Can I make this radio work?
 

My beautiful wife recently noticed I was researching radios for my car. I had a Pioneer unit that worked great with Bluetooth for the phone and USB hook up for the ipod but stuck out like a Christmas tree. My goal was functionality with a more stock look. I was saving the radios I was interested in to my ipad home screen. She saw this and wanting to get me the perfect Birthday present (anything for my car) She bought what she thought was the "prettiest" one the CDR-220. I like the look but wasn't sure it would work so I asked what I thought were the experts. I won't mention them by name just yet. They said it would take some doing ("doing" means 600.00) but they could make it work with Bluetooth for the phone and get my music from the ipod. This turned out to be false. The Bluetooth signal overlays the FM signal so if you have your Bluetooth turned on you don't get any radio stations...well you get one. And they couldn't come up with a way to connect the ipod. But the biggest ordeal is the lighted display. You can't see it. This radio has a wire that is supposed to connect to the car in order to dim the display when the headlights are turned on. With no feature on our cars like this the display remains dim 24-7. Can any of you Audiophiles out there help out? With my wife's investment in the radio and my cost of installation we're around 900 bucks into this. HELP!!

That link seems to help the aux in issue. Maybe you can find a bluetooth adapter that can use that aux in option. Anyway, cable is better than no option...

On the dim light, i have this radio in my 964 and it's same story, dim. Id maybe incorrectly assumed it was an issue with the display.

If the stereo has a wire that can trigger the "lights on or off" like most aftermarket stereos do, you just need to tap that into the dash light and could use the one for the defrost or fogs. I'm going off a guess here ... i just don't know if that stereo has that wire and which one it would be.

The LCD brightness is not due to the missing wire (which can easily be added). It's due to the fact that the viewing angle is wrong for the display. Becker can perform the modification for you. Lots of threads about it. For example: https://rennlist.com/forums/993-foru...e-mod-diy.html

You guys are freaking awesome.

PM Jim, perhaps he can help you.
https://rennlist.com/forums/964-foru...ml#post9726656
https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...at-a-time.html

Your wife is the awesome one...you have a list of things you were looking at and she happens to pick the 220...Rock on...

Ie, she didn't buy you an alpine...keeper.

That's what I have in my 964 - really like the look although an amp is needed to get enough power.

Not a hard hookup, but you will need to have the face adjusted so you can read the display from a 993/964 angle if it has the 996 face alignment. There are a number of suppliers that can provide the right face for you.

-Skip

Ok I get the angle thing mine is dim head on and any angle. Broke?

I had SW Stereo do my display modification. They were about half the price Becker wanted.

Hi NoSub Dan, check out my signature's links. I made my CR-220 accept inputs from an iPod, Bluetooth, etc. As well, I had Jim Corenman convert the display to be readable - Jim's conversion is more effective than SW Stereo's conversion ... And I LIKE Stefan. Learn from my mistakes and efforts. Good luck.

https://rennlist.com/forums/993-foru...l#post11552117

Okay Boys here's the latest...I sent the radio face to SW Stereo in New Jersey and Stefan adjusted the display so it's readable in my car. I also purchased the cable he manufactures to play the ipod. The cable connects where the CD changer would normally plug in. I took the car in to the shop to have the radio pulled out and the cable connected. Also I was getting some engine noise through the speakers when I accelerate so a power wire or ground wire had to be nailed down. When I picked the car up Friday I tested the radio before leaving and noticed it didn't turn off even when the key was pulled out of the ignition. They took it back into the shop and an hour later gave me the car back and the radio turned off like it should. Monday morning I went to start my car and it wouldn't. The battery was drained. I jumped the car and took it back to the shop and told them the problem. After 3 hours of diagnosis they told me the CDR-220 was pulling 1/4 amp. Is this really enough to drain the battery? Should it be pulling any power at all when the car is turned off? Are these guys just in over their heads? So far I've paid these guys just under 650.00 to install a radio. I know, I blame myself, but what do I do now?

The radio shouldn't be drawing any power w the car off. So that needs to be fixed.

Also, if the battery drains to zero, not a bad idea to do a throttle adaptation once you get this all sorted. If you ever get up to CT w the car, I'm happy to help you w that. Takes two seconds.

Good luck finally sorting it. Looks like you are right there...

Thanks, Goughary... I can't see how a quarter amp can drain my battery in 3 days. That's very low current and the battery's just a year old.

Search here for the green wire syndrome