radio battery?

Wild4kst8 · December 20, 2004

96 tahoe lt with CD cassette AM/FM radio

recently the clock keeps resetting itself...then this weekend the clock went blank...radio would not come on...pulled the fuse panel next to drivers door & noticed a fuse labeled "radio batt"

has my "radio batt" gone dead? i pulled the fuse, inspected (not burnt out) & re-inserted...now radio works?!?!?

along with everything else, this thing is about to drive me nuts

mcreyaufmiller · December 20, 2004

Could there be a problem in the wiring? Or could the connections be corroded a little on the fuse? Just a thought.

GM-Tech · December 21, 2004

has my "radio batt" gone dead?

That doesn't mean there's a battery for the radio. There needs to be a power source that's always on so the clock and station settings are maintained when you turn off the key. That is, BATT (battery) power, i.e. power that is not controlled by the ignition switch.

I don't know a '96 specifically, but I'm sure that's what that is. I do know for a fact your radio doesn't have it's own battery!

budhayes3 · December 21, 2004

Yea, radio batt sounds like the constant power source for the radio's memory. If all of the fuses and wiring are good, you more than likely have an internal short in the head unit. The symptoms you're describing sounds very similar to a few I've seen turn out to be the head unit.

Speaking of battery, you might want to check your battery's state of charge and the terminals for corrosion and the condition of the battey cables.

Wild4kst8 · December 21, 2004

i didn't think there was a battery

what should the alt. be charging to? .... the guage consistantly reads less than 14 volts (a bar & a half under 14) on the drive to work this morning... might need to put multimeter on Xmas list

more than likely it is an electrical issue... when the front passenger door is open the dome light doesn't come on

thanks for the input

TexasAggie · December 21, 2004

Hmmm...

Check your battery terminals for corrosion and good connection then check the connection at the back of the alternator as well. If your gauge is reading that low while running, either you have a hell of a lot of equipment drawing power, bad voltage regulator in the alternator or maybe even a corroded ground connection. Something isn't right...if you don't have access to a voltmeter, it might be difficult to track down if all your connections appear to be in good shape.

I guess if I were trying to do it blind, and the truck had enough power to start and run, I would go after the alternator first and have it checked out. In my opinion, that would be the easiest thing to do without requiring too much work, but it sounds like you have some other issues...between the battery and the distribution center (fuse block). Check all the obvious connections and terminals and see if there are any obvious corrosion issues...

Let me know what you find out...

Wild4kst8 · December 22, 2004

i checked all the connections i could trace down with no corrosion anywhere... neg battery cable was a little loose (less than 1/8 of a turn) at the battery

i hooked up a scan tool & it read 13.1 battery volts... also gave P0700 & P0011 codes (something to do with transmission & mass air sensor (?))... any help on those would be appreciated

temporarily got the passenger door to turn on the dome light... by the time i finished neither door would trigger the dome light ... i'll have to spend more than an hour on this one

ptown201 · December 22, 2004

temporarily got the passenger door to turn on the dome light... by the time i finished neither door would trigger the dome light ... i'll have to spend more than an hour on this one

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On each door, look in the door jamb and you should see two black push botton pins that are about 1/2" to an 1" long. Those are your door pins that control the dome light coming on when you open the door. Sometimes the connections to them get loose, try jiggling them or taking them out to inspect the wire connections to make sure they are secure.