I have an '02 TJ Exec. I bought and installed a new Sony CXS-GT5416F headunit using a Magna-to-ISO adapter, and then crimping all the wires together. The black ground wire I secured to a bolt connected to the big white bar that runs across the width of the car. The little this blue wire that is not part of the Magna harness but rather hangs by itself I left unconnected (I think this is the phone/radio mute or something).

Anyways... when I turn the headunit on, the LCD lights up, says 'tuner' on the screen, beeps once, and turns itself back off. Any ideas why it's not working or what could be causing this? I wired the cables correctly as far as I can tell. Anyone had any issue like that before?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100409122707AAxfYXh

The blue wire is your remote wire, this tells your amp (If you have one) to turn on or off.

Don't have an amp. Just stock setup with a new HU so left that standalone blue wire disconnected.

It may be a possible bad ground or bad power along the line.

SuFz :ninja:

Sounds like lack of power, make sure all connections are secure and remote is not bare wire

While the unit was off, I put a CD in and it turned on and started playing. While it was playing though, I noticed none of the buttons on the HU actually did anything. I couldn't change the volume, I couldn't enter the menu, etc...

I then turned it off and tried to turn it back on again, but now it won't play the CD either, just beeps and powers off. Can't even eject the CD :-(

As for the remote amp blue wire from the HU harness, it has a sticker over it with a label. Manual says its optional to connect, and since I have no amp, I just left it as-is with the sticker over the end.

Sounds like a faulty unit then, particularly the firmware

Detachable face..?

Take the face off and put it on back on firmly.

If that fails.. possibly a faulty unit.

SuFz

I had what you describe once, it was a dead battery and faulty alternator.
Mind you after I turned off the ignition, I couldn't restart the car, so it's very easy for you to test this scenario!
Luckily for me when I pulled up, I was 2 doors from NRMA and in front of an auto electrician.

Do you have a multi meter?
If yes, test that your black wire is actually grounded and that you have 12V available on the ?red? wire when ignition is off and 12V at the ?yellow? wire when ignition is on.

Also check that your speakers are wired correctly. it could be that the internal amplifier is being overloaded and causing auto shut off.
(It reminded me of an amplifier's protection mode).

Had this problem before with incorrectly wired speakers. Overload on the internal amplifier causes it to shut down.

If your speakers are wired incorrectly causing a resistance overload.

eg. Running 1 or 2 ohms through the headunit you'll kill the headunit amp very quickly..

Check your power and ground, see how that goes.

Then check the face plate..

If all that fails - Take it back and ask for a new one!

SuFz :ninja:

Check the usual suspects:

Correct wiring of the speakers. Look for mis-wiring or short at a joint.
Isolate each speaker pair from the head unit, and measure resistance. There may be a short in the speaker wiring, or at the speaker itself. A nail or paper clip attracted to the speaker magnet under the parcel shelf can be enough to short the "+" of the speaker to earth.

Worked it out. The fat antenna plug was not connected properly... n00b mistake, I feel dumb now...

Anyways, working fine now!

That's an unusual result from an unplugged antenna. I'd just expect the radio to not work. Glad it was a cheap fix too!

That's odd for a unit to refuse to work if an antenna isn't connected. One would just expect the tuner option to produce static. But glad it was something as simple as that. I was partially expecting a shagged battery or something, and the unit fail-safing because it was recieving under or over the required voltage, or a bad earth.

i'd still be checking the earth wire is secured in the correct spot....sounds like the antenna is providing a better earth.

The antenna in many cars is used as an earthing point as well..

Lucky it was a nice easy fix!

SuFz

Not fixed, surely? A bad earth would give either no power to the HU or no signal for the radio. The BEEP is an overload signal, something is shorting somewhere.