Radio not working

[mrichard]

Ok - I pulled my stock AM radio after it cut out about 5 months ago. It's getting power just fine to the set, and even inside it there is power registering. But no sound. I'm thinking it could be the speaker - although I'm not sure why it would be (it only had 39k miles when I bought it, and I daily drive it about 70 miles) - it is almost like new inside.

Any other ideas on what to check. I noticed the wire inside that connects to the speaker is not getting power, but I'm not sure it is supposed to.

Thanks for any ideas here.

 

[67Dart273]

Sounds like you are talking about a simple old AM only radio. Details would be helpful.

If that is what you have, then ALL you have is three wires and a case ground

1 fused power to the radio

2 lamp connection to the dial lamp

4 speaker out

This is simple. Ground the case, connect the power wire, and a speaker, even one off your computer and try it. Don't forget some sort of antenna

There should NOT be power (DC 12V) on the speaker wire, and do NOT run power to it.

If it won't work, it's time to either look for a replacement, or find someone who "knows electronics" that wants to fix it.

If there's no "thump" in the speaker when you turn it on, it might be something simple like the output transistor

 

[mrichard]

Thanks. Yes it is just a stock AM one speaker radio. Not really a big deal if I don't fix it - the slant six sings it's own tunes. But, I did do what you said and still no sound. I get power into it, but nothing out the speaker.

 

[1BadDodge71]

Sometimes the stock radios crap out.My original one works but now my car has a simple 2 shaft AM/FM cassette with an aux for Ipod(I cannot stand not having a radio,lol)These radios are not very hard to find.In fact here is one on eBay going for pretty cheap :cheers:http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Dodge-Dart-AM-Radio-1970-75-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem4aa56bc617QQitemZ320602883607QQptZVintageQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

 

[superchargeddrt]

I used to repair car radios. Check the antenna. If the antenna is open or has a bad ground to the fender it won't put out any sound. If you've got a ohm meter check to make sure your speaker isn't open. It should read 8 ohms accross the speaker connections. Also when you touch the connections with the ohm meter you should hear a clicking sound from the speaker. If you don't have a meter you can use a battery and a couple of wires and go across the speaker connector and listen for the click. If you can hear the click the speaker is good. The final thing would be the audio output transistor on the side of the radio but that might be something you might not want to try changing if you're a novice at electronics. Good Luck

 

[67Dart273]

you can use a battery and a couple of wires and go across the speaker connector and listen for the click. If you can hear the click the speaker is good.

To be clear, you do NOT want to use a car battery for this check. Use a small flashlight battery or a "half dead" 9 volt

 

[superchargeddrt]

To be clear, you do NOT want to use a car battery for this check. Use a small flashlight battery or a "half dead" 9 volt

Absolutely DO NOT USE THE CAR BATTERY!!!. Thanks for pointin that out.

 

[1969dodgedartgt]

i'm gona try changing my output transistor, thanks

 

[1969dodgedartgt]

I tested my output transistor and it works fine, any advice as to what I should test next?

ha check this guys setup
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LUak8v3OU4&feature=related"]YouTube - Testing Capacitors part 1[/ame]

this looks very helpful, check capacitors
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0L2wOBBsKA"]YouTube - First Zenith Royal "500" Transistor Radio Repair 1955[/ame]