Stock JBL stereo with RDS - made some horrific sounds then quiet!

[alia176]

Has this happened to anyone before? My stereo made all kinds of torturous sounds while I was driving home from work last week. The sounds continued even after I shut off the stereo, finally everything is quiet. The FM radio is still receiving over the broadcasts, as evident by the display showing the artist name, etc. However, the separate XM unit is no longer coming through the preset FM frequency. I also tried sticking in a cassette tape adapter to see if I can play music from my phone and that didn't work either.

All of this leads me to believe that my stock HU is kapoot. Does this sound about right? I was happy with this HU, nothing fancy but I'm no audiophile. I do happen to have a single DIN older Sony HU that I'm thinking of slapping it in just to make sure everything else is functioning. Not sure if I need to anything fancy with the factory amps and all that. I do have a Toyota adapter for the Sony radio so I guess we'll see what happens today.

 

[TrdLtly]

Has this happened to anyone before? My stereo made all kinds of torturous sounds while I was driving home from work last week. The sounds continued even after I shut off the stereo, finally everything is quiet. The FM radio is still receiving over the broadcasts, as evident by the display showing the artist name, etc. However, the separate XM unit is no longer coming through the preset FM frequency. I also tried sticking in a cassette tape adapter to see if I can play music from my phone and that didn't work either.

All of this leads me to believe that my stock HU is kapoot. Does this sound about right? I was happy with this HU, nothing fancy but I'm no audiophile. I do happen to have a single DIN older Sony HU that I'm thinking of slapping it in just to make sure everything else is functioning. Not sure if I need to anything fancy with the factory amps and all that. I do have a Toyota adapter for the Sony radio so I guess we'll see what happens today.

I am no audiophile either, but considering you are not getting any sound out, it could be the JBL amp that is bad. Not sure if it has a separate fuse also.

 

[alia176]

I am no audiophile either, but considering you are not getting any sound out, it could be the JBL amp that is bad. Not sure if it has a separate fuse also.

I dunno but I'll check all fuses. A blown fuse shouldn't make a device produce such awful sounds before dying!

 

[TrdLtly]

I dunno but I'll check all fuses. A blown fuse shouldn't make a device produce such awful sounds before dying!

I do have over 20 yrs of electronics experience specific to communications. Yes, an awful sound is very common when an amplification circuit is failing or about to fail. A very loud screeching sound is common.

 

[alia176]

I do have over 20 yrs of electronics experience specific to communications. Yes, an awful sound is very common when an amplification circuit is failing or about to fail. A very loud screeching sound is common.

Yup those are the sounds that I heard! Do you think it's the amp INSIDE the HU or maybe an external amp?

So yesterday on my way home from work, the stereo came back ALIVE!!! Sounds normal, like nothing ever happened. Very weird indeed.

 

[TrdLtly]

Yup those are the sounds that I heard! Do you think it's the amp INSIDE the HU or maybe an external amp?

So yesterday on my way home from work, the stereo came back ALIVE!!! Sounds normal, like nothing ever happened. Very weird indeed.

Not sure there is a way to isolate the amp from the HU, so it is just a guessing game. I would try pulling all the connectors off and verifying they are clean. Then just plug them back in. Might just be a dirty connector/plug.

 

[alia176]

*** Update ***

8/23/15

Stereo is still going strong!!! Someone in the Classifieds is selling a HU out of a 2003 T4R that has Voice Nav and a double DIN screen. I'm thinking of buying it and installing in mine, just to be proactive. I don't want/need the NAV but would like the large screen and a more modern looking HU.

Question I have is, will this be a PnP (plug n play)? I realize it doesn't have an AUX input, which is a huge bummer.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I'd really like to install the BT phone calling feature of the more modern OEM HU. It'd be a painfully slow process to acquire all the bits like microphone, steering wheel call/hangup buttons, etc. My GF's 2008 T4R HU is sweet. But, we both hate the NAV display as the primary display, instead of the FM stations.