Another epic blose thread. So i bought my 1986 vette about 3 months ago and the radio didnt work. Neither did the antenna because my sister took the car for a ride through a car wash with the radio on (when it worked). It stopped working after my brother in law had the tranny replaced. If you can figure that one out id be impressed. so i checked the Ctsy/clk fuse, tore the dash apart to check all of the wiring, replaced the audio relay, took the head unit apart to clean it, put it back together, nothing. when the head unit is installed, the volume can be turned up to hear static in the speakers, so they work. Also, the bal. etc works on the radio but no music, only static. so by this point i figured it was the antenna that was the problem. the wires to it had been cut after its washing experience sice that broke the ribbon on the inside. replaced the antenna with a genaric one from Checker down the street but the wiring to that is a bit funky as well. it has a positive and negative as well as a ground so i hooked it up to the wires coming from the antenna relay per a wiring schematic i found on here. still nothing. then i went out and got a cheap new head unit to see if i could get that to work as well as the scosche wiring harness and adapter (FAI-3) to match the reisistance coming from the speakers. still nothing. i am simply at my whits end and have no clue where to go from here. i am planning on calling scosche tomorrow to ask about the adapter but as far as everything else i have no clue where to go from here. so i figured i would consult the gratuitous amounts of knowledge on here. if you have any idea what it could be, or could point me in the right direction i would appreciate it very much. also, if your interested in buying the stock speakers/head unit if nothing works, let me know, ive about had it with them. thanks again!

 

ttt

 

"the volume can be turned up to hear static in the speakers,"

Have you tried plugging a regular antenna into the socket on the back of the radio to confirm it actually picks up a signal?

 

Do you have the remote signal wire hooked up? There should be some type of a wire, from the head unit, to trigger the antenna to operate, and shut off, if using after market radio. Hard to say, one does not know how you wired the antenna up? you should of kept it original. replacement antenna are on E-bay for next to nothing. I would try to keep it simple for you. I removed my BOSE, for an awesome 6 speaker, multi component, 2 sub-woofer system, SIRIUS, CD Changer, the way a vette's radio was meant to sound like.

 

thanks for the help guys i appreciate it. i tried your suggestions, checked the connections but still got nothing. any other ideas? how much did it cost for you to re-do the sound system? what size speakers fit into the holes? did you have to do any modifications to the mounts? thanks again.

 

Is it a stock radio that came with the car or is it an aftermarket radio? I assume the lights and everything turn on when you power up the radio? Does your unit play a tape or CD or at least go through the motions, even if theres no sounds.

 

I have tried both the factory radio that came with the car and an aftermarket radio as well. they both will go through the motions and light up all perty but no sound. do you think the amps or something like that might be bad?

 

i should clarify, with the stock unit in, if i turn up the volume all the way up i get static but with the aftermarket unit i dont get static. i figure with the aftermarket unit that was a problem with mixing bose speakers/amps with other units. so i got the converter to match the resistance but still get nothing. any ideas?

 

Each speaker has its own amplifier and first you need to determine if the radio is sending audio to the speaker amplifiers. You can tune the radio into a local strong station and use an ac voltmeter or some high impedance headphones on the audio connection from the radio to the speaker amplifiers to see if there is any signal there. This will tell you that the radio is working but not the amplifiers. From your symptoms, I think that the rf-if part of the radio is not working since you hear static. You might consider sending the radio out for repair.

 

There are 2 ground straps connected to your tranny, one on the drivers side bellhousing and one on the top right.
Are they both connect to the bellhousing?
Also, if they radio lights up and there is static, then the CDM most likely is the problem.

 

"the scosche wiring harness and adapter (FAI-3) to match the resistance coming from the speakers. still nothing."

I had one of those adapters go bad. My radio acted the same way as yours. Scosche replace my adapter under the warranty.

 

thank you for your help. sorry im so naieve but what is the CDM? thanks again.

 

It's tuner module and your car never came with one.

 

You don't ever mention the radio fuse, did you test it ?? The Bose unit needs both power supplies, radio and clk/ctsy.
I ditched all the Bose long ago, with no regrets.
http://members.shaw.ca/agent86/Radio.pdf

 

I checked all the fuses etc and still nothing. i have a feeling it is the ground to the bell housing. (school seems to be taking up too much time. that time of the year again!) That would certainly do it. thank you all again for your help. i certainly appreciate it. ill let you all know what i find. however do you have any tips on getting to it with out dropping the tranny? and also Agent 86, where do you find all of those awesome PDFs that you post. if i could find that book somewhere or find where you get those it would certainly be an asset to my project. thanks a bunch again.

 

I scanned my entire FSM and put it into PDF. If you need a section, just PM me.
All the block grounds are in one location on my 86. Bolted to the block, right above the oil filter.

Have you tested to see if 12 volts is making it to the amps, when radio is turned on ??