*%$#* Ford Radios!

[Ken Potter]

What is it with Ford radios? All of my Ford's radios are pretty much junk and seem to have problems connected to the volume knob / switch. The SVO's both crackle or switch front to rear and side to side unless you turn them up past halfway. The truck will sometimes change channels by itself or eject the tape when hitting the volume switch. The Frankencar and the vert eat tapes. I've been giving some exercise over the last week or so to what was my Father's mint 92 Lincoln Town Car and the right channel ( front and rear ) is crapping out. This car now has only 40,546 original miles and has always been pampered / garaged. My Father only listened to news / talk radio if nothing at all and my Mother listens to classical music very softly. I had never had the volume up past halfway. If I switch the balance over completely to the right and run the volume up it will start working at about 3/4 volume. When I turn it back down it gives out at halfway and sorta crackles then goes silent. It's a premium stereo with the cassette tape. Is it possible that it just needs some dielectric spray / cleaning of the contacts? If I pull it out and take it to a stereo shop will they just laugh and try to sell me a new "better" stereo? Since this car is in absolute pristine condition I want to leave as it is / all original and not change anything. It also has the "four hole" method of removal from the dash so taking it out isn't a problem. That's one good thing about it at least. Any help would be very much appreciated.

[NY eric]

former life

In my former life I spent many hrs installing radios. The philco radios of the past were fair at best electriclly. the newer radios especcialy the knob style had isues withthe contacts flaking out. Most are repairable but the cost will be 4-5 time the cost of something that willl just blow you away. I blame the cheaper contacts and electonics used in that time frame. The speakers ford used form the 70's to 90 were crap at best. Most will blow out for no aparent reason. Before dumping the head unit swap speakers arround to make sure that is not the problem also check the connectors becuse they have a tendancey to corrode or oxidize and die especcialy in the rear hatch cargo area.

On the town car I would check the connection from the head unit to the speaker wires. Also If I remember correctly in the 90's each side shares a common ground but I cant remember for sure. if one side craped out in the conditions you described it may be a ground issue on the affected side.

LOL

[86-TC/SVO]

Get a good contact cleaner. Where I work at we have a couple different ones. The one is too strong, it melts the plastic or something. I have two different ones at home but, I'm not sure which one is which. My Mother's 87' TC did the same thing, my Dad used the contact cleaner on the volume control, it is as good as new. I will find out which the better one is and tell you later.

[Ken Potter]

Thanks for the input guys. Is the ground a common wire ( Green? ) that runs through the harness and screws to the body at the speakers or just somewhere under the dash? I can probably get to the rear speaker from inside the trunk but I guess I'll have to pull the door panel to get to the front speaker if it grounds at the speaker. I'll hold off until I hear back on the contact cleaner. I had used some before on a stereo I had in my Jeep that kinda got wet ( totally submerged is more like it ) while crossing the Chattahoochee River. It was a slide mount under the dash so I just pulled it out, took it out of the casing, took the garden hose to it to get the mud out, soaked it with a whole can of dielectric solvent and set it out in the sun here in Georgia summertime 100+ heat to dry. Put it back together the next day and it still worked. The solvent did take all the paint / markings off the buttons and deformed them slightly... I also never could get the mud out of the dial / face though...

[NY eric]

common ground

Not sure of the color anymore but it is tied in at the main harness so 2 wires go to each speaker. No gropunds at the speakers themselves.

[86-TC/SVO]

The better contact cleaner we have is called Misty Contact & Circuit Board Cleaner II. The company is AMREP Inc. from Marietta, Ga.

[Ken Potter]

What a coincidence... My old building was across the street from Amrep when we were in Marietta. I'm now about 15 minutes away in a town called Kennesaw. Maybe I'll drop by there to see if they have any "scratch and dents" that they're giving away. I used to get everything from glass cleaner and silicone spray for free. Thanks for the info.