x50type

My CR-1 radio has worked great for years. but of late the sound will suddenly go off [all speakers dead] then come back on at random a minute later or an hour or two later. This happens while driving or stopped in the garage.
The power remains on, the cd, radio and tape buttons work, the cd changer works and the read-outs are normal [fm and am frequencies, the cd disc and track].
There is a slight click when the sound goes off, [as if a relay has opened] then after another click, the sound comes back on and all returns to normal.
I thought the clicking sound was coming from the tape player so i disconnected the tape deck and took it out of the radio. No change, still have the speaker problem.
The clicking relay sound is not coming from the radio but seems to be coming from somewhere behind the passenger side air bag. Looking back there as best as possible, i can see nothing that might be causing the sound problem.
I have checked the trunk fuse panel and relays there, apart from the radio power fuse nothing appears to be connected with the radio or radio speakers.
Any help greatly appreciated.

dr jim

The clicking sound you are hearing is most likely coming from the power amp mounted under the front passenger seat. A small click is heard when it switches on and off. This amp may be working intermittently due to a failing component (e.g., ic amplifier chip), or there is an intermittent short in the trigger wire from the head unit to the amp.

Jim

M. Schneider

+1 agreed. A competent auto electric shop should have no problem "shunting the problem to ground"; finding the culpurit.

x50type

Appreciate the help, am looking at the power amp as the probable culprit.

Incidentally, the car was parked in the garage all night as usual; i turned on the radio first thing and the radio and cd's played perfectly. i left it on but it cut out about an hour or so later.

I have not yet been able to duplicate the clicking noise to confirm it is coming from the power amp.

Working on it....................................

linen grey ghost

OPster x50type - reading your symptoms makes me opine that the issue may be a 'cracked' or ic board electrical pathway fault and that heat and/or vibration expands the "fault" and intermittently breaks a circuit; causing you loss of function.

No, I am not an electrical engineer; nor did I stay in a Holiday Inn Express recently!

Just thinking about the dreaded 'DME relay' failure mode so well described in this forum.

x50type

Thanks for the input guys.....
Car parked over night in garage, tried radio this morning.
Confirmed click comes from power amp under seat.
Radio played as usual for about 20 minutes, then all speakers [cut out] died.
Looks like i need a new power amp, can you recommend one to go under seat in place of OE?
I see OE has a huge multi pin connector for the speakers.

x50type

Opened amp - all looks ok [like new, actually.] the relay can be seen in the center of the photo.
How can the round multi-pin [8] plug from the radio be tested with a multi-tester for continuity/voltage?