190E Stereo Problems and Questions
 

Hello all,

The stereo and speakers in my 1991 190E is completely stock.

The speakers randomly stop playing music. Sometimes when I turn the car on they work, other times they don't. One time I shut the passenger side door and that made the speakers work...

The head unit seems to be working just fine and the power antenna is working fine, so what could be causing the speakers to not be working?

I've heard something about loose connections in the stock amp, but where is that located? Anything else that could be loose?

Thanks!!

Try cleaning the fader switch first and see if that helps.

It looks like the previous owner might have tinkered with the fader switch because it looks a lot more worn out than the other switches.

Pardon my ignorance, but how exactly would I clean the switch? Does it just pop out or do I need to remove the center console?

Not sure what year yours is but on my 84 the console has to come out. Come to think of it I have never cleaned out a fader switch, take it out and try to spray some electric contact cleaner in the switch. If that does not work, you will have to take it apart and clean the contacts.

How exactly would I go about removing the console to get to the switch?

Do I have to remove the entire console, or can I just remove the wood trim?

Thanks.

Just the wood trim.

Yeah, CAREFULLY pop up the wooden trim. It chips VERY easily.

Get some good speakers, those factory Becker Alpine units are pretty good stereos when they're working right. You'll have to solder the leads from the old speakers onto the new ones if you want to use the factory speaker connections, just pay attention to which wires are pos or neg.

So I took out the fader switch, cleaned it, then put it back in. Still doesn't work.

Should I bother replacing the switch, check something else, or just go ahead and replace the head unit?

Thanks.

If you have time , I would go to the junkyard. I found all the switches that I need,including the coveted power seat switches . I would at least give it a shot , heck of a lot less expensive than a new fader switch.
The stealership wanted $43.00. for a window switch , went to the yard' and got one for $5.00 . still works too. Some of these parts can be found on the Peachtree website also.
Happy hunting.. It's sweet that the orig. Becker unit still works ..

Take out the ashtray and try jiggling some of the wires in back to see if it causes the speakers to go in/out. It just sounds like a bad connection somewhere - but it could be much more complicated if your car has an active bass system with amps in the trunk or rear seat.

Edit: I'm not sure if 190Es had the same audio system as the 300E, I misread the title of thread

Is there any way to confirm that the problem is indeed the fader switch before I spend time/money trying to find a new one?

I bypassed the fader switch in mine and it still does the same thing. Turn it on, works for a few seconds then you hear the sound fade away almost completely. I'm pretty sure its the head unit that needs to be replaced in our 93 2.3.

Read up in the audio system forum (here in the peach parts forums). There's LOTS of info on these stereos, and I'm sure there's probably several threads on this speaker problem which actually seems pretty common. My 300E has this issue.
The head unit in my kid's 190E went bad and I was able to find the information I needed in the Audio forum. In my case, I learned of a place called Becker Auto Sound (I think) in North Jersey where you can trade in your head unit for a refurbished original for $150 (1-year warranty). They'll add an external 1/8" audio jack so you can plug an iPod or other audio input for an extra $50. They'll also do other repairs as well. I drove up since I only live about an hour and a half away, but they do it via mail too.

I want to check the wiring connected to the amp, but i'm not sure where its at.

I've heard in the trunk area, but I can't seem to find it. I've also read that it can be located in other places in the older models, I just don't know where?

Does anyone know? I've done lots of searching but can't find the answers.

Well I found the amp and all of the wiring seems ok.

Next I'll just replace the fader switch and see if that works.