205 Stereo

run205

Member
Fellow Frogger
Tadpole
Joined
Nov 10, 2016
Messages
231
Location
QLD
my stereo's just died
went to a bit of trouble to get an original one as I like the simple way the radio works
super easy to turn on and off and scan or program stations
its having trouble getting power so just shuts off intermittently

I would suggest if you want to change the radio, go for an OEM Honda out of early 2000 cars (doesn't matter which, they're all the same as long as they are single DIN). I would go for a full logic control but that's just me. Those are well made high quality radios. If you can get the speakers with the head unit, even better. You can get a unit with cassette or with CD, whatever blows your budget (expect to pay zip to 20 bucks).

I could look around for another spose, but if what schl says is true , I may as well get one of them

do they fit in the same little slot as the OE peugeot unit ?
what's DIN ? and what's SINGLE DIN ?
and what's full logic control ?
and are they coded ?

cheers, a
 
Single DIN is a standard size unit. Double DIN is one of those with two units stacked on top of each other like you see in many late '90s and early 2000s when CD units were just being introduced in cars and tape was still retained. There was not enough space to cram both mechanicals in one unit so they were stacked taking up twice the volume. Dash openings were equally increased. When tape decks were finally dropped everyone reverted to single DIN.


Full logic control was introduced in top end tape decks for cars in the late 90s and means the mechanicals are computer controlled. No more levers and springs and belts (well, not that many anyway). These units only have one belt, they are usually auto reverse and the only mechanical thingo that physically moves is a head carrier actuated by a solenoid. That and the tape tray that is moved by its own servo. By the end of tape decks in early 2000, these units were present in pretty much anything that still had tape. Top end units were by now CD or multi CD units (no more tape).

There was probably some point in time when manufacturers decided to code the units at the factory by default. From what I know if the first buyer (car brand new) asked, the dealer could remove the code (or change it) at purchase time. I don't know when each manufacturer decided what, but I have a bunch of early 2000 Toyota radios (some with tape, some with CD, some with multi CD stackers) that are not coded and a bunch of Honda radios of the same vintage that are, and some that aren't. Probably everybody did whatever suited them.

Any singe DIN stereo will fit in a single DIN slot, any double DIN stereo will fit in any double DIN slot. At least this is one standard all the manufacturers seem to have agreed on at some point for some reason. Probably the ease of manufacturing given they ordered the stereo equipment form specialist manufacturers like Panasonic, Toshiba, Kenwood and so on. If you insisted on having a special size I imagine it would have limited your options in choosing a supplier.

I did change the original stereo on my 205GTI but I still regret not getting the speakers from the same car (I could have but didn't for some reason). So my advice is if you set your heart on a certain unit, go find a car in wrecker's yard and get the entire system out of the donor car. You will like it. Keep in mind, the 205 can only fit 4" speakers in the available space and quite shallow ones at that so take your tape with you. There is some wiggle room for speaker depth if you don't mind a little spacer pushing the speakers a bit out but you won't be able to fit the OEM trim over the rear speakers if you do that.
 
What do you mean your stereo died? These things don't die. Your unit (I mean all 205 units) is probably one of the last units with through hole technology. Later ones (including pretty much all of those I mentioned above) are smd technology. Discrete components so small you can barely see them. Yours still has components you can actually identify without a magnifier and a few hundred datasheets.

If you want you can ship it to me and I can fix it for you, but you need to know the code.

The only way these units die is when something is corrupted in one of the little chips that store some info such as the unit code and I don't know what else, probably settings to do with radio frequencies in each market and such. Short of that, they don't die. I only have one unit I suspect died like that.

Some have an extra layer of protection. If you remove power one too many times, they just won't work anymore. Some reset by themselves after a while, some don't. Yours won't have that because it is too early. This feature was introduced in some of the units much later. My money sez this feature is risky to introduce because you never know what people do to their cars and you might deactivate their radio simply because their battery died. You would have then a lot of upset customers. Maybe some manufacturers took this risk though and thought the owner's stereo could be reset by the dealer (if they are the rightful owner of the car/stereo of course). Just my speculation.

About codes, Honda can still provide the codes if you have the unit serial number (it is on a label on the unit chassis somewhere). Not sure about others, worth a shot. There are also websites where you can look up your code by serial number too. Some free, some pay. There are also places that can wipe the code entirely from the unit (or change it or read it form the chips inside) but they charge and I haven't found a place like that in Oz. You need to post the stereo overseas.
 
i have a genuine one if you need one, original one owner1
 
thanks for all the info and options
and thanks matt for the replacement unit offer
good to know they're pretty reliable old units, I was surprised mines on the blink
it's not a code issue, I have that and it works
its not stone dead, it just seems to be struggling with getting power
it powers up, but not all the time, then it will play radio and cut in and out, or just out now mostly
took it apart and tried to find something broken, but nothing obvious to me

I'd like to try repair this one first if possible, will put up some pics
 
pics here,
looks like it had some water down the back maybe
any idea where I should solder ?
 

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pics here,
looks like it had some water down the back maybe
any idea where I should solder ?
Could you please send a photo of the tools/key you used to pull the radio out?
 
Don't solder anything just yet. Clean all that crap off the PCB on both sides using cotton swabs and your favourite cleaning agent (Isopropyl alcohol, D5, just about anything that absorbs water). Give particular attention to the top of the PCB inbetween component terminals and where the terminals enter the PCB holes. Rinse with alcohol when you're done and inspect visually.

When you're happy with that, get a multimeter and start buzzing around to see if there's any shorts where there shouldn't be (follow traces around to decide where you should have continuity and where you shouldn't). Take note of semiconductors and capacitors, these may throw you off. Capacitors in particular may buzz for a second while they're charging.

Test individual component terminals by placing one probe on the terminal and the other on the corresponding PCB solder pad underneath to check for cold or interrupted solder joints. This step is very important because cold joints will test your sanity. If you have electrolytic capacitors with very short terminals you can not access from above, find where the tip of the terminal pokes through the solder on the underside and put the probe right in the terminal end and the other probe on the solder around it.

Reflow any dubious joints by adding a tiny bit of solder (or flux if you have some) with a hot iron to keep heat exposure to a minimum time. I prefer a very powerful iron with a point tip. That melts everything in an instant. A small power iron takes forever and it will put more heat into the component and the traces with the risk of damaging components and lifting traces. Flux is of the essence. Wash off excess flux from the PCB/component terminals with alcohol when you're done.

Run a test again to check your work.

I would suggest you test first the power supply section and make sure it's all in good order. If it is, you can apply power and see what happens. I would suggest you apply 12V from a current limited bench supply so you don't run the risk of killing something. If you don't have one, 8 AA batteries give you exactly 12V and they can't give that much current so they would be okay. The batteries won't be able to run the radio (or not for long) but f the radio turns on and looks like it is stable, you can try to plug it in the car, make sure you have a good contact with the connector and a good ground. If the batteries appear to be dying very soon, you might have a short somewhere, check again and repeat.
 
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As above, buy a good PCB cleaner and go to town with a tooth brush whilst spraying. Clean it up chances are you will fix it. Follow advice above, a current limited supply will not damage if limit is within reasonable levels.
 
Could you please send a photo of the tools/key you used to pull the radio out?
Jared, no tools or anything it was just my fingers in the cassette slot

thanks for the tips above, I assume the PCB is the green circuit board.

I would suggest you test first the power supply section and make sure it's all in good order
I thought that once opened, it would be obvious where the power comes in to the unit and there might be some loose wire or something
but it wasn't clear at all
will get some isopropyl alcohol or something and give it a go
if a clean's all it needs that will be a surprise
 
It is not always clear where the damage is after water ingress. That said, I am not 100% sure what you see there is water ingress. It can also be some electrolyte from one of the electrolytic capacitors used in the power supply filters. Fingers crossed it is not, but you never know. You might be able to tell once you get the PCB out and have a good look. If water ingress is the culprit it will most likely have affected semiconductors. They don't like conductive fluids touching their terminals and short out very easily. Doesn't mean they're damaged necessarily, but if shorted out the unit will misbehave.

Also keep in mind water (and generally speaking fluids of any kind) like to wick into the tiniest space by capillary action so you need to go anal cleaning it.

Follow the power at the input socket (you know which wires bring 12V in) and it should be pretty easy. Clean the socket and the plug too while you're in there. My original stereo had dirty contacts and the rear speakers didn't work before I cleaned everything.

Post a picture of the face of the unit so we can identify it. Mine are two different units, both Eurovox but different generations.
 
alex,
here are the pics
not great, but theyre the best I could do
unit code for this one 3636
 

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this is the second stereo unit
code 2364
hope that helps the decodering cause
both have now died (despite what schl promises, they do in fact just stop)
maybe its the moisture we've had all this year has got into the circuitry
but I dunno, think I'll just look for the Honda unit init
 

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ok got to pull mine out for examination as well! To help the collective and individual brilliance, nice work Alex.
 
As I said, they don't die. That doesn't mean that you can pour water in them and expect they survive. That said, I think yours is not impossible to resuscitate. But you do need to clean it and attend to the soldering before deciding is dead.
 
After I got the code for mine I noticed the volume was really low (it works, but with the volume fully cranked you can only just hear it). Thinking it was the deteriorated speakers I replaced then but no change. I pulled the radio out and found this - is it dead or reasonably fixable?
 

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After I got the code for mine I noticed the volume was really low (it works, but with the volume fully cranked you can only just hear it). Thinking it was the deteriorated speakers I replaced then but no change. I pulled the radio out and found this - is it dead or reasonably fixable?
The red circle is a reverse protection diode, the blue oval is the power amp driving the speakers, both will probably need to be replaced. Might need to fix the burnt track in yellow circle which is left speaker+
As the radio is still alive, a good clean and resolder the power supply pins and it might actually be reasonably fixable.


dud.jpg
 
You need to clean all that muck before deciding what's what. It is actually dangerous powering it up with all that corrosion because if the output of the power amplifier IC is shorted it will kill it. Low volume sounds like there is a short that kills most of the signal. I am surprised there is any volume at all, because I can see tracks shorted by corrosion before the power amp. Clean it thoroughly and attend to the soldering, see what's with the dark spots and post a picture of the top side so we can see what you're looking at. I don't think there is anything soldered on the bottom of the PCB but you didn't tell us what model is the stereo so we're only guessing.

You can clean all that stuff with various chemicals and perhaps a brass brush. Don't use a steel one, brass will be aggressive enough. Make sure you don't have any metal bits left behind shorting tracks or whatnot. More gently would be a stiff toothbrush with something like Servisol or similar (even WD40, but you need to follow with Isopropyl alcohol to take all the WD40 residue off).

Post the stereo model number of a picture of the top of that section that is corroded.
 
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