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Radio goes silent - 2000 LeSabre


toonmaniac
09-06-2008, 12:20 PM
I have a 2000 LeSabre and the radio plays great most of the time. With no warning it gets softer until you can't hear it at all. It may stay silent for a few minutes or days. When this happens, the key reminder chime also doesn't work. I suspect it is an electrical problem, but I have no idea where to start. Any suggestions will be appeciated.

pcmos
09-10-2008, 05:22 AM
If you're confident that you have full battery power all the time. Assuming you're charging system is working properly, I would start by assuming it is the deck itself. I've worked on the 00 LeSabre radio system extensively and I can't think of anything that would cause that problem that would be outside of the deck itself. There is no external amplifier on any LeSabre models and I'm assuming you havn't done any aftermarket mods.

Are you saying that the problem occurs no matter what the audio source is? In other words if you try playing a cd or tape when you're having trouble, do they work normally or is the sound also muted?

Does the problem affect all of the speakers throughout the car or does it just seem to be an issue with the front output?

Do you have an optional 12 disc cd changer mounted in the trunk?

The radio in the LeSabre, like most modern GMs, is linked to the vehicle data bus, if the problem is an issue with a poor connection its more than likely there would be a U type or B type code stored for the instrument panel module or dash integration module regarding loss of communication with the radio deck. Since the same large connector includes contacts for each speaker output and the data link it seems hard to believe that if the connector were the problem you could lose all sound from the speakers and not lose the data link. Remember though that only the dealer scan tool will discover such codes, you're local auto parts store scan tool will not find proprietary codes that aren't part of the very basic OBD-II spec. If you can get a gm tech to scan for you with the tech2 tool, they can tell you if they found any class 2 data link codes stored on any of the systems.

You can also check to see if physically pushing on the radio deck makes any difference when it is acting up. There is a large edge type connector on the back of the radio and it engages when the radio is installed in its mount. In other words, the main connector is not physically latched or snappped onto the back of the deck on this car. The deck slides into place and engages the connector which may be out of position somehow. You can always pull the deck and see if the connector in the dash has become dislodged in some way.

The bottom line is you could purchase a cheap used deck on ebay and swap it out, it would almost be easier than trying to waste a lot of time diagnosing things and its probably a 90% chance it will solve the problem. If you do swap the deck you'll have to buy you're local GM dealer mechanic a six pack or lunch or something in exchange for his help with the factory scan tool. Most likely when you install the new deck it will say it is in a locked mode, you'll have to go the dealer and have them use the scan tool to initialize it. If you have good relations with you're dealer they may be willing to do it for free, I've used the tech 2 before and it literally takes 2 or 3 minutes to initialize a radio.

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