1995 factory radio troubleshooting

[Giraffe]

This is in my '95 Mustang, but it's the same as any panther radio of the same vintage. Recently the original radio in my car has begun to act strangely. It will stop producing any sound and will only display "TAPE" on the readout whether or not a tape is in the deck. It could take a few seconds or days to snap out of it. Any ideas?

[sly]

IIRC, there is a switch inside that triggers that mode switch when you insert a tape. Could be that it's got enough dirt/crud across it that it's doing a capacitive jump allowing voltage across the switch. May just need a good cleaning.

[gadget73]

yeah, switch in the tape mechanism. I don't happen to have one here to look at but somewhere in there there is a switch that is activated when the tape is loaded into the deck and it flips from tuner to tape. Also might be worth making sure the connectors from the main board are plugged all the way into the tape deck.

There are two variations on that. Yours is the mechanical eject, the other one has the soft touch buttons for FF/RW/eject. Radio itself is basically the same, just the tape mechanism is not.

if you can't find the switch in there, let me know and I'll dig up my 1992 radio service manual. I think it covers both types. I know its got the soft touch control version.

[Giraffe]

Yeah. I’m not really sure what I’m looking at in here. Do y’all see the switch I’m looking for?

[gadget73]

if you don't use the tape deck you can just unplug it. Its the wider connector. That will have the power and switching logic. The smaller one is the audio connector.

switch will be someplace in the mechanism but I dont know where offhand. Best suggestion, look for a pair of wires that goes into the mechanism that are not the audio wires to the head or to the motor. That should be it.

[Giraffe]

if you don't use the tape deck you can just unplug it. Its the wider connector. That will have the power and switching logic. The smaller one is the audio connector.

switch will be someplace in the mechanism but I dont know where offhand. Best suggestion, look for a pair of wires that goes into the mechanism that are not the audio wires to the head or to the motor. That should be it.

I actually was using the tape deck with a bluetooth tape adapter. I'd prefer to get this thing working if I can. I'll take another look at it over the weekend. I appreciate it.

[sly]

If you were still in Texas, I would say come and visit me, but it's quite a bit further to DFW now.

[bgreywolf]

I'm not familiar with the innards of this generation of Ford tape decks, but I think the blue thing in the corner is the switch for the tape. Give the whole tape assembly a light dusting with a can of spray duster or low pressure shop air (if using shop air, make sure it's reasonably dry first; don't want to blast condensation all over the thing).

Since you're lucky enough to have a mechanical eject, try inserting a tape and watching what moves. Insert and eject a few times; I think the little metal piece in the corner by the blue coil (I think that's an inductive switch?) comes down to touch (or very close to) the switch when the tape is in. That piece may not be moving, or a piece of dirt may be in there.
Also a good time to look and see if any of the gear teeth are crunched up (not likely) or any of the rubber belts are deteriorating (very possible, although bad belts cause different problems than you're having), since you're this deep in it already.

If your bluetooth adapter is a cassette with a cord, look along where the cord goes in to see if maybe it snagged and bent anything. On other tape decks, I've seen the cord bunch up and the metal cage get distorted by being vigorously removed; this would directly affect the operation of the switch mechanism. Gently bend the metal back and use a cassette to check that everything moves freely on insertion/ejection. I've also seen this happen when 25 feet of Led Zeppelin gets wound around the capstans and kitchen utensils are used to try and remove the wreckage...

[Giraffe]

If you were still in Texas, I would say come and visit me, but it's quite a bit further to DFW now.

I’m actually going to be in DFW in a week and a half. I should have some free time. I’ll bring the radio if I can’t fix it. I’m not seeing anything out of the ordinary. It’s nice and clean inside, so I don’t see excess dust being an issue. I’m stumped.

[sly]

ok. Let me know.

[tbear853]

I bought a couple spares for my '95 Tbird, same radio exactly. Ebay, maybe 10 years ago, cheap and working units, but I don't often see them now. The one in the car lost the tape door, but wide black tape fixed that as I never use the tape anyway, I just use my XM on a modulator and FM 87.9 ... Modulator might be "the fix" for you, it feeds a signal in through antenna lead.

[Giraffe]

I would have used a modulator (like the one I use in my GM) instead of the tape adapter if I hadn't had the antenna shaved when the car was repainted in 2010.

[87gtVIC]

Does an antenna shave mean you still have just the cable hidden up behind the fender?

I have a FM modulator in my car for when I want to listen some music I dont have on tape and The reception is really strong, so strong that I dont even raise up the antenna.

If push comes to shove maybe you can pick up a stubby antenna and just tuck it up behind the fender liner and it would suit your needs.

[gadget73]

these can do line input very easily. That square plug on the back with the dummy connector in it has signal out and signal in from the optional CD player. If you break that connection and feed your own signal in, it goes direct to the amp instead of through the tape or tuner parts. Sounds much better. Just need a 3.5mm jack with internal switching to do it.

[bgreywolf]

I'm still eyeballing the blue thing. It really looks like the metal arm in front of it comes down to touch it when the cassette is inserted.
Is there a little post in the blue piece that might be stuck? Or maybe a magnet that used to be on the metal arm that has stuck itself to the blue thing?
It looks easy enough to remove and replace if that's what it is (for that matter, any of that era tape mechanisms with a mechanical eject, as a whole unit).

I might be barking up the wrong tree, but I really get the feeling it's in that part of the mechanism.