Expert: Cleggsan - 4/22/2009

Question
I bought my 1988 Dodge Raider (Mitsubishi Montero) with this head unit all ready installed. One day the line (separate from the main power cable) that runs from the positive terminal of the battery that tells the truck to start etc (controls all the dash lights etc) had the connector erode (truck wouldn't start, no dash lights, nothing). So I replaced the connector and went to turn on the head unit and all it will display is the clock. None of the buttons work, and doing a soft reset via the manual (since the buttons don't seem to work) doesn't work either. I disconnected it completely from the battery for about an hour and it still doesn't work. It worked just fine all the way up until the one cable eroded/disconnected. I heard that I can take it in to an audio shop and they would hook it up to a computer and do a hard reset, is this true? If not what do I need to do? Thanks.

Answer
I have no idea what you are talking about when you say the connector eroded.  What does that mean?  Can you explain it to me?

If the clock works and nothing else, the head unit has a major failure mode and needs to be diagnosed.

Yes, you should take it to a shop.  Not to have it reset but diagnosed to find out what has failed.  There are too many possibilities to make an intelligent guess with the limited amount of information available to me.

If the unit has failed there may be a fuse blown or it may be a failure of the internal power supply in the Clarion.  Or, could be a short in the wiring going to the head unit (under the dash, for example.)

I think your best strategy is to go ito a shop who can inspect the external system and take some tests on the head unit.

Hope this helps some.

C