OEM Volvo Radio problems, fixable, or replacable?

Hello, you lovely bunch of car folk

My radio from my 93 240 is dying. When pushing in the nob, and clicking it
to the center, I only hear audio out of my right speaker. After about 75%
farther to the right, i can hear out of both speakers. But, often, it just
kicks over to one side or the other. Turning the radio off, then back on,
sometimes fixes it, sometimes not.

I read once that the traces on the board sometimes fry or degrade, causing a
channel to spontaneously shut off, or turn on. Could this be what I'm
experiencing? Maybe the dial itself needs replacing, or what? If its some
bad traces, and a somewhat simple board, I could rig up a fix, but If its
unfixable I dont wan't to deal with it.

I figure I'd ask the group before trying to remove the radio from the car,
which I also would have to figure out how to do.

Are there any tricks to getting it out? Are there any precautions I should
follow to make my struggle easier?

Is there a specific size to the radios? All the ones I see at consumer
electronics stores are rather small, and flashy. I'd rather repair this one,
then spend the money on a flashy head unit, with a CD player and flashing
lights to distract me, when I really just need radio and a cassette deck to
play my iPod through.

Thanks.

briankeys!

 

Go to Crutchfield.com -- fit charts, harnesss, tech assist, etc..

 

Hmm. I'm more looking forward to fixing it, myself.

 

Sounds to me like the solder joints on the volume control are cracking, if
you can get to them it should be trivial to heat them up and add a bit more
solder, just make sure you use rosin core and a reasonable sized soldering
iron, not some old monster made for vacuum tubes sockets.

 

You should be able to find an OEM replacement on ebay or at volvoworld.com

 

It seems "bad solder joints" are the "fix" for everything!!!!!!!!

orrrrrrrrrrrrrrr,...... it's "just" a dirty control.
Do you hear "cracking" while adjusting the volume???

The volume control is more likely just dirty which requires a thorough
spraying with an electronic cleaner..... take the deck out,... (to get
to the volume control) and spray inside it while rotating the knob all
the way ( don't have the unit turned on) Repeat a few times.
Herman, '83 282 5.0 H.O. fomerly 242 Turbo intercooled

 

Right, cracky little solder joints are easy to fix.
But I recall hearing SOME crackling, albeit very minor. I'll try replacing
the knob, if even possible
Thanks.

Any tips in reguards to removing the radio from the dash, would be
appreciated as well.

-bk

 

You don't have to replace anything yet! Try the spray idea, it may
even work by taking off the knobs and spraying the bared shaft. Did
for me

Cheers,

Jim Kelly


| Right, cracky little solder joints are easy to fix.
| But I recall hearing SOME crackling, albeit very minor. I'll try
replacing
| the knob, if even possible
| Thanks.
|
| Any tips in reguards to removing the radio from the dash, would be
| appreciated as well.
|
| -bk
|
| | > James Sweet wrote:
| > > | > >
| > >>Hmm. I'm more looking forward to fixing it, myself.
| > >>
| > >
| > >
| > >
| > > Sounds to me like the solder joints on the volume control are
cracking,
| if
| > > you can get to them it should be trivial to heat them up and
add a bit
| more
| > > solder, just make sure you use rosin core and a reasonable
sized
| soldering
| > > iron, not some old monster made for vacuum tubes sockets.
| > >
| > >
| > It seems "bad solder joints" are the "fix" for
everything!!!!!!!!
| >
| > orrrrrrrrrrrrrrr,...... it's "just" a dirty control.
| > Do you hear "cracking" while adjusting the volume???
| >
| > The volume control is more likely just dirty which requires a
thorough
| > spraying with an electronic cleaner..... take the deck out,...
(to get
| > to the volume control) and spray inside it while rotating the
knob all
| > the way ( don't have the unit turned on) Repeat a few times.
| > Herman, '83 282 5.0 H.O. fomerly 242 Turbo intercooled
| >
|
|

 

Hmm..

I still cant figure out how to get the damn thing out of the dash.

And it's such a warm day out in New York today@!

-bk

 

What sort of car is this? If it's a later 240 you need to remove the guage
bezels or blank panels to the left of the radio, they just pop off, if it's
an early 240 you remove the center console front and side panels, if it's a
740 I forget, but I think there's a nut at the very back then clips that
hold the deck in, I took out the pod under it to figure out how to get mine
out but that was a couple years ago.

 

Bad news, but my experience is that it's a nightmare to remove a
stereo head unit from a 240. I have an '89 240 estate/stationwagon.
After removing the various fascia pieces on the dash which sit around
the side of the unit I thought that it would just slide out. How wrong
I was!

After taking the glove compartment out so that I could reach the rear
of the unit I discovered a metal bar that was bolted onto the rear of
the unit and onto the chassis. In such a confined space at the back of
the unit I couldn't get a spanner/wrench in there and so eventually
had to use a hammer and other rather aggressive means to simply snap
the bar.

The other problem I had is that the plastic fascia that the stereo
unit sits in is just slightly narrower than the modern standard size.
I had to file the sides of the opening so that my new stereo head unit
would fit.

All that said, the spaeaker wiring is surprisingly good and with two
new Pioneer speakers in the front doors, a 200W amp in the space
beneath the boot/trunk which powers a 200W sub and the sheer size of
the car (which means the sound travels much better than in a smaller
car) the whole system is now really good without a big spend on fancy
toys.

Good luck getting that head unit out!

Tim Butt