Radio and Speakers questions

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SlantedMark4

SlantedMark4

'74 Valiant 225 /6
FABO Gold Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2022
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Location
Switzerland
Hey guys
I've recently tried to bring my radio back to life. It has never worked since I've bought my car back in 2022. The in line fuse together with the holder on the main wire was melted, so I got a new set of fuses, aswell as the wire block connectors for the radio - speaker connection. The radio now seems to be on, at least there is a light when I turn it on, but there's no sound.
I've taken out the speaker to test it with the battery test. There is some rustle, but pretty silent. I've tested it with a normal 4.5V battery.

What is an easy way to test if the radio is the main problem? I have no idea how to use a multimeter, to be honest. As many people already said: Electrical stuff is like Voodoo to me, aswell. Can I just hook up a random stereo speaker?

The speaker when I've pulled it yesterday.
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I couln't find out the model of the radio. There's a sticker on the lower side but I can't read it because of the heater. I'd have to pull out the radio but the metal knobs seem to be stuck. I have another radio which I was able to pull very easily but the one in the car is just stuck. Are there any tips?
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Just something for your eyes:
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I can see right through your speaker, so....junk.

You may be able to have it rebuilt (re-coned), but in the meantime, any old speaker will do for a test.

This one? Not so much.
 
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What car are you working on? That doesn’t appear to be a 1974 Valiant/Dart radio.
 
I guess I can understand the reasoning behind connecting a single 1.5 volt battery (AA,AAA, etc) across the speaker leads- It's to see if the speaker cone will move in or out (energizing the coil makes the voicecoil move in or out). But, 1) Not for longer than a second or two, and 2) Nothing more powerful, as the voicecoil windings are small (wire gauge).

But your surround/cone is shot anyway, so as long as you didn't leave that 4.5 VDC hooked-up too long, you may be ok.
 
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H22A4 said:
What car are you working on? That doesn’t appear to be a 1974 Valiant/Dart radio.
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It actually is a '74 Valiant. The radio might have been replaced due to this car was built for the Swiss/European market.

It was built in Newark, Delaware but shipped to Switzerland and first registered in 1975.
 
This is an aftermarket radio. On the bench, put 12v to the radio and use a known good speaker. Turn it on. What do you get? Put a good antenna on it. You should be getting a station. You have now eliminated all possible problems except the radio itself. The radio can probably be repaired. These men are hard to find and will probably charge $100- $200. Speaker is aftermarket also.
 
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Couldn't you just connect it to your home stereo to see what it does before you buy one and still need a radio.? JMO
 
Kendog 170 said:
Couldn't you just connect it to your home stereo to see what it does before you buy one and still need a radio.? JMO
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This was one of my questions above. I was not sure if this will work or damage something. But yes, imma gonna try this method aswell. I might need a new speaker anyways because the original one fell apart into many pieces as you can see.
 
SlantedMark4 said:
It actually is a '74 Valiant. The radio might have been replaced due to this car was built for the Swiss/European market.

It was built in Newark, Delaware but shipped to Switzerland and first registered in 1975.
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That radio won’t do you much good anyway, being foreign installed as all the music and language will be in Dutch. :D
 
ProjectBazza said:
(Hehehe...)

I guess that explains why I can't understand a damn thing coming out of Bazza's Aussie radio, then.
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Also, when I test a speaker I just brush the wire across the contact.
Never actually connect it.
 
That's a cool looking radio! The bezel doesnt appear to be cut/hacked. Built for European market maybe it is oem?
We had our factory 67 am/FM rebuilt, it cost hundreds $$. In hindsight should have spent $$ elsewhere. The factory radio is ridiculously low in wattage...like 5 watts and a single speaker.
In my opinion with todays technology get a hidden system.
Just my opinion
 
All old AM radios are two wire + ground. Or one wire plus ground. And then 1 speaker which may be 1 wire plus ground, or two wires to speaker

If a speaker gets torn up and shorted, it's possible but not absolute that you failed the output transistor.

As with any other old electronics, failed capacitors is always an issue.

You can test a radio by hooking up a cheap speaker you don't care about (thrift store, whatever) or even a headphone(s)

It is not a bad idea to wire an old headlight or stoplamp in series with the radio power. You should hear a "thump" when it powers on.

You can gently insert a wire into the center pin connection of the antenna and see if you hear stations/ static.

I would NOT count on an old one working for very long, or even at all. Failed, aging components, bugs, humidity or just plain water leakage and rust and corrosion.
 
Cool, it serves its purpose then. For me, being cosmetically correct is important, ours works but much easier to use my phone. More volume too lol. Hidden system is on the neverending list.
Kendog 170 said:
My radio lights up but that's it. Look's good at night. Modern radio installed under dash.
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Murray said:
In Switzerland what is "M" band and "L" band?
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Oh uhm i have no idea what you guys have in the US or how to compare our radio signals.
Before DAB and DAB+, we have had UKW which means "Ultrakurzwelle". Before UKW, there was KW for Kurzwelle, MW for Mittelwelle and LW for Langwelle (Short-/ Medium/Middle-/ Long "lanes". Those were the distances how far the signal went. Thats all I know. I might read about it later.
 
Here in the US we have AM and FM. One of the wizards on here can explain those to you because it's above my head. I use a modern amp (hidden) with Bluetooth built in. It automatically connects to my phone whenever the key is turned on. My rear speakers are hidden under the package tray.

As others have stated, no need to test that speaker. It's junk.
 
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