Radio stuck "on" in 420SEL

[John H]

The factory Becker radio will not turn off. It runs with the key out of the ignition and now the off button will not work. Pulled the fuse for the radio but that didn't do it. I then tried each fuse individually but that did not work either. I'm guessing somebody monkeyed with the wiring (that's why pulling the fuse didn't work) but on the off chance that this has happened to somebody before I thought I would post before tearing into it. Many thanks!

John H

[Ron Johnstone]

The previous owner probably jumped the input power lead to the always on hot lead for the memory so he could listen without that damn buzzer annoying him. The original wiring should be still somewhere back of the radio. As far as the bad switch goes, try a bit of tuner cleaner into the switch mechanism while exercising the switch. It frequently works wonders. WD-40 can also be used but it is messier. If that doesn't work, you either have to get the radio expensively repaired or buy another, better and more modern one. You could also wire around it by installing an external switch to control input power to the radio.

[rdetoy]

Beckers do sometimes short out internally and go nuts. I had one do it in the middle of a long drive at the tail end of business hours for radio shops. Fortunately, I found a shop that yanked the Becker and installed an aftermarket stereo that hasn't skipped a beat since.

[ejsharp]

The cleaner is your best bet... WD-40 etc. You may have gotten soap solution in back of the button while cleaning the dash... or former owner did.