[V8] Bose Radio failure

Thu Jun 14 07:03:38 PDT 2012

Alan: Yes, I have both.  It isn't raining today, so I will get to 
investigate properly....no room in the garage at present.

I haven't checked the cigar lighter, but everything else on the circuit 
according to the owners manual is working.

Roger

-----Original Message----- 
From: Allan Vega
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2012 7:45 AM
To: Roger M. Woodbury
Cc: v8 at audifans.com
Subject: Re: [V8] Bose Radio failure

Roger, do you own a test light or multi meter? Very easy to verify if you 
have juice or not at the radio, especially if you already have it out. You 
can use the door latch post to check for continuity between the ground wire 
at the head unit. You may also use that same post when checking for voltage 
at the power supply at the deck unit. Power should be constant, as our cars 
radios are not switched at the ignition. One last thing, Does you cigar 
lighter work? If not, check fuse four in the pass side kick panel, both the 
radio and cigar lighter are on the same circuit

Allan

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 14, 2012, at 4:48 AM, "Roger M. Woodbury" <rmwoodbury at fairpoint.net> 
wrote:

> Ricky:  My head unit is completely dead.  I pulled it out of the dash on 
> advice of listers here looking for another in-line fuse but seriously 
> doubt there is one, now that I found the head unit has a fuse built into 
> its back.
>
> So, my conclusion is that the head unit is internally dead.  If your radio 
> lights up but does nothing other than that, I would suspect an internal 
> failure of some sort.  Have you tried all of the radio controls to see if 
> they do anything.  You might try stuffing a cassette into the slot to see 
> if the radio reacts to that also.
>
> This is the first radio failure I have ever experienced in any car I have 
> ever owned that had OEM radio equipment.  I have never even had a pixel go 
> dark in the face of any of the OEM radios I had in the past. That being 
> said, this is the first time that I have had a twenty-two year old radio 
> head  or a twenty-two year old car for that matter.
>
> Now, it will get pretty interesting.  We had to replace the Bose head unit 
> in my wife’s 100CS not long after we bought that car in 2001.  We got a 
> factory reman unit from Audi in that case, but that radio failed about a 
> week later after we had driven to Florida.  I went to a local radio shop 
> in Boca Raton, I think it was, and bought a Nakamichi head unit and had it 
> installed.  I plays through the Audi/Bose speakers very well and has 
> worked generally well since that day.  It’s a CD player also, so it makes 
> up for what the wagon didn’t have to begin with.  I am thinking I might do 
> the same thing here, given the availability of new, old stock Nakamichi 
> radios on eBay at not bad prices.
>
> The alternative is to send the Bose headunit out to have it repaired. 
> There used to be places that did this sort of thing, and I imagine there 
> still may be.  I haven’t looked.  I used a cassette connection for an old 
> Sony Walkman for CD in the car before which worked well, and the Bose head 
> unit is the only one I know of that looks like it belongs in the dash.
>
> First though, I will probe the electrical outlets in the plugs that were 
> in the back of my radio to see if anything there is actually live.  If 
> there is no power coming TO the radio, then there will be a problem in 
> somewhere in the dash board between the fuse in the fuse panel and the 
> radio, which I find almost impossible to believe could happen.
>
> I am betting my radio head unit has failed.
>
> Roger
>
> For what it is worth, the Bose speakers were rebuilt by the company that I 
> bought the car from in Pittsburg three years ago.  I know the Naka head 
> unit can be plug and play with them.
>
> Oh, yeah, the availability of car stereo repair shops here in Maine is of 
> two varieties.  Slim to very few, and all are either 50 to 175 miles away. 
> Not good.
>
>
> From: Ricky Joshi
> Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2012 2:36 PM
> To: Roger M. Woodbury
> Cc: V8 at audifans.com
> Subject: Re: [V8] Bose Radio failure
>
> Roger does it still light up?  My unit is lighting up (the dash lights 
> part) but there is no reaction when I twist the dial to turn it on...any 
> ideas?  Thanks!  I figure you might have some experience with this.
>
> Ricky
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 13, 2012 at 1:26 PM, Roger M. Woodbury 
> <rmwoodbury at fairpoint.net> wrote:
>
>  While I was waiting for my wife to finish with her appointment this 
> morning, I pulled the Bose radio head unit out of its slot.  This time I 
> unplugged it completely and looked at it from all sides, finding a 5 amp 
> fuse in the back of the radio.
>
>  I removed the 5 amp fuse and naturally, since it was pouring rain and I 
> was comfy, dry and warm in the driver’s seat, I dropped the 5 amp fuse 
> down between the driver’s seat and the console.  Not to worry:  I had a 
> package of fuses in the glove box, popped one in, replugged the unit and 
> found.........NOTHING.
>
>  I will play around with my handy-dandy electric probe later, but I 
> suspect my Bose head unit has died....unless there is yet another fuse 
> inline, which makes NO sense to me whatsoever.  Unless an over abundance 
> of inline fuses was what caused the price of these cars to be so high 
> originally.
>
>  Roger
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