New stereo in Pontiac Firebird 1989 wont light up

[FIREBIRDSTEREO]

I recently purchased a Sony CDX-GT51W used from a junk yard (but, according to them, in working condition with 30 day warranty). I installed it into my Firebird and the faceplate will NOT light up at all. The screen doesnt come on either, however the stereo actually plays music fine. The CD player plays disks and all the buttons on the faceplate work, there is just absolutely no lighting what so ever on it. There are two lights BEHIND the faceplate (indicating a disk is in the drive) these two lights go on and function properly, its just the faceplate that wont light up. I should note that my Firebird has two lighting wires, an "Illumination" wire and a "Positive Dimmer". The radio only has an "Illumination" wire so the "Positive Dimmer" wire from the car hangs free (though I did take the radio out and try hooking up the dimmer wire instead of the illumination and then all three wires, still no lighting.

Does anyone know if this could be something wrong with the wiring in the car itself (this is the first radio I've put in the car, I bought it with no radio). Or could it be the radio faceplate or the radio itself? The faceplates are pretty cheap to replace so if its just that I'll buy a new one. I really dont want to return the radio because I got a good deal on it and they probably dont have any more good ones for the price I paid.

Click to read more...

 

[accuab 10+ year member]

To me it sounds like the face plate is trashed. With power and ground the face should come on. You could check the connections the face makes to the unit and make sure they are clean.

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

I'm not familiar with sony headunits so I don't know if thats a real low end or like a high end but you can usually purchase new faceplates off ebay, though that is assuming the faceplate is dead and not the unit itself

 

[JoshC 10+ year member]

The led in your faceplate sounds dead, these lights usually last a while but ive seen them burn up randomly alot(in electronic use, not radios specifically)

 

[accuab 10+ year member]

I'm guessing from previous sonys I've seen that it's an lcd screen and not an led backlit screen.

 

[FIREBIRDSTEREO]

I think the screen is an LED screen, not LCD, though I'm not sure. I just dont understand why would all the buttons on the faceplate work, but not the lights. And its not just one LED light, its all of them that are out. The whole faceplate is dead except.