I've been rebuilding a 1995 Audi 90 Quattro that was involved in a front end collision. The actual repair work is going excellent and I'm very pleased with my purchase so far. All of the electronics appear to work flawlessly and as new, except the radio. The radio appears to be completely dead, no security light, no prompt to enter a code, no nothing. I've checked all the fuses, everything looks good. Every other electrical system works that I've tested (all besides the heated seats and the rear window defrost). The battery has been dead and no longer holds a charge, but jumping it and letting the alternator do all the work produces the same results. Help! I need my tunes! If the radio is actually dead then as far replacements go, I had heard something about the rear speakers are un-amped and therefore need a compatible deck. I'm not sure.

Any help is appreciated, I'd love to have some tunes when I take my baby out on the road for the first time!

 

You should NEVER run a vehicle without the battery or even with the battery disconnected!! The battery acts as a damper besides a reserve, an errant spike in voltage when an accessorie kicks on could spike voltage to the whole system and burn out electronics faster than you can say "OH Sh#t!". Not to be condescending, but check all fuses with a voltmeter (minimum test light)--visual check is not good enough. You need to obtain factory wiring and use voltmeter and verify wiring to radio. If wiring is all ok, the radio is bad. Good luck.

 

Okay, is there an Audi tool that is required to take the radio out? It looks like it. Even if the radio is still good, I still plan on getting a new deck, as I must have some sort of CD player. That's why I hope the deck is actually bad and not some electrical system.

 

Does your radio have two small holes at the outside edges (with a total of four, two on each side)? I have an older A80, and that radio used the same mechanism to hold in the radio as the Fords use, you can usually get the ford radio tools at any parts store for 5-10 dollars. You just insert the tools until you feel them "click" home and push firmly outward (toward the doors--each side respectively) while pulling out at the same time and the radio should come straight out. Be carefull with the radio's antenna connection also. If there are no visible holes in the radio face, you may have to remove trim panels before you can determine how to remove the radio. (I.E. screws or clips holding it in)

 

i am pretty sure there is a 5 amp fuse on the back of the radio

good luck