My 71 220 has the original Becker Europa radio. It worked when I first bought the car, but after a day or so of use it turns on but won't play 90% of the time. When it does play, it doesn't for more than 5 or 10 minutes. Was going to check it out for bad connections at the radio and antenna but was wondering if anyone has had a similar problem and had a fix?

I'd be looking for poor solder joints in the radio internals or capacitors that have leaked or dried out. I'd doubt seriously it's the antenna that's at fault.

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When it doesn't play, what does it do? Silence or static??? When you turn it on, does the green light illuminate, or is that bulb burnt out? More importantly, if the green light _does_ work, does it go off when the radio doesn't play? That would indicate a loose power supply or ground. Sounds like a loose connection somewhere. Do you have the single dash speaker or a pair of speakers?

I think the chances of this being just a loose wire or plug are slim for the reasons stated by Diseasel300 above. I'd spend a little $ and get it done right (while getting an AUX port installed on the faceplate).

Becker services their older radios out of their NJ headquarters.

This outfit is in your area:
http://www.radiomanrepair.com/

I disagree. I think I had some good ideas, and I've resurrected lots of Beckers. Becker Autosound in New Jersey is not "Becker". It's a company in New Jersey that sells and fixes radios.

Thought OP had a radio to be fixed - perhaps I misread.

The OP has a radio that works sometimes, he provided a little information, and I asked a few diagnostic questions. There is no point in sending the radio away to be fixed until the diagnostic questions are answered. It isn't remotely clear to me that the radio is broken at all. His description sounds more like a loose ground than anything else. The Europa (one piece, circa 1971) is a robust unit and usually works just fine, compared to some of the higher-end Becker radios. I have never had one that failed in the manner that the OP has described, leading me to believe that the radio is not broken but rather it is a loose wire.

When it doesn't play just static but you have to turn the volume up pretty high to hear it. When it does play, the station is not totally clear like the station is not tuned in. No lights go on, single speaker in the dash. I have time to pull it tomorrow so thanks for the reply and any suggestions.

1. Replace the lightbulb. (easier said than done) this gives you an indicator of whether or not you are getting power.

2. When it doesn't play, static and you have to turn it up high. This is bad from my perspective, meaning not DIY. However I would take the cover off the radio and spray the hell out of the radio with CRC tuner / electronics cleaner.

3. When it does play - again try the tuner cleaner.

If tuner cleaner doesn't work, based on what you are saying, I think it is not DIY to repair.

that's my 2 cents. Good luck!

Thank you. I'll give it a try.

Had this condition in three of my MB's - took the VOL knob off and sprayed electric cleaner into the opening. Every one works fine now. Glad I read this post as that was an annoying condition.

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I run a German auto repair shop in eastern Long Island and have used stereo repair world for years,I highly recommend,he changes all the bad caps and realigns the radios nicely,just picked up a Becker Europa and blaupunkt Frankfurt that I had serviced and my customers are very pleased. Reasonable too

Can you give us an idea of how reasonable it was for the Becker Europa and the Bluapunkt Frankfurt?