2006 F150 SuperCrew, drove it last week, parked in the driveway all weekend… Radio worked fine, but this evening, absolutely no power. Heater, other unrelated things are fine… No subwoofer, so the standard setup, CD/Tape/AM/FM/Sirius radio… While out with DW, as she shopped, I found a YouTube, I see there are 3 suspect fuses, two 20A, one 20A, under a cover on the passenger foot space, too late, cold, dark tonight, so tomorrow, I’ll see, but I have no idea why it would be this dead with noting to cause it…
So, as an alternate I’m off to Crutchfield’s to see if my old choices are viable, or are there other options now, it’s been a few years (2017) since I last looked… Need CarPlay, Sirius, maybe a newer Sirius that can Update in the background, current one is annoying as it stops playing until it finishes… Bluetooth is likely part of CarPlay…
Update, took it by my mechanic’s shop, he checked the fuses, none blown… So the mystery deepens… no charge… No fix…
Auto stereo shops are rather rare in the local area, 16 miles up the road a Best Buy has their Geek Squad, but their replacement choices are really limited. Kenwood DDX9707S @ $849, Free Install seems their best bet, but no openings until February 2nd…
We used to have a local shop, I had them add an alarm system on my earlier Chevy, but, no longer around…
Crutchfield’s has Alpines listed, but all out of stock unless it’s the $1400 or higher, also a more complex, video I don’t want, need… Simpler ones, maybe deserve a closer look…
The silence, diving, is bugging’ me, tire road noise, sounds from other cars… Strange…
I would have suggested that you look for a replacement from a salvage yard except you want a radio with all the modern stuff. It may make it difficult to find a replacement with CarPlay. That is just a recent addition on many vehicles. When it comes to fitting third party systems into the current space of older vehicles, I’m way outside my knowledge base.
No CARTOYS in your area? Might see how far to get to them… at the least, educate yourself?
…or you can do what Mrs PL does and plug in earbuds for your drive… I, however, DO NOT CONDONE THIS! It is not a safe habit to get into, for the short or long term.
Actually, I drive without music, anymore. Prefer to to hear that car, in my blind spot, if I can’t see it. I also have another drawback, I’ve been tested and can hear frequencies that most can’t… broaching on 20kHz… very sensitive/annoying hearing. Didn’t help that I was a roadie, 30+ years ago…
Indeed, old days without the crop of iPhones, iPads, were not around like today, and we are spoiled rotten. I am finding some units I can live with, but most need links to the truck’s parking brake or reverse gear indicator, so more complications… All pushing me to go for someone that can do the installation completely… So, still looking… With no fuses blown, it’s almost like the head unit (Radio) itself may have folded…
If I were much younger, thinner, I’d dive in, rip it apart, see what’s going on behind the dash. I have all the F15’s Shop Manuals, so I can look up the wiring, beyond what the owner’s manual shows, butA waste of time if someone else is going to do it… But being curious… Will take a look…
OK. It could be "tied" to something else that has failed... or is close.
Got an OBDII reader? Some of the better readers can do lots... like read Mrs PL's Honda Civic Batteries and their status... or seeing that the AC compressor is ABOUT to fail. Some local autoparts stores can also read your truck's OBDII, usually for free.
[ww.ideas.pl](http://ww.ideas.pl)
Nope, no Car Toys in California, but if I keep digging, I think I can find an Installer… I’m in sonoma County, but marin County, just N of SF has an old long time dealer, MASA, but it’s 20+ miles Sooth, in an industrial area, so nothing to do while they would have it… So still looking…
Rather not so the headset/earbud thing… Could be very expensive… I’ve done it, but…
The Cartronics shop in Santa Rosa may be where I end up… I’m headed up that way in the morning to see my ortho doc, so maybe stop in afterwards, see what the options are… Maybe they can find the missing power for now, schedule a replacement for later…
LOL...
...and have access denied to everything you don't "need"?! (*...to drive*) ...ie: bT/CarPlay/Sirius/ect?
[ww.luvit.beenthere.donethat.pl/40+yearsago/custombuiltcarsys...](http://ww.luvit.beenthere.donethat.pl/40+yearsago/custombuiltcarsystems.since1978/)
Yes, i have a couple OBD2 readers, wifi, bluetooth, tied to an app on my iPhone… Used it to teach misfires years ago, handy… Had a special Ford Otion in one of them… Ended up replacing all the Plugs, VOPs, as they were carbon locked, so tried to put off the hazardous plug removal… It worked out well in the end…
Time to either trade the truck in or learn to sing. But seriously the radio in my 08 Tundra Limited double cab never gets played when I’m aboard. My son tells me it works but I prefer to hear the purr of the V8 engine.
I had an appointment early, but after stopped by, and Bingo, he had the stuff, and he had a opening! Walked in at 10:20 AM, drove out an hour later with the unit installed! $399 for the unit parts, labor, brought it to about $700…
Alpine iLX-W650 unit, seems to sell everywhere for the same price, trick was to find a willing installer and I just got lucky. I did not add the SiriusXM radio, as with CarPlay, the Sirius App on my iPhone, plays right into it, over time I’ll add favorites, etc. I need to sort some of it out with Sirius, killing the old OEM radio, adding Sirius to DW’s iPhone, maybe save a bit. Or if it’s painful, add the available plugin later… No backup camera or anything else that would have taken longer than the open one hour slot…
They left the old radio on the floor of the passenger side, no mention of what may have been the lack of power problem, so my guess is the old radio itself is DOA…
Likely a standard 30 days or 30 feet… Installer business has been around since 1984, don’t think there’s a problem… Alpine has a ton of info online, downloaded the 58 page manual… Need to read through it, but a lot is pretty obvious after watching YouTube reviews, info overload!!
Re- Warranty, I found it online, there was a card in the box, I never received, but it’s a regular one year defects coverage, see the dealer, etc…
Today I took the old Ford OEM radio apart, curiosity got me… And I wanted to get my Grease soundtrack CD out… Mission accomplished… Interestingly mechanically complex unit, maybe 4 circuit boars, main one they soldered the mounting screw in place, maybe the perfect grounding connection… Did not see anything broken, burnt, cracked that might have been why it wouldn’t power up… Also no obvious Sirius OEM tuner, one chip is under a shield I can’t remove, in fact just pinched myself with the nippers trying to open it, must be the Sirius decoder… (not bleeding)
So, after a trip locally, fiddling with it, the Alpine, the use of my iPhone to deal with Sirius is a PITA, I’m thinking I’m going to holler for help, let the dealer dude add the tuner jobber… More $$, & time, but in the end, simpler to deal with…
More $$, & time, but in the end, simpler to deal with…
OMG... makes me wish for an ol'school AM/FM/CD car stereo... JVC, Alpine, TEAC, ect... front/back/right/left/vol adjustments... remember "simple"?
Sounds like such a headache! And now you know why I (rarely) run a radio in my car...
[ww.simpleisGOOD.pl](http://ww.simpleisGOOD.pl)
Well, yes, techy stuff happens, but I’ve dealt with techy stuff since the '50s, I guess wen I’d get old radios from the old repair shop that they’d given up on, take 'em home, take 'em apart, save the ‘good’ stuff, scrap the rest… If it was a nice hardwood console, Dad would turn it into a set of drawers, or just cut it up, use for firewood… So many cigar boxes of pieces and parts later, I worked at Western Electric/Lucent for nearly 40 years, generally with the latest state of th art gear, from early solid state to microwave transmission gear to switching systems to cellular & data systems… So I can’t let a little car radio bug me, might cost me a couple bucks, but I can’t make chips and magical satellite decoders, so we’ll let those that can do it, let dividends pay for it…
The old unit was unique, but not for '06, cassette tape player, CD player plus AM/FM/Sirius… But that OEM Sirius would interrupt whatever was on to update their menus, menus I never saw or used as only the later decoders used them… So whatever made the old radio die, pushed me into he next/current world… But having to use my iPhone, while driving, to change channels, sources is not a great idea… Better to have the real deal…
And now Maps, or Google Maps, or even Waze can be used at the same time, while listening to News, or music or podcasts, whatever…
I’m convinced… Will call for an appointment tomorrow…