Radio flaking up in my 1990 Pontiac Grand Prix

[sonick]

My radio's been acting up in my (er, my dad's) 1990 Grand Prix STE the last year or so and i have no idea why...

 

i remember the day it happened, i was driving down a bumpy construction zone, i hit a big bump, then suddenly the radio went staticy.

 

The thing is, the static isnt just pure static (like on a TV), rather it seems to pick up one station throughout the entire radio spectrum, but its really fuzzy, not clear at all..

 

occasionally, it will work again, usually when i first start the car. but then after a few minutes, it will go momentarily swithc back to static, then swithc back to normal operation.

 

I also find that when i apply the brake, itll 'pop' and momentarily have a second or so of static.

 

my dad's mechanic friend swapped something near the antennae, but it didnt solve anything.

 

any ideas?

 

thanks

[sl3196]

Is the antenna plugged securely into the back of the stereo?

[sonick]

hmm, havent checked that end, only checked the end towards the antenna... i dont know how to access the back panel of the stereo, any general instructions? :oops:

[sonick]

i took out the head unit and checked the connections at the back, all were secure...

 

any other ideas? could it be the stereo itself?

[GP1138]

That sounds familiar. Replace the head unit itself. I had that problem once, the brake pedal triggering static. I think the amp is fucked.

[sonick]

the brake pedal triggering static.

 

Yeah, thats exactly one of the symptoms...

 

the amp is fine, its just the radio reception... i can listen to audio through cassette just fine...

[1990lumina]

Maybe try disconnecting the antenna all together, and run a piece of wire to the back of the strereo temprarily....maybe the antenna wire's insulation is touching metal (worn a hole through the insulation) and it is touching metal that is grounding something....sounds way far fetched...but if it is just the tuner then I'm forcing on the tuner part...could be the tuner in your head unit is fucked as well...but with the electricial problems (brake pedal and staic) something doesn't seem right...

 

- Jeff L.

[sonick]

well, tried hooking up some miscellaneous wire to the antenna input on the head unit, no dice...

 

i notice that if anything electrical is changed in some way (brakes, trunk open button, headlights, changing gears on the tranny, etc) will cause the sound from the radio to change in one way or another (be it just a click, or total static)...

 

also, occasionally it will pick up radio signals, but it is only ONE station, no matter which station i switch to on the HU, its still gonna be that station (but sometimes more static sometimes more clear)

 

how odd... maybe ill buy an antenna from Candian Tire, and hook it up.. maybe its the antenna itself, coz the powered antenna i have right now is not working properly, it doesnt extend all the way, when the mast goes up you can hear the gears grinding, and usually the teeth dont 'catch' to pull the mast back down...

[1990lumina]

Could be a capacitor in the tuner also that might be going...that might explain the electricial related problems...Idunno, really wierd

[digitaloutsider]

The radio is just on it's way out.

[one_fast_prix]

i know this is an old post, but maybe someone will come across it like i did, mine does the exact same shit, it definitely is the radio, when i try an aftermarket or even another gm radio everything works fine, so its the radio, prob a simple fix but never took one apart

[sonick]

Yah, i just got an aftermarket HU installed, worked perfectly fine.

 

It was the radio itself, not the wiring or anything.