit IS hot even if the radio harness plug is removed from the ashtray connection, as is the radio clock power supply line. Theoretically, I guess you could "unplug" your radio from the ashtray (or pull fuse 4) and it will still light up and keep time but it otherwise won't work.

The ashtray itself is a circuit component, I think the chrome is ground and the copper/brass nub is hot. These connect up to the harnesses. In the radio harness pdf below, component #4 corresponds to connector C148 depicted above and below the ashtray in the radio errata pdf. Component #2 in the harness pdf should actually show four wires going to the ashtray (as depicted in the errata pdf): one hot wire going in (for lighter) and one hot continuing back out (for radio); one ground going in (lighter) and one ground going out (for radio).

I "think" the radio has an additional ground connection in addition to the ashtray, but that may simply be one more wire connected to the separate radio harness.

Thanks for the help guys, but I still haven't been able to figure this out.


First I checked all the fuses in the box under the hood... Everything seems OK.

I then removed the radio (for the first time), and in doing so I actually found that the connector into the chrome ashtray-mount was disconnected. This seemed a little odd, especially since the cigarette lighter has never worked for as long as I have owned the car. I basically pulled out the radio and removed/reconnected all of the wires, just to make sure everything was good and tight. I reinstalled the radio, and reconnected the connector to the lighter.

Still nothing works, neither the radio nor the lighter.

One other thing: throughout this problem, the radio does in fact light up (when I turn the headlights on). On the otherhand, the antenna no longer rises. Both of these have been the case since the radio died.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Check fuse 4 in the fusebox. That provides 'radio' power and lighter power (and the signal to the antenna). Remove it, clean it, reinstall it or swap it with a known good 8 A fuse.

Fuse 1 provides 'lightbulb' power.

Your symptoms are consistent with a bad fuse 4 or a disconnected power line.

Remove the ashtray, remove the two screws holding the tray in, go a bit deeper and look for the other connectors. Look at the attachments in post 10 in the first link. That's what you're looking for behind the ashtray.

<<CAUTION>> if the ashtray was disconnected, it was probably for a reason. Maybe a stuck cig lighter, maybe a short elsewhere. Maybe the PO (since there's no mention of how long you've owned it) had a different radio and didn't fully restore the connections, or maybe he modifed the wiring for an iPod or something. Be aware of overheating and/or burning smells. It may not be a problem, just something to be aware of.

Actually, yes... The cigarette lighter is stuck down. It doesn't seem to be heating up/smelling/etc, but definitely something to keep an eye on... Sucks because it also doesn't power my GPS.

That's also consistent with a bad fuse/disconnected line.

It may be a chicken/egg thing: maybe the cig lighter got stuck so the PO disconnected the wire; or maybe since the wire isn't connected then the cig lighter won't pop. Disconnected wire or bad fuse is the same thing here.

FYI: the chrome and brass nubs on the ashtray are part of the circuit. If the ashtray isn't fully and properly seated then the cig lighter can't get power to heat up then pop. If you remove the ashtray and look on the side you'll see what I mean.