Radio in Freightliner

ABEJR2004 · Nov 12, 2006

Hey Gang,

This evening while working on the truck, Went to start it up and my Radio was Flickering?. Turn the key on and off a few times and it was still Flickering. Turned the truck off in the Garage and the radio was still doing the same. I pulled the fuse, still the same problem. Pulled the Radio out the dash and unpluged it for a few min. Plug it back up and it still Flickers? Any thoughts on this?

I have a Freightliner Century with the standard F/L radio casette player.

AbeJr
Stand Tall & Be Proud

ATeam · Nov 12, 2006

Other than the flickering, does the radio work? Does it flicker the same all the time or does it flicker differently when the truck is in motion? If you adjust your dashboard light brightness, does that have any effect on the flicker? If you look closely in a darkened cab, do any other lights on the dash flicker?

Tennesseahawk · Nov 12, 2006

Sounds like you have a short... maybe a plug not plugged in all the way.

"If I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know." - Kansas

ABEJR2004 · Nov 14, 2006

I turned the truck off when the flickering on/off started, I even pulled the fuse and it was doing the same with the truck on or off. Went to Freightliner today and was told right away the radio is done for, so I will double check my wiring, and if all is still good with that I will replace the radio. Any suggestion on a good replacement??

Thanks Guys

AbeJr
Stand Tall & Be Proud

redytrk · Nov 14, 2006

Just make sure your new radio has built in satelite reception.

I have a Pioneer W/XM purchased in Oct 2001.Its in its second truck now and still working perfectly.

Before the Pioneer I would go through a radio about every 18 months.The vibration really gets to them.

greg334 · Nov 14, 2006

My radio sucks... It is a factory radio and first is sliding out of the mount (broken tabs) and will not keep any stations in memory. Forget about the light, it is dead. I set my three favorite stations on each of the bands.

My solution is to get a radio built for harsh enviorments, a radio for a boat.

As dumb as it sounds, I had really good luck with boat radios in my land rovers and my jeeps - where others failed when I would slam the LR after flying off a hill, the boat radios kept going. They are built to take the pounding of the boat against the waves. Also the greatest thing is that they also come with remotes and a few you can use two sets of speakers that switch between the main unit and remote. Put the remote in the sleeper and the main unit in the cab.

Oh the one I am looking at has both XM and Sirius units you can use for the radio to control.

redytrk · Nov 14, 2006

>Oh the one I am looking at has both XM and Sirius units you
>can use for the radio to control.

As far as I know that radio is still onthe drawing board. My most current Crutchfield catalog still does not list any head unit with both services.

greg334 · Nov 14, 2006

>
>>Oh the one I am looking at has both XM and Sirius units you
>>can use for the radio to control.
>
>As far as I know that radio is still onthe drawing board. My
>most current Crutchfield catalog still does not list any
>head unit with both services.

You may be right, I thought I had read about two that had dual capabilities but that was last week and I read a lot of stuff since.

garman351 · Nov 14, 2006

I would take your radio to Emmet he is the guy who repaires toasters etc in Mayberry North Carolina. I see him all the time on TV. He appears to be an honest repairman.

Garman351

RichM · Nov 14, 2006

On my old FL 70 the Panasonic Radio would quit every couple of years. I would remove it,take off the covers and just hit all solder points with a hot iron. Always fixed it, as someone said the vibration loosens things up. Your situation sounds like it is a power supply problem.

Tennesseahawk · Nov 14, 2006

Best Buy has a special going on now for free same-day installation (labor only) for radios $99 and up. I'm sure you could find something there that could use both XM and Sirius. I would go that way, if you can; as it would be a nice extra for when you go to sell the truck.

"If I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know." - Kansas

ABEJR2004 · Nov 15, 2006

Hey Gang,

Well the Radio was shot, so I replaced it with a Panasonic w/Casette Deck since I was running my XM that way. Everything is cool for now. Let's see if the Panasonic can take a Beating.

AbeJr
Stand Tall & Be Proud