Romagical

After reading a few hundred pages here and watching a video and going over and over all of the resources I could find, I decided to do the mp3/ipod hack for my new (2004) rx-8.

I got the stereo out okay, and soldiered my cable to the correct points on the small circuit board, put everything back in the car...and viola. Nothing except the AC (fan only?) now turns on as soon as I turn the key. The console screen is blank, and the buttons - stereo and steering wheel do nothing.

I tried starting the car with the radio/HU everything pulled out and the same thing happens. The air is on so it seems that it must be the default operation and my head unit/HVAC/stereo is completely dead.

I took the stereo out disassembled it again and checked the circuit boards, plugs are seating well. I dont find any burns or any sign of anything wrong. I could take the whole thing out and back in blindfolded and still have no idea what is wrong.

Oh yeah, I checked all the fuses. They're good. How could such a simple job go so terribly wrong.

Does anyone have any ideas before I take it to the dealer and start hemmoraging cash?

nuke0907

iTrader: (2)

sounds like you messed up the hack. you might need a new headunit now.

Quinchu

Crack it back open remove the wires, and heatup / scrape off the solder. put it back in and see if you didn't mess it up too bad.

double check you plugged everything in also

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Yea before you desoldier the board you should try and reseat all of your connections from the begining. Normally this happens when people don't get one of the connections all the way in. Also you can try disconnecting the faceplate off the HU and reseating it, sometimes it comes loose during removal and causes wonky things to happen. If none of that works try removing the connections and cleaning up the soldier and hope that it works. If not...a new HU purchase might be in your future for skimping on your ipod adapter.

Romagical

Thanks for the advice. I'll try de-soldering and see if I haven't totaled the unit.

Romagical

I took off the wires and heated up the solder a bit so each contact shined a little where I had added in the mod. I think the connections are good though I'm no expert. I checked the fuse again. Everything seems good. But no luck. The air just comes on when I turn the key to position 2 and the radio/hvac/lcd is completely dead except the hazard light switch works.

Shouldn't there be some sign of life even if I totally fried the radio? I'm getting nothing. Not even a backlight. It looks like I'm in for a new head unit but I'd hate to get a new one and find out that's not the problem.

bbillh77

It is most likely a plug problem unplug all of the plugs remove the face inspect ALL of the pins and connectors a pin being bent over or a wire sliding back out of the plug is your most likely cause. Even if you shorted those wires to ground it would probably just cause no sound.

Romagical

Thank for the heads up. I took the stereo out again and looked over everything. It all looks ok. No bent pins or anything.
I checked the harnesses. There are three: a big one at the back, a smaller one at the top, and the smallest right behind the heater control. (and the antenna).
The wires all have a bit of give (slide back and forth) but none seem to be out. It looks like they're supposed to be that way.
Would you know if any of these work independently or do all three plugs have to be in for the stereo to work?
For instance it would really help troubleshooting to know: if everything is working, and you unplug I.E. the heater control does the radio still work?
I guess I'm stuck again. I'll probably take the whole HU apart again and see if anything happens.
Anyway, the help is appreciated!

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I found a possible reason for this (unless there's more than one problem). So someone else might not have to go through all this and find the solution more easily I started a new thread titled: HU Head Unit circuit board problem