98 jetta gl radio problem

Hi all,

Trying to fix up my son's jetta for my daughter. The car recently had an ignition switch problem and had it replaced. This radio has a remote cd changer in the trunk. When the radio is turned on there is a display of 88. something FM. There is no sound, can not tune it, can not switch to CD, does just about nothing. Is it safe to say that maybe something was not hooked back up correctly. Is there a way to reset this (does not have the "SAFE" codes that I have seen here). Or is this thing toast.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks Ed

Reply to
edjohn
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If all that was done was an ignition switch replacement, the radio, CD setting, etc. should still all work - but you may need to set the radio code (the dealer should have it).

Hopefully whoever replaced the ignition switch did not also mistakenly by-pass or disconnect some circuits.

Good luck.

Reply to
Papa

Papa, thanks for the input, I will check with the dealer to see if i can get the code.

Reply to
edjohn via CarKB.com

Don't let the dealer hose you for big money. My dealer needed 15 minutes to get my code and unlock the radio. Charges beyond that are, IMHO, a rip off.

Make sure you get the code before you leave, so you can do this simple, routine job next time.

Tim Wohlford '98 Jetta '89 Golf

Reply to
geek49203

Have you tried removing the radio fuse for a couple of minutes? Did that shop/person disconnect the battery? Is this a stock VW radio or entire system?

I had one radio that was "frozen" and I had to disconnect all power from it after I pulled it out. Then reinstalled it, entered the code and all was/is good again. That was strange! Also I have had to repair a few '94-97 radios that would lose power over bumps.

Good luck and let us know what you find! later, dave (One out of many daves)

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Reply to
dave AKA vwdoc1

Dave,

Thanks for the input, I wanted to stress one thing about this radio, it does not have the "SAFE" message on the display. When the radio is powered up it displays 88.3 FM. Thats it, will not tune makes no sound, can not change to CD. The car had the battery disconnected a number of times. Every time the car was reconnected the result was the same for this radio. This radio is a stock VW radio as far as I know. I do need to get a service manual. Unfortunately there are no manuals with this car, why do owners loose or not transferr owners manuals is beyond me. Leave the manual in the car when you sell it. So I do need to look at the fuse, but what leads me to believe it's not the fuse, it does power up with the above mentioned display. This car is going back to the mechanic who worked on it for him to fix a few things that he screwed up, (steering wheel reinstalled out 90 degrees, air bag warning light on, check engine light on, found out the check engine light is on because the distributer was reinstalled out 1 tooth). Anyway, maybe he can find out if he failed to hook something back up.

Thanks again for the input, and I will post what the results were

Ed

Reply to
edjohn via CarKB.com

Your mechanic did all of those things wrong and you are going back to him? Not a good idea.

By the way, you can probably find an owners manual on Ebay. I see them on there frequently. Unfortunately, an owners manual provides almost no technical information about your car. A Bentley service manual is what you need.

Reply to
Papa

I guess I would still remove the radio from the vehicle and unplug it. It only takes about 2 minutes. ;-)

hmmm (scratching head) locked on 88.3 FM is interesting. At least 2 power leads go to the radio, and it may have power leads coming from it along with the radio being tied to the ECM.

Not sure if this is your problem but if too many incorrect codes are entered into the radio it will lock up. If you leave the radio on for about 1 hour, you can try again to enter the correct code in.

let us know what you find! good luck! later, dave (One out of many daves)

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Reply to
dave AKA vwdoc1

Yea Papa he did not get it right, but he said he would take care of those problems no charge. I have had him work on my cars for years. Always honest, and will not screw you. Example, I had bought some front end U-joints years ago for my ford explorer, started the job and found it much too difficult to do the job. I brought it to him along with the parts and he put it back together for me, and one more point I had to make on this particular issue was originally this car was my son's car, and my son had disassembled the distributor initially and broke the hold down bracket on it. So we send the car up to Don's shop on the back of a wrecker with a box of parts. And he put it back together along with the ignition switch. So I will give him another chance to make it right.

Thanks all the input.

Ed

Reply to
edjohn via CarKB.com

In that case, I'd stick with him too. Not every repair job goes right the first time, even with the best of mechanics. And his willingness to fix things at no charge speaks volumes.

Reply to
Papa

Papa, Sounds like you know Jettas, I have a similar problem as follows: My radio all the sudden stopped working. We checked all the fuses and all are ok. We put another radio in and it does not work either. We had some problems with the ignition switch (key in ignition audible warning not working) Could the ignition switch prevent the radio from turning on? How can I check this, is there and OBDII code that will check this? Thanks.

Reply to
pj

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