Radio will not turn on- Interstate

[sergbutton]

So I got a very nice 2000 Interstate with about 19k miles.

Radio is not working (does nothing, no display, no sound).

So I tested every cuircut according to the shop manual and it all checks out so i have to assume that the unit is bad.

Does anyone have a specific test procedure for the stereo itself? The manual does not have a specific test

 
 

[old2soon]

Where are you located in this fine LARGE country of ours??  Someone may be close to give you a hand with the problem.  Keep us posted on what you learn or what the outcome is please.  These M/Cs of ours ain't gettin any younger.  RIDE SAFE.

[Novavalker]

So I got a very nice 2000 Interstate with about 19k miles.

Radio is not working (does nothing, no display, no sound).

So I tested every cuircut according to the shop manual and it all checks out so i have to assume that the unit is bad.

Does anyone have a specific test procedure for the stereo itself? The manual does not have a specific test

What exactly do you see on the display? Does the clock work? Are you just seeing the gas gauge?
 
 

[Ricky-D]

Yep, check to see if anything else is malfunctioning.

There's a connector down behind the battery and within the harness that has been reported to cause problems like you report but then again additional symptoms are present with "that" connector malfunction.

Do a search to investigate postings on other previous threads.

***

[PhredValk]

Do you have the Owner's Manual with the radio instructions (not the tech guide)? Have you owned the bike long or had an IS before? Not wanting to be insulting, but have you looked under the seat to ensure that there's a radio there?
Fred.

[RainMaker]

How are you trying to turn the radio on?  The button on the left side of the stalk switches you between aux, aux/cb, radio, radio/cb and radio.  If you are punching the button, could be the contacts in the stalk need cleaning (spritz of tuner/contact cleaner from Radio Shack does wonders).

If the display is working for gas and clock, then it could be the radio or simply the switches.  If you can find another interstate owner, change out radios to find out if your radio is the culprit.  If so, they aren't too hard to find.

[sergbutton]

So I got a very nice 2000 Interstate with about 19k miles.

Radio is not working (does nothing, no display, no sound).

So I tested every cuircut according to the shop manual and it all checks out so i have to assume that the unit is bad.

Does anyone have a specific test procedure for the stereo itself? The manual does not have a specific test

What exactly do you see on the display? Does the clock work? Are you just seeing the gas gauge?
 
 

I see the clock and the fuel gauge. When I initially turn the bike on all of the item light up but after that only clock (which I can not set) and fuel gauge.

[sergbutton]

Do you have the Owner's Manual with the radio instructions (not the tech guide)? Have you owned the bike long or had an IS before? Not wanting to be insulting, but have you looked under the seat to ensure that there's a radio there?
Fred.

No insult Fred, it is always better to start with the basics.

I have pulled everything, Seat, Side covers, inner fairing (all three pieces) in order to test the wiring, and yes the radio is still there  

I used the Honda Shop Manual (the good one) and went through all the test proceedures in there.

That included testing the harness from the radio connector, up through the controls.

I'm fairly competitant at trouble shooting and wrench turning (I do most of my own).

While the IS is new to me, motorcycles and turning wrenches on them is not.  

[sergbutton]

How are you trying to turn the radio on?  The button on the left side of the stalk switches you between aux, aux/cb, radio, radio/cb and radio.  If you are punching the button, could be the contacts in the stalk need cleaning (spritz of tuner/contact cleaner from Radio Shack does wonders).

If the display is working for gas and clock, then it could be the radio or simply the switches.  If you can find another interstate owner, change out radios to find out if your radio is the culprit.  If so, they aren't too hard to find.

Part of the Manual test is to do continuity testing from the harness connector to the stalk, all tests were good.
 

[RainMaker]

So I got a very nice 2000 Interstate with about 19k miles.

Radio is not working (does nothing, no display, no sound).

So I tested every cuircut according to the shop manual and it all checks out so i have to assume that the unit is bad.

Does anyone have a specific test procedure for the stereo itself? The manual does not have a specific test

What exactly do you see on the display? Does the clock work? Are you just seeing the gas gauge?
 
 

I see the clock and the fuel gauge. When I initially turn the bike on all of the item light up but after that only clock (which I can not set) and fuel gauge.

That really sounds like the switches being dirty.  The power switch is on the left side of the controller (not on the front, but the actual left side, nearest the handgrip).  Pressing it in turns on the radio as said before. If pressing that button does not result in any change to the display, then that's where I'd guess the problem is.  Either the switch or the wiring from the switch/harness is the culprit. The clock is set by pressing the clock button on the right side until the clock is showing, then holding the button until the display time flashes.  Use the volume control to set the clock (up does hours and down does minutes, or the other way - I never get it right!).  Once you have the time, press the clock button again.

Setting the channels in the radio is more fun, but let's get the radio on first. 

I think someone has the owner manual online.  If not, I'll scan in the pages you need if you want me to.

RainMaker

[sergbutton]

So I got a very nice 2000 Interstate with about 19k miles.

Radio is not working (does nothing, no display, no sound).

So I tested every cuircut according to the shop manual and it all checks out so i have to assume that the unit is bad.

Does anyone have a specific test procedure for the stereo itself? The manual does not have a specific test

What exactly do you see on the display? Does the clock work? Are you just seeing the gas gauge?
 
 

I see the clock and the fuel gauge. When I initially turn the bike on all of the item light up but after that only clock (which I can not set) and fuel gauge.

That really sounds like the switches being dirty.  The power switch is on the left side of the controller (not on the front, but the actual left side, nearest the handgrip).  Pressing it in turns on the radio as said before. If pressing that button does not result in any change to the display, then that's where I'd guess the problem is.  Either the switch or the wiring from the switch/harness is the culprit. The clock is set by pressing the clock button on the right side until the clock is showing, then holding the button until the display time flashes.  Use the volume control to set the clock (up does hours and down does minutes, or the other way - I never get it right!).  Once you have the time, press the clock button again.

Setting the channels in the radio is more fun, but let's get the radio on first. 

I think someone has the owner manual online.  If not, I'll scan in the pages you need if you want me to.

RainMaker

Thanks Rain Maker as I described in my response to another member, I have actually tested the Stalk down to the connector that is behind the left side speakers. As a matter of fact I completely removed the stalk and harness and tested it using the Honda Shop manual pages 20-8 thru 20-9.

Unfortunately, I'm confident in the stalk and the bike harness between the radio and the stalk to the display.

This is why I'm leaning toward a bad unit.

But there is no test specifically for the radio that I can find, mainly just everything around it.

I guess the concept is to eliminate all the wiring and that would point at a component.     

[valkyriemc]

Hope this helps, "Interstate Electrical Gremlins"  credit; Kingbee


http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,25289.msg226937.html#msg226937

[gordonv]

PM sent.

I copied the portion of the owners manaul for the radio controls. I still have my radio from parting out, but you are a little far away to loan it to you to test it out, the other side of the country if I can read these things right.

[sergbutton]

Hope this helps, "I/S gremlins";

http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,25289.msg226937.html#msg226937

This is worth a try, I can say for sure that I did not look at a connector under the bike when I was doing my testing.

If after I do this I still have no success, I am going to either replace the stereo or wire in a small amp to drive the speakers.

Thanks for this link

[Cliff]

Before declaring the radio unit faulty you may want to open up it's case/cover and inspect to see if any of the internal connectors have come loose.  That heppend to mine and once I reconnected the loose connector all was fine again.

[sergbutton]

Before declaring the radio unit faulty you may want to open up it's case/cover and inspect to see if any of the internal connectors have come loose.  That heppend to mine and once I reconnected the loose connector all was fine again.

Cliff,

I opened it up, but I did not see anything that was obvious.

This is an area where I do not have much experience. This kind of a mystery to me so I just put it back together. 

It looks like two Curciut boards to me, and I have considered taking it to an electronic repair shop to see if they can do something with it. 

[sergbutton]

One thing that I notices was that when I took the radio completely out of the bike, the clock would not shut off or run.

It just displayed 1:00, even when the ignition was in the off position.

So after looking for some obvious damage inside the radio, I hooked it back up and the clock started working again, so I'm stuck carrying the dead unit.

[Cliff]

Before declaring the radio unit faulty you may want to open up it's case/cover and inspect to see if any of the internal connectors have come loose.  That heppend to mine and once I reconnected the loose connector all was fine again.

Cliff,

I opened it up, but I did not see anything that was obvious.

This is an area where I do not have much experience. This kind of a mystery to me so I just put it back together. 

It looks like two Curciut boards to me, and I have considered taking it to an electronic repair shop to see if they can do something with it. 

The boards plug into each other and the external cables come into connectors on the boards... On mine of of the connectors from the cable was slightly lifted off of the board on one end, after I pushed it back on all was OK.

[Novavalker]

Hope this helps, "I/S gremlins";

http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,25289.msg226937.html#msg226937

This is worth a try, I can say for sure that I did not look at a connector under the bike when I was doing my testing.

If after I do this I still have no success, I am going to either replace the stereo or wire in a small amp to drive the speakers.

Thanks for this link

PM me and I'll send you the document on what to look for and how to repair the splice block. I have helped many others fix this problem.  I would check out the splice block first.

[Grumpy]

Hope this helps, "I/S gremlins";

http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,25289.msg226937.html#msg226937

This is worth a try, I can say for sure that I did not look at a connector under the bike when I was doing my testing.

If after I do this I still have no success, I am going to either replace the stereo or wire in a small amp to drive the speakers.

Thanks for this link

PM me and I'll send you the document on what to look for and how to repair the splice block. I have helped many others fix this problem.  I would check out the splice block first.

I made the same repair several years ago, mine looked worse that yours, some pins were corroded through. Just one note, all the connections on the block are grounds. If you trace the schematics, every ground passes through it. I removed the block and soldered the connections, then shrink wrapped each one.

[sergbutton]

Hope this helps, "I/S gremlins";

http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,25289.msg226937.html#msg226937

This is worth a try, I can say for sure that I did not look at a connector under the bike when I was doing my testing.

If after I do this I still have no success, I am going to either replace the stereo or wire in a small amp to drive the speakers.

Thanks for this link

PM me and I'll send you the document on what to look for and how to repair the splice block. I have helped many others fix this problem.  I would check out the splice block first.

Nova thanks for the document i was able to pull the  block and all looked good so I checked all of them for continuity to ground and all of them are working , so I cleaned it greased it and put it back together. Money is tight so I'm going to look for one of the small china amps to put in the trunk and power the speakers and use my ipod for music.

[sergbutton]

Before declaring the radio unit faulty you may want to open up it's case/cover and inspect to see if any of the internal connectors have come loose.  That heppend to mine and once I reconnected the loose connector all was fine again.

Cliff,

I was able to get the radio apart and I looked at the connectors, gave all of the connectors an extra push to make sure they were solid and put it all back together.

Unfortunately it do not resolve the problem.

Thanks for the tip.

[RainMaker]

Pinwheel cycles has used ones, untested around $50.  Chances are that they will work. Yours is the first radio I've heard of going bad.

[sergbutton]

Pinwheel cycles has used ones, untested around $50.  Chances are that they will work. Yours is the first radio I've heard of going bad.

That is why I keep thinking that I must have missed something.

The one test that I really am not sure of is testing for voltage at the stalk switch its self. I kept coming up with only 4.7 volts.

I know the switch is good because of the test from the manual (continuity across the black and orange wires while pushing the power button), and I know the body harness is good from the Blue 20 pin connector to the switch (continuity between both).

But it appears that the radio is only sending 4.7 Volts to the switch (via the black wire).

Ok I'm going to have to go home and look again. This thing is driving me nuts