I just bought this unit on eBay for $25.


I plugged it in to my car to test it, and there are a couple problems with it. Immediately apparent, the panel with the balance, fade, volume, etc. does not light up. I'm assuming a bulb is out. Could this be the case? The controls on that panel do work.

The display also seems to be broken. The first half displays numbers, but it is VERY dim, with horizontal lines cutting across the entire display. I imagine the easiest way to fix it would be to replace the display.

The tape deck works. However, it only plays clear sound in one direction. The other direction sounds extremely muffled. It could be the crappy Journey tape I used, but I didn't think of trying anything else when I had it plugged in. Due to other parts of the radio being broken, I assumed the tape deck was damaged as well.

Any help on how to go about fixing it would be greatly appreciated. I realize it may not be worth it, but being this radio is somewhat rare, I'd like to fix it.

Sorry for the long read.

 

Try contacting these guys and explaining whats wrong. They repair radios and might be able to help. They may want you to send it in to them, that might be more expensive than whats its worth.
http://mnrelectronics.com/

 

I'll try that, thanks.


Also, does anyone know what this tab is for?

 

sounds like a bad bulb,the usual broken solder joints,
and a very dirty tape head or faulty cassette are causing
the trouble...Display problem is most likely caused by
broken solder joints.Another problem that occurs with
these blaupunkt transport delcos is the earlier white
hub pinch rollers often get hard with age and will cause
the tape to misstrack and get "eaten"The later black
hub pinch rollers(~1991 up) seem to have better
rubber and are usually good-1980s alpine pinch rollers
also work good in these if the bushing is shaved down
just a bit

 

Contact a guy named doctordon.com He specializes in GM radio repairs. I am not sure if he does that type of radio but he helped me a great deal on getting the bose working in my 90 corvette

 

Alright, I got the top and bottom covers off and the face-plate loose. It appears I need to go behind that board on the top. How do I get in there?

 

It's your lucky day because I found your thread and I just happen to have one of those repaired and still apart. (Honeydo list preventing)
The strap on the side is a ground strap for the volume/fade/am/fm ect module.
There are 2 bulbs in it, replaceable with Radio Shack 272-1154 if you trim the extra plastic off. The module itself can be taken apart carefully but will have to be glued back together.
But before you go there, lets look for other things. Dead insects, bad solder joints, particularly on that 8 conductor ribbon to the lower board and the connections on the main power inlet board. Sounds like a bad grounding issue. Not for the faint of heart. Get a 12 volt power supply and some speakers to work on a bench with it.

I have one on ebay for sale
http://www.ebay.com/itm/160795627175...84.m1555.l2649

These are rare radios and hardly anyone is in the market to repair them.
All else fails send it to me I'll see what I can do with it. But again, sounds like a grounding issue.

 

Are the bulbs underneath the plastic on the face of it, or between where the harness connects to a panel and the actual plastic piece that protrudes from the face?


I don't see any dead insects in there, just the usual dust and the occasional hair. All the solder joints in the places you mentioned look good to me.

 

The three bulbs that light up when the car lights are on are inside of the switch assembly. Hard to believe that all three are burned out. Judging by the other problems, some other circiut may be at fault. Here is a diagram for the switch assembly and the front cover of the manual you need from Elliots Radio
http://www.elliottsradio.com/cubecar...ewCat&catId=17