Loren S.

Hey guys, sorry this is probably going to be a pretty lame thread compared to all the cool stuff you guys talk about. I have a stock Shaker 500 in my 2006 Mustang GT that, just last week, stopped working. The stereo seems to be getting no power, as it will not turn on. Everything else around it still works fine, however - my climate control system, hazard lights, dash computer, cigarette plugs, etc all still work fine. I have made no recent changes to the system, or done anything to it (to my knowledge) that could have caused this - it just sort of stopped working out of the blue the other day.

So far what I have done is checked both fuse boxes in the car (as you can read here). There is one at the kick plate on the passenger side, and another in the engine compartment. There is a fuse related to the radio in each, and both of those fuses are fine. I also switched each of the fuses with another similar fuse, and while the area I switched the fuse to still worked, the new fuse in the radio slot yielded no new result.

I'm wondering now if there's anything more that I can check to fix the problem myself. I am admittedly not experienced with car audio, and I have run through the problem as much as I am able on my own through internet searches. Does anyone have any ideas on any other things that I could try that a relative new-comer to car audio might be able to handle, or is it time for me to take the stereo in to an audio shop and have them look at it?

The only modification that was ever done to the audio system was that I had an iPod plug installed in the console, but that was about two years ago and the system has been fine up until now.

Thanks for your help, everyone. Much appreciated.

MOOK3456

Get in there with a voltmeter and see if there's power going into it. It's possible it's getting power fine but just malfuctioning. If there's not, you're gonna have to track it down or have the dealer/audio place do it. If there's power it may be fried, but I read somewhere that the shakers can be reset somehow by the dealer which costs like $75....Kinda ridiculous, may as well replace it. I have no idea why or how they can reset it, just passing along info.

ttocs

check your fuses again but do not even bother with the manual. You would be amazed how often you will find a fuse blown that has nothign to do with the circuts you checked. it actually takes less time to phisically pull and check EVERY fuse in the car then it does to try and go through the manual. just start on one corner of the box and don't stop until you have looked at every fuse, don't forget the ones by the battery.

oldsch00lf00l

Or it could be the Shaker 500 Head unit itself. According to the prior owner, my car was on unit number 3 when I purchased it used. I couldn't stand how it would cut off the last ten seconds of a track and just switch to the next one on continuous mix CDs, so I just replaced it and didn't look back after that.

Loren S.

Thanks for the replies. I did as ttocs suggested first - checked every fuse in both fuse boxes. They were all fine. I then took apart the console (here is a good reference guide for any future searchers) and removed the head unit, and used a voltmeter to test the connections (here is another reference guide for that - I used page 15, "Pinpoint Test B") as MOOK suggested. The unit seems to be getting power just fine as well.

My last hope was that after having the head unit unplugged for long enough, that it would just reset, as I have also read could happen. After plugging the stereo back in, there was no result however.

So I think I have a dead unit on my hands. As such, I think I am going to start looking for a replacement.

dicipleofchaos

EVERTHING is working except for the shaker. Have checked ALL the fuses -they are fine- taken the head unit out & jumped power from fuse box to see if it was the unit itself- radio is working fine-cant seem to locate the problem-no power getting from fuse box to the lead to radio-does anyone have an ideas??

MOOK3456

Run a new wire to the fuse box. You may have a break somewhere in the original wire. It's really easy to do. I'd change the fuse anyways afterwards just in case the fuse failed and the original wire burned up somewhere because of it.

dicipleofchaos

Thanks for the input-will try that