My Bravo has a mind of its Own!!!

[Phil]

Okay, particulars out of the way first. I own a 2000 X reg Fiat Bravo 1.2 SX.

When i came to my car after work tonight I opened the door to find the car stereo was switched on. I know for a fact I couldn't have left it on since I have it set to turn on and off with the ingnition. But I have turned this off now so that I should manually switch it on and off as and when i want to. The problem is the damn thing keeps switching itself back on!
I've turned it off and watched it and after an apparantly random amount of time the backlight flickers on and off for a second or two, then the radio bursts into life. It hasn't done this until today and i haven't changed anything on my car that would affect this. Any suggestions whats going on guys and what i need to do to get it resolved?

The stereo is standard fiat radio AD182H2. There is also a Sony CD Changer conencted via a Connects2 adapter which has been there for over 12 months. Also i have a Parrot CK3300 connected which I fitted approximatley a month ago. Everything has been completely normal until today. Please help! I've completley removed the stereo for now in the hope i don't have to cope with any flat battery situations, but there are only so many musicless journeys to work i can take.

 

[Phil]

anyone?

 

[Phil]

Can't anyone help me with this?

 

[Anonymous]

good old fiat electrics im afraid, my cenral locking was opening & closing on its own, i took out the fuse overnight & its been fine since.

 

[Tom]

Might be worth taking out the HU fuse for a bit. Have you messed with any wiring in the dash?

 

[Ash]

take the plunge use it as an excuse to buy a nice shiney new cdplayer rather than fix something that is crap anyway

Im Driven to Earn, and I Earn to Drive......

 

[Owen]

Hello,

well at least its not the cars fault anyway. the trouble is most likely due to dampness in the radio, moisture sometimes gets in on the bottom of the main circuit board, and between the keypad membrane / buttons and front circuit board due to condensation. This causes it to do stuff at random, or not come on at all. try pulling the bottom cover off it and see if there are any traces of moisture (may be green or white stuff on the board). Also check the front panel circuit board if possible. clean with a damp cloth or with some isoprpyl alcohol (IPA). Or you could just leave it in a warm place for a while and see if it cures it..

Owen.

 

[Phil]

Thanks for the advice Guys!

@ Tom: I haven't meesed with the wiring. The last thing i did in the dash was fit the handsfree kit which i did over a month ago. Didn't really involve any messing tho.. all done with ISO connectors.

@ Ash: I'd be lying if i said the thought of a new head unit hand't crossed my mind.. but unfortunaley i'm totally brassic at the momoent. It's tehse damn banks they are being really inconvienient and asking me to pay back the banks loans, credit cards and overdrafts!

@ Owen: I can't really see into where i think your talking about but i suppose condensation is a possibility with all the changavle weather we have had recently.

I removed the head unit completley last night as I just couldn't make it stop coming on and I really didnt want to chance having to deal with a flat battery first thing in the morning. Will leave it out now until saturday afternoon sometime then pop it back in and see if it does the same thing again. Hopefully it will be one of those wonderful 'cures itself moments' don't fancy having to pay some sparks to have a poke around in there

 

[Tom]

"Didn't really involve any messing tho.. all done with ISO connectors."

Thats messing in my books

If the ignition or perm live connections are dodgey then the HU will turn on/off.

 

[lozz]

i have a standard fiat radio you can have for £20+p&p if u cant get it sorted mate

Lozz

 

[steve]

I had similar weird things happen to the headunit (jvc) in my Nova a while back.

Got in the car one day, popped in the face plate....nothing. Took it back out, put it in again.....radio came on, at level 16. I tried to turn it down only to find volume button didn't work. Took the face off again (quickly) tried once more stereo wouldn't come on.

So I went back into the house and found the guarentee for the headunit....expired 2 days previous.

Went back out to the car, tried again and got the radio but no cd. Also couldn't turn it off at the unit.

I decided I was gonna take the unit out of the car and try my luck at Halfords (where I got it from) the next day.

Next day I was about to start dimantling the dash to remove the radio (bolted in in the Nova's) and thought I would give it one last try. Popped in the face plate and it worked perfectly and has done for the last 4 months.

It must have been damp I suppose, but the weather seemed no different than any other day that week. So?????

Try drying it out like the previous posts said.

 

[Anonymous]

@ Paul: It was messing really.... Honest!

I did check all the wires against the pin diagram in the Fiat Manual and all the wires wire up to their correct pins on the back of the stereo and the pins on the handsfree kit. The only one i wasnt sure about was "+12V switch-over voltage connection" but this port didnt appear to be being used for anything either before or after the car kit was fitted. Might this have been my crucial error?

The power for the handsfree is definatley coming from the "+12V switch on voltage connection" and not the perm live

 

[Phil]

forgot to add the the permanent live wire is connected exactly as it was before i fitted the handsfree. I was VERY careful about where all the live wires were going to be going before i fitted it as i didn't want anything blowing fuses and such like. like i said only one i wasnt 100% about was the "switch-over voltage output (Max 0.5A)" But this didnt appear to be connected to anything anyway.

 

[Phil]

Okay. I'm pretty certain the wiring of the handsfree is not whats causing the radio to switch itself on whenit feels like it. The radio has been out of the car for two days now and i reconnected without the handsfree kit wired in at all and it still turned it self on repeatedley.. Now its turning it self off too!

Guess that means something is totally knackered. My problem is I don't neccessarily want to go out spending monies on a new stereo when its the wiring of my bravo thats shafted.

Any ideas of anything else i can try to fix this problem? I've now tried leaving it out for a couple of days.. I can't really see inisde it to see if there is any moisture inside, but its been stored in a fairly dry environment while its been out fo the car for the last couple of days.

Alternativley any suggestions on a resonably priced head unit. Its needs to be compatible with my sony disc changer (CDX-T69) and also have compatability with the handsfree kit, and of course fit in my bravo!

 

[Anonymous]

Wasnt yellow_HLX last post like this???
He found his stereo playing to its self and we havnt heard from him since!

http://www.network54.com/Forum/thread?forumid=15639&messageid=1117571811&lp=1117639864

 

[Phil]

Help! It's a lovely sunny day here but i cant even go for a spin and listen to some music.

@ Loz: looks like i might be interested in that radio you have spare.

 

[Ash]

take the radio to a car audio place and ask them nicely if they will plug it in to their demonstration rigs and see if it does it on that

Im Driven to Earn, and I Earn to Drive......

 

[phil]

Had the same problem a few years back only mine turned itself on and i didnt notice it was doin it till it had ran the battery flat (when i first got the car). It was a V99 SX80. Took it back to where i got the car from and they just put in another stereo from a old punto for free, no probs since. So im guessing that it was a fault with the stereo.

 

[Owen]

Ok,

so it didnt cure itself after a drying out. it could still be corrosion, as this will stay behind the keypad membrane. pull the bottom cover off and see if any corrosion is evident here (I think it will just pull off without removing screws), or get your local TV repair shop to have a look. Its a fairly common problem on those grundig units. It would be a pity to have to change the CD changer as well..

Owen.

 

[Phil]

@Owen: Okay. I have tried to take the front off of the Stereo but there are some very small 'star' screws holding it on places and i just don't have the tool.