There is nothing worse than driving to work alone, which is why either you need someone to accompany you or something to occupy your attention.
Car radios are the best companions of drivers who hate to drive in complete silence. They not only make your drives less boring but also give you daily headlines from your local news channel.
Now imagine finding out that, for some reason, your battery died. You did a battery replacement and replaced the faulty one with a new battery. Everything went well, and you are back on the road, except now, your car radio won’t turn on.
So, not only do you have to go through all the trouble of replacing the battery, but now you are thinking of replacing your car radio. Luckily for you, there is a way to fix your car radio without having to buy a brand new one.
Mostly, fixing a car radio is a lot simpler and more budget-friendly than replacing it with a new one. That said, you must take some precautions to avoid messing things up even more.
There could be various reasons behind you ending up with a damaged battery and a dead radio. For instance, you might have left the headlights on for a very long time, causing your car’s battery to malfunction.
Similarly, your car’s radio could malfunction because of a blown-up fuse in your car’s electronic systems. In addition, there are several other reasons behind the damaged radio and a dead battery.
Cracking The Code Of A Dead Car Radio
Although the fixing process is simple, the process of detecting the problem is a bit complicated. Among the many reasons behind a radio not working, the most common of all is that the radio’s anti-theft feature kicked in when you removed the battery power.
These security features prevent thieves from stealing your car by rendering the stolen unit useless if a thief disconnects it. If that happens, you will have to enter the correct code. A car radios code is usually a string of numbers to unlock some of your car stereo security features.
In some unfortunate cases, the problem is more complicated. Apart from your car radio, the fault may be in various electronic systems of your car. You should check the body control module to see if there is an issue with the fault codes.
Sometimes a botched jump-start causes your car radio and other electronic systems to fry. You will have to replace your car radio and all the electronic systems that fried.
Another cause of a faulty radio could be a blown-up fuse, which is relatively a minor issue to deal with. To avoid these accidental expenses, always ensure to hook up the jumper cables and the battery charges correctly.
Common Causes Of Dead Car Radio
- The security feature with the head unit will disable the head when the battery dies, or someone disconnects it. In that case, the car radio flashes the word “code.” Almost all car stereo with radio-code features require the correct code preset to be entered. You will find the code in your owner’s manual or contact your dealer if you don’t have the manual.
- Another possible cause could be a problematic jump start. In such cases, the electronic system components are damaged if the owner doesn’t take precautions. That said, experts highly recommend checking all the relevant fuses and fusible links before concluding. In case the radio has power, then it might be damaged internally.
- The car radio that doesn’t work might not always be the work of a dead battery or a jump start. Although chances are grim, your car radio might not be working in case of a strange coincidence.
- If your car radio doesn’t have a radio-code security feature and the electrical systems are intact, you’ll need to dig deeper and do more diagnostics to find what’s wrong.
1. The Car Radio Code
The car radio code is a security feature, and it acts as a passive anti-theft feature. When someone tries to steal your car radio, the feature kicks when someone cuts the power from the radio. As a result, the unit is bricked until you enter the right car radio code.
When this feature kicks in, you will see a message on the readout. When this feature kicks in, you will see a message on the readout. This message usually contains the word “code,” letting the owner know they need to enter the car’s code. The message may be different in other models, depending on the manufacturer.
Since OEM head units usually have this security feature, thieves steal aftermarket cars. That’s because aftermarket head units are easier to steal than OEM head units with lots of security features.
Since thieves aim for aftermarket head units, this passive anti-theft feature in OEM head units, somewhat, has become pointless. Furthermore, instead of inconveniencing car thieves, they are more of a headache for car owners.
If you encounter a car radio code problem, the first thing you need to do is check your car battery. And if you discover that you have a dead battery, you might need to replace it with a new battery. However, if your car battery is working, you will need the right radio code to fix the issue.
Usually, you can find the code on the owner manual. If you bought a used car and didn’t get the owner’s manual with it, then you can get it from your car dealer. Once you have the code, enter it and proceed with the resetting procedure.
Moreover, you can also visit the official OEM website and look for the radio code of your vehicle. You can also pay your local shop or some online services that look up car radio codes.
2. Incorrect Charging or Jump Start
The radio code feature also kicks in when your car goes through a jump start or a car battery charge. Before concluding, we highly recommend you make sure you rule this out. You can do that by ensuring that your radio has no passive anti-theft features.
If it has, then makes sure to verify that your radio didn’t work even after inputting the correct car radio code. If you verify that the issue isn’t because of the security feature, you might be dealing with a bigger problem.
Although jump-starting your car or charging its battery is perfectly safe, carrying out the procedure incorrectly can be very lethal for your car’s electrical system. As long as your car battery charges correctly and you jump-start your car with all the necessary precautions, you don’t need to worry about anything. If you carry out the procedure incorrectly, you could end up in a life-threatening situation.
The biggest danger is related to the highly explosive nature of hydrogen gas. This highly lethal explosive gas can leak from the lead-acid battery in your car and can cause a huge explosion. That is why experts highly recommend always hooking up the ground cable at the end and hooking it to the ground. If you hook the ground cable to your car battery and the hydrogen gas leaks, the spark could create a massive explosion.
Hooking up the jumper cables or charger wrong will have you end up damaging your car’s electrical system. For instance, you will fry your radio if you hook the cables backward. Apart from your radio, you might also end up frying up other electrical units as well.
3. Blown Fuse
Another possible reason why your car radio won’t turn on could be a blown-up fuse. Fuses are designed to sacrifice their lives to save electronic systems from huge amounts of current. In the case of your car radio or car stereo, its fuse will save it from a current avalanche due to a botched jump start or a battery charge. Among all the other problems that can cause your radio to stop, a blown-up fuse is the least of them. In fact, you should be relieved that the fuse or fusible links saved the day. All the fuses related to car radios are usually inside the radios or the car fuse box.
In a less serious scenario, you might find that some fusible link has blown or a wire somewhere has melted. That said, the damage could also be more than just a blown-up fuse. You might end up with damaged electrical systems and other expensive electrical control units such as air conditioning units or car stereo. That’s precisely why experts always recommend car owners have the necessary knowledge to jump start a car.
4. A Pure Coincidence
Although there are various causes of a damaged radio, it’s likely your car radio won’t turn on due to some coincidence. You might find that your radio stopped working because of an unrelated reason. The problem may not always be because your battery died or a dead radio. For instance, your radio might not be working because of an issue with your radio antenna speakers or a torn apart wire. Along the same line, if all the other audio systems, like a CD player, works fine, one might track down a non-functional radio to a faulty antenna resulting in bad radio reception.
Conclusion
Having seen the above, one can say numerous reasons why your car radio won’t turn on. You can either take it upon yourself and deal with the problem or contact an expert mobile mechanic. You can also do the fixing, all by yourself, and it’s easy. First, diagnose the problem, find out what’s causing the problem, and then proceed accordingly.
A faulty radio could be caused by a security feature known as the car radios code. This radio code activates when your car battery dies. Moreover, It could also happen due to a botched jump start or incorrect charging. In addition, there is also a likely chance that some fuse has blown.
Lastly, your radio might not be working because of a pure coincidence such as faulty speakers or an antenna problem. Regardless of the enormity of the problem, the fixing process is easy once you detect it.
