Hello, folks. Searched for same problem but didn't see anything. This is my first post. Problem: Alpine radio, cassette, cd player (in trunk) and antenna work fine. Then, I hear a "tink" sound and everything shuts down (and antenna comes down). Hear the "tink" again, push the on button and things power back up normally....until the next "tink". There does not appear to be any pattern to it - an hour may go by, or 5 minutes. Turning other things (headlights, wipers, etc.) on/off does not appear connected. "Tink" sounds like it's coming from center console (around shifter), but I can't swear it's not further forward. Fuses 9 and 12 in passenger box look fine. No telephone unit. Finally, when the stereo has been knocked off, the cd player motor may run (though it is not operational) - this has caused me a dead battery, so have unhooked the outermost (only?) plug on the amplifier to stop the motor. The "tink" still occurs with the amp unplugged. Oh - if the cd player motor is running, it is doing it/continues to do it with the key completely removed. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.


SORRY IF YOU'RE SEEEING THIS AGAIN - I INCORRECTLY POSTED FIRST TIME IN X150

 

Not sure I can help with the main problem, but if you still have a lot of electrical activity (and a drained battery) after you remove the key, you need to check the little "trap door" switch that activates as you insert/retract the key itself. Reportedly, the door gets sometimes stuck open, and the car "thinks" the key is still in and leaves a number of control modules active. As the engine/alternator are not running, the battery has to provide the power and eventually drains. This is easy to check (no disassembly required) and can be fixed, I believe, with the usual application of WD40 or a door lock graphite compound of your choosing.

Best of luck, keep us posted.

 

Thanks for the response! I'll keep an eye on the key issue. When I open the door, I get the window drop, interior lights and odometer lights up. Presume those three are normal. 99% sure the battery drain was due to the cd player (before I unplugged the amp and cut power). With the boot lid open, I could hear the motor running (like it was playing a cd), even though car was completely shut down. As said, will check out the key issue to see if has anything to do with the cd. But all the "tink" stuff happens when the car is running - I have never heard it when the car is off.


On the key issue: Wouldn't the "left the key in the ignition" warning go off? With the driver door open, I barely stuck in the key past the "trap door" and the bell went off. Stopped the moment the key was extracted (?).

 

If you need the head unit or alpine amplifier I have functional units available. My brother left me his xk8 and he completely modified the entire stereo. It has a Rockford 800a4 and re audio triple x components. That along with 2 hccas and the hcca 5000.1d 4 batteries and a 200 amp alternator it sounds awesome.

 

Thanks - I'll keep that well in mind (I still play cassettes so want to stay original). My problem is I have no idea WHAT the problem is! I plan to run it by the dealer tomorrow - not sure if that's the best place, or whether a stereo shop is a better (and probably much cheaper) place to go.

 

Check all of your fuses. There should be 2 radio fuses. Yeah I tried posting some pics but it said the comment needed to be reviewed. Does it cut out when you crank it up higher or pretty much at all volumes?

 

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The dealer would be able to possibly provide assistance if this radio was capable of providing self-diagnostic with the factory tool. I believe this radio is not capable of it.

If you are handy, you might want to start tearing the center console apart. There are videos to help you through it. My sense is that either the radio is "bad" and somehow shuts itself off, or some previous owner installed some sort of after market component and it is now interfering with normal operation. Only way to find out is to open stuff up and see for yourself. As you know, this radio does not have any type of sound input, so anyone wanting bluetooth, or satellite radio has to do some re-wiring. With the car being well over 15 years old, there were many opportunities I suppose. Just a thought.

The other thing would be to double check the "power" button on the radio face place. There should be a nice push and release, kind of like a stiff computer keyboard key. It almost sounds like yours is acting randomly.

The good news is that these radios are normally available used, either from eBay, or even the classified on this site. They are not typically worth all that much.

 

Fuses 9 and 12 look fine (see original post). Have not checked any others. Volume does not appear to have anything to do with issue - it's the "tink" sound that gets things going. I'm guessing some sort of short, as assume a blown fuse would mean zero operation, versus intermittent.

 

Hopefully dealer will have seen this before. I should have mentioned (though sounds like you already knew it) that the "tink" does not bring up any codes.


I've seen the posts on a teardown. I have the feeling that it's an internal issue with the radio. Would it be fair to say (I've looked at the wiring diagram) that there is no potentially switched element between the radio and the boot? Absent something going haywire in the tunnel, I'm guessing the noise is coming from the radio itself. The on/off switch seems OK - if I'm on the working side of the "tink", I can turn it on and off without a problem. If on the other side, I can push the button till hell freezes over and get zip. I'll get dealer view, then maybe pull apart re alterations.




If it is the radio, guessing I'll have security/coding issues if I replace it?

 

Although it doesn't happen often I have had fuses that look OK fail. My brother got me into car audio and we had a fuse that looked perfectly fine and after about 10 minutes of 3/4 volume the amp for the sub woofer would shut off. He checked the voltage after the fuse and it went from 14v to 2v. After replacing the holder all was well but the best thing to do would be to check the wiring. I avoid the dealer as much as possible. They charged me way too much money for a simple service. I believe they wanted around 600 for valve cover gaskets and over 900 for the upper shock mounts. They are VERY expensive where I live.

 

Great point about the fuse. To the question about codes, very rare to run into this in North America. Though there have been very rare stories of folks putting or finding radios sourced from Europe in their car. As I recall the dealer can supply the code, though finding one who'll do it for free will be fun.
John

 

Well, if anyone sees this....went to the dealer in Scottsdale, described the problem and they knew exactly where it originated. Referred me to Soundwerks in Scottsdale. Was a problem with the cassette player. Replaced radio and that was that. Total cost ($350.00) was, I thought, very reasonable. Thanks for all of the input above!