2000 S70 w/sc-816 radio stuck in "CODE" display

Post by **rspi** » 16 Jan 2012, 16:15

I picked one up for $25 and got one for another guy for $5. The junk yard is full of them.

Post by **JRL** » 16 Jan 2012, 17:33

rspi wrote:I picked one up for $25 and got one for another guy for $5. The junk yard is full of them.

and now that most of them are very old many are just that...JUNK
Lights out, AM not working, CDs not working, etc

Post by **rspi** » 16 Jan 2012, 18:03

Well, the one I got for $25 worked like brand new. The display (led) light was out so I replaced it. Less than $2. The other one had no problem at all. I'm not trying to talk the guy out of your's, but these cars are dying faster than flyes and people are just not looking to replace the OEM radio with another OEM radio. I have 1 or 2 of them that I'm thinking about tossing in the trash. The AM is out in one of them, the other simply doesn't have a CD player, as if I use either.

They're not worth shipping to me. I did install one in my wagon recently. Simply because I like to keep everything in the T-5R OEM. I think the car is worth more that way.

Anyone installing a car stereo without a Display and USB port is truely wasting their time.

tlarim · Post by **tlarim** » 16 Jan 2012, 20:51

Well, I took the faceplate off and cleand up the ribbon cable at the faceplate that apparently connects the main printed circuit board (PCB) to the faceplate (button) PCB. I wanted to get to the other end of that cable at the main PCB but couldn't figure out how to do that without turning this into more of a sciece project than it had already turned out to be. Long story short, I put it back in the car and it now communicated with the buttons and I was able to get the code in and it is working. The CD player recently would not eject the CDs most times, but now does reliably, so maybe the cable connection was slowly becoming a problem. The only other issues that seem not related to the cable are the FF/REW buttons (tape/CD) that work about half the time. There are workarounds (scan function, random, change your mind). I probably should know better (The perfect is the enemy of the good.) but time permitting, I think I'll take the faceplate off again, remove its PCB and try to see what is going on with the FF/REW buttons. I hesitate to pick up a junker just yet as it may have more problems than this one has. Thanks to all for the suggestions and advice. If anything useful is gained from looking behind those buttons that remain intermittent I'll post it.

esg7265 · Post by **esg7265** » 15 Jun 2012, 15:23

I am having somewhat of the same issue with my SC-816. I took it out of the car, changed the light bulbs, put it back in the car and tried to put the code back in. It will not except my 1st number (#6) in the code. All the other numbers work but not the 6. Worked fine before I took it out. Any suggestions??

PS The new light bulbs look great though.

Post by **rspi** » 15 Jun 2012, 15:33

Take it back apart and put it back together and see what happens.

Post by **MoVolvos** » 15 Jun 2012, 16:36

esg7265 wrote:I am having somewhat of the same issue with my SC-816. I took it out of the car, changed the light bulbs, put it back in the car and tried to put the code back in. It will not except my 1st number (#6) in the code. All the other numbers work but not the 6. Worked fine before I took it out. Any suggestions??

PS The new light bulbs look great though.

Spray some Electrical Contact Cleaner into the button or take it apart to clean it. One of mine did not work initially so I just pushed it rapidly to clean the contacts. Afterwards, unless it was pushed carefully it would provide the number twice. It went into protection mode so I had to leave the ignition on for two hours before it would allow me another 3 tries at the Code. The button is still sensitive but does not matter at this point until I need to disconnect the Unit or Battery again

.

Blessings,
BKM
-

tlarim · Post by **tlarim** » 17 Jun 2012, 14:55

The issue with mine not accepting the security code was that the faceplace was not communicating with the processor on the PCB (assumed). I pulled the faceplate off, cleaned the ribbon cable end at the faceplate (where all the buttons and display are)and carfefully reinserted the ribbon cable. That allowed the faceplate buttons (for security code) to now communicate with the processor (or whatever accepts button inputs) and it took the code OK. However that was the least of the issues. The fast forward/reverse buttons were no longer functional most of the time and as an added undocumented feature, the radio would now not turn off and drained the battery a few times. Needless to say, a used one for a very reasonable price solved all issues. You have to know when to fold.

esg7265 · Post by **esg7265** » 17 Jun 2012, 18:23

I have taken it apart again and put it back together. Still not luck. I have sprayed it with contact cleaner. #6 Pre-set still will not work. I put a continuity tester on it, pushed the #6 button and the continuity buzzer went off. Frustrating as I only need it to get the code in so I can use the radio. I will try spraying it and rapidly pushing it to see if that might work.

tlarim · Post by **tlarim** » 17 Jun 2012, 23:19

Assuming you continuity checked the button at the button contacts, that might suggest that the button is functional. Without a schematic, I'm just going to hip-shoot here so take what I say with a grain (or two) of salt, as they say.

You might want to very carefully inspect that ribbon cable going into the faceplate again. Ideally you could remove the ribbon cable (both ends) and check each individual wire for continuity and damage. Then I'd carefully inspect the two sockets to make sure each wire contact is functional and will contact (grab) the related wire. If that checks out, your at another layer of this onion.

Since you replaced some bulbs, I assume soldering on a board may be involved. Recheck your soldering work to make sure you didn't inadvertently bridge a PCB trace (foil), or damage (crack/score) a trace in the process. You could check for continiuty along suspect traces, but this is "no buzzer" territory. You probably want to use a high impedance Digital Multimeter (DMM) or similar to do a resistance check and not the diode checker "buzzer" feature. Depending on the components used in the radio, electrostatic discharge (ESD) might come into play. Although probably not essential, an ESD mat and wristband would rule out any static issues. Otherwise, you just need to get you and the radio/circuit board at the same potential before touching it. I think if you can find a ground lug on the board or touch the radio frame (PCB installed), that might do the trick.

Finally if the cable checks out and there are no smoking guns with respect to trace or soldering issues, then it may be a component. And.....you probably want to stop there. Signal tracing and component replacement isn't my idea of fun anymore.

I found salvage yards priced the 816 from a low of about $60 for a "good" functional radio with visible wear, to around $115 for "very good" condition. The average was about $90-ish. All had a one year warranty. I was very fortunate to find a pristine 816 at the very low end of the price spread.

My experiences with my 816 went through "interesting > challenging >frustrating > painful", at which point the replacement route for me sounded really good. Good luck.

2000 S70 w/sc-816 radio stuck in "CODE" display

Re: 2000 S70 w/sc-816 radio stuck in "CODE" display