No power to aftermarket radio...

M

matthiasmilli

Member
 Portsmouth, UK
Hey guys

Another audio failure for me!
About a month back, I had the issue with the MOST amplifier not working which was quoted at a £2500 repair/replace
I opted for the alternate solution - a new amp and headunit (Blaupunkt Stockholm 400) - which for the last month has worked fine..

Until I parked up the other night, waiting for my hot date to arrive
Engine off, listening to the music..
After about 10 mins the headunit switched off automatically with 'Goodbye' on the display... as if i'd turned it off
Now, I assume it did this as it was power saving the battery - auto shut off
Then I got out of the car a couple of mins later... went on with my evening

When I got back to the car a couple of hours later, unlocked the car, a orange/yellow key symbol flashed on the dash for a second
Car started fine, but the radio just doesn't turn on - like theres no power to it

I'm not sure if the key symbol is related to the radio issue but mentioning it as it all happened the same evening, and I can't see how a fuse would blow as the headunit had time to say 'Goodbye' like a final farewell...

Any ideas whats happened!?
 
I don't know - but I know what will help.

GET A CODE READER.

Then at least you will know what the car reckons has happened, and it will help you get it sorted.

We can only guess.

If you don't know which to buy, cheapy ones for £20 or so will keep you guessing, spend around £75 & it will spell it out for you. Make sure it says it will do BMW specific codes in the description when you are looking.

Order now from Amazon, then come back here tomorrow & tell us what the diagnostics say is wrong - then we can help.
 
Check battery state..age of battery , condition etc..many of these mysterons are battery / charge related :thumbsup:
 
Battery was brand new when I picked the car up a couple of months back but I’ll see if I can get it checked regardless

All other electrics seem fine. Luckily it’s still under warranty from when he put the new radio unit in a few weeks back… but he can’t have a look at it for another week so was just curious for ideas from you guys
 
matthiasmilli said:
Battery was brand new when I picked the car up a couple of months back but I’ll see if I can get it checked regardless

All other electrics seem fine. Luckily it’s still under warranty from when he put the new radio unit in a few weeks back… but he can’t have a look at it for another week so was just curious for ideas from you guys
Click to expand...

One option is to disconnect the battery…charge it off line then reconnect it ..that gives a chance for everything to reset..
 
Great minds, sir! I’ve literally just this second tried that, but no joy. Disconnected for about 20 mins, reconnected - but nothing.
It’s bizarre.
 
Did you fit the radio yourself or did someone do it for you?

If someone else - back to them - it's only been a month.

If yourself DIY fitted - what's the wiring / connection quality like? Any shortcuts taken? Anything you 'guessed' at the time?

Obvious things like fuses etc (may be extra in line fuses for your amp / headunit if 3rd party) if you have no codes - but the yellow key flash on the dash says that the car knows something is wrong, and the reason for that yellow key will be available via your code reader. A decent scanner will pull up historic codes, even if the fault is no longer present.

And so long as you have BMW specific codes available on your unit, it will say what triggered it.

Always a possibility that whatever caused the old headunit to crap out just re-occurred.

Which code reader do you have?
 
I have the Creator C410 reader - but no faults came up at all.

The old OEM head unit was fine, it was the amp that blew before but had to replace both the head unit and the amp as just a new amp wasn’t compatible with the OEM head unit (unless I did a straight swap and fork out £2500) - the cheapest option was to replace both, which still cost me £900

The new head unit was put in by a car audio electrical specialist and it’s been working fine for about 4 weeks

I’m not sure if the yellow key symbol is linked to the problem.. what does the key symbol actually mean? It literally flashed on for a second when I unlocked the car, but as soon as I put the key in the ignition it was fine.
Been driving it and started it up about 10 times since the radio went dead with no issues…

…except a radio that just won’t turn on. It’s literally like it’s sat there not connected to power

My initial thought would have been a fuse, but the unit went off normally with the standard ‘goodbye’ message which wouldn’t have happened if the fuse went

For some reason, at the time, the way it powered itself off after 10 mins was literally like it turned itself off to save the battery

I was driving along fine, music playing
Parked up, engine off, carried on listening to music with the radio on
10 mins later - powered itself off
Then just after that, my date turned up, I got out the car.. went on the date
Came back, unlocked car - yellow key light popped up
Radio from then didn’t work

Yellow key light hasn’t come on before that, or since… so that’s why my mind thinks it’s all linked and it’s something to do with the ‘auto 10 min shut off’ thing

It’s going back to the specialist in a weeks time.. just wondered if anyone here had ideas as it’s baffling me!
 
Thanks for the extra info.

My thinking is that the 'goodbye' message on the radio was normal operation. At that point it had power & everything was fine. Essentially this is a red herring.

I think that the problem occurred at some point in the few minutes after this, likely at the point you tried to turn it back on when you returned to the car. The 'yellow key' moment.

If it's a failure inside the aftermarket head unit, code reader won't help you.

I know it's a simple step - but have you checked the fuses? Right now your head unit looks to have no power - this could be a very simple fix.

Example.

I installed new lights in the front room of the house a month ago. I was using them last night, they were working. I truned them on & off several times. Just fine - they worked.

I turned them off when I left the room, and they went off as expected.

But a few minutes later, when I returned they would not come on.

I don't understand what it could possibly be - they were absolutely fine for over a month since I fitted them. What could I possibly check?

Solution - check the fusebox (consumer unit in the hallway). If not that - most likely it's the bulb itself has failed.
 
I had a look at the fuse box under the glove compartment and they all seemed fine. Just realised there’s another fuse in the back of the head unit too so I’ll have to unscrew that and check that out

I agree with your thoughts.. the yellow key symbol has done something. I thought maybe it’s cut some sort of connection and the headunit has gone into some sort of ‘anti theft’ mode thinking it’s been stolen and won’t turn on again… maybe.

If I had time I’d have taken a photo of the yellow key symbol but it disappeared. I can’t fully remember it. All I remember is the key shape. I’ve looked online and there are several key symbols so it’s hard to determine what it means.
 
matthiasmilli said:
My initial thought would have been a fuse, but the unit went off normally with the standard ‘goodbye’ message which wouldn’t have happened if the fuse went
Click to expand...

That’s not to say that the fuse wasn’t blown when you tried to reintroduce power to the unit at next use?
 
That’s a good point!

I’ll take the unit out when I get a moment and have a look. Still if it has blown, need to find out what caused it.

I’m guessing the yellow key light…
 
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