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One of those days...

Left my lights on my '05 Element today and when I got out of work, of course, the battery was dead. The lights were not on that long. I was surprised the battery died that quickly. This happened one time before. We were tailgating for a couple of hours with the radio on and the back hatch open. Dead battery that time too. Today the battery died to the extent that I got the enter code alert on the radio after jump starting the car. I entered the code easily enough but now I get no sound. The radio display indicates that the radio is operating: I can switch from AM to FM to XM, etc. Turning the volume knob gives me the usual display indication that the volume is increasing but I get no sound at all. Does anyone know what the problem is and how I would fix it?

Thanks.

Reply to
ritpg
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Now that your battery is OK you need to disconnect it for 20 seconds and then hook it up again. Some things need to reset, and a complete disconnect is the only way. The Odyssey is WAY worse for this because of all the interior lights and sliding doors.

'Curly'

Reply to
motsco_

Sure sounds like a bad battery, with a possibility it isn't being charged right. Depending on your climate, the battery either died young or not. If you are in Arizona two years is about the best you can hope for from an under-the-hood battery. If you are in Wisconsin that's pretty bad.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

Thanks so much for the quick response. I'm pretty sure the battery is "working as designed" (it's definitely holding a charge and cranking the same as it always has). I disconnected the battery for a couple of minutes, reconnected it, entered the "code" and still have the same problem. The only thing that is not working is the sound on the radio. Do you have any other suggestions? Because this radio has a subwoofer, I suspect it has circuitry independent of the radio. I opened the fuse box on the driver's side of the engine compartment and didn't see a single fuse relating to the radio or sound system. Are those fuses somewhere else?

The battery never did sound like it had a lot of cranking power from the day I drove it off the lot. It's a low priced vehicle, probably with a low priced battery.

Thanks, again.

motsco_ wrote:

Reply to
ritpg

Thanks for the response, Mike. I'm not inclined to think it's the battery. It holds a charge and cranks the way it always has. Any other thoughts?

Michael Pardee wrote:

Reply to
ritpg

I do not know. It does not sound like a battery problem.

Is there an external amplifier somewhere (you mentioned a sub woofer)? The external amp may need to be reset. Some radios can direct output directly to the external amp, by passing the radio's internal amp. If so, maybe there is an in-line fuse somewhere in the power supply for that amp. If it is aftermarket amp, then the fuse might not be in the fuse block.

Is there a mute button on the radio somewhere? I have never heard of such a thing, but who knows. I know some radios are sensitive to noise and crank up the volume as noise increases. Maybe some system like that has muted the radio. An owners manual would help you there. My much older Honda radio has several little buttons that are easy to press accidentally.

Elliot Richmond Itinerant astronomy teacher

Reply to
Elliot Richmond

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Sounds like the radio was turned ON when the vehicle was boosted. If somebody got the booster cables backwards for even a split-second, the radio may be wrecked. There are TWO fuses that power the radio, have you checked them both?

'Curly'

Reply to
motsco_

Curly, you may have something. I believe the cable did get crossed for an instant during the boost. I have not checked the radio fuses because I can't find them; they don't seem to be in the fuse box in the engine compartment. Remember the display on the radio indicates that it is working. I can see channels and when I turn the volume knob, I see the volume incrementing. When you say "wrecked", what do you mean?

Reply to
ritpg

Problem solved. Once I read the owner's manual and found out where the

2nd fuse box was, it was simple. The fuse labeled AMP (20 amps) had blown apparently when the +/- wires touched briefly when I was connecting the jumper cable. I've also reprogrammed the window lift on the driver's side. So everything is back to normal.

Thanks to all of you who responded.

ritpg wrote:

Reply to
ritpg

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