mailed radio for repair today.

[RICHARD TILL]

i guess this is an after-the-fact-poll. sent my radio and cdm box to f.c.s.r inc. in florida today by ups. cd hasnt worked in a great while, recption was never good, then it just quit. blows fuse at click of the switch. anybody had any experience with these people? did i screw up? is it gonna be :( or :) ? i can stand the truth.

[Z Factor]

Although I do not have any personal experience with FCSR, I have heard good things about them. Let us know how things turn out.

I suspect you will wind up :)

:cheers:

[buddyboy]

IN my Z my radio was fine but the CD player did not work. I took it out and sent it off and got it back in about 2 weeks. The invoice that was packed with the radio said the CD unit was replaced with a new unit. Assuming that it would work like a new one, I installed it back in the dash. Once I was all done I sliped a CD in and it worked perfectly. The only problem was that it would not reject the CD. So I took the radio out again and sent it back. When I got it back I tested it this time and it worked just fine. The second time the shipping was on them. Just check it out. It could save you some work. The end result was good.

1992 ZR-1 #330 White/White :wink:

[RICHARD TILL]

i`ll take that advise. that cdm box made me lose my religion b4 i got it out. :censored: . i`ll let yall know the outcome. got my fingers crossed on both hands.

[bigd]

Sent my speakers to them for amp repair. They did a fine job. Also lifetime warranty.

[RICHARD TILL]

got an e-mail from f.c.s.r. inc. today. said that radio was logged into repair shop. so far these people have done everything they said. i may end up needing a new amp before this is over. can`t beat a lifetime warranty. i`ll post news of outcome hopefully soon........richard.......

[RICHARD TILL]

got the radio and cdm box back monday. both units were repaired. $338.00 going to loosely install tomorrow and see what happens. i sure dread that cdm box. i`ve got my fingers crossed and am hunting a rabbits foot. the car`s been sitting for about 6 weeks now. will probably have to jump it off.

[RICHARD TILL]

whoever engineered the spot where the cdm box is ought to be shot. i finally got it in after 2-3 cooloffs. with it and the radio is still hanging, i put the power to it. played well except left rear popping and distorted. swapped the rear speaker assy.`s and the trouble moved. i`ll order a new amp tomorrow. looks like its gonna be ok after a little over $400. next time i`ll post maybe willie will be singing "on the road again".

[Hotrod]

My hands are still hurting from replacing the cdm box... and that was 2 years ago!

[RICHARD TILL]

i`m in hog heaven. after inspection of my left rear amp, i found two burned looking transistors. i had an old amp that i`d replaced about 6 years ago. they had the same transistors so i said what the heck, nothing to lose. took both of them and a soldering gun to the kitchen table. my dad was a radio/tv repairman when i was growing up so i have a little soldering experience. about 2 hours later i was ready to try. the gods were with me. it actually worked :). this radio works perfectly now=D> . i`m as willie nelson says, "on the road again". to shorten the story, i`d recommend f.s.c.r. in florida for radio repair........richard.....

[ffvetteman]

What is the cdm box?

I have not pulled my stereo yet, but I sispect I will be pulling the head unit next year as the CD player does not work. All the speakers work and if you ask me sound very good!! I think the stereo has a great sound for stock.

[tomtom72]

Our GM/Bose system is made up of components that are in different locations. The "radio/CD/CA" in the dash is just the place where the tape deck & CD deck and the display functions live, called the head unit or control head unit. I think that there was no room for the rest of what makes the sound system work at that location.

CDM box is the rest of the "stuff" ya need to make the head unit actually do something. It houses the "tuner" circuits for the radio as well as the circuits that "read" the signal from the CA tape heads and the signal from the CD "head"(?). There may also be some kind of pre-amp function in that box because it distrubutes the signal to the speakers and has the circuits that adjust the fade, bass & trebble and it may even house the clock function. The last component are the speakers with their individual amps at the four corners. Oh, yea, I forgot the wiring!:o

In my 90 the CDM is under the glove box....sort of...and just inboard of the fuse panel. That place that Rich was talking about has an excellant "how to" section that covers the locations of various components (they moved over the life of the C4) and a good step by step on how to do the R & R on the stuff. The early Z CDM box R & R will make ya get religion! There is just not that much room to get human sized hands up in there to work. Ya know what it's like with a C4, 15 lbs o' stuff in a 5 lb bag....and it's a jig saw puzzle to boot! There is a ton o wiring in the way and the bracket that holds it is one of those multi-function types that drive ya to swear!:sign10:

:thumbsup:
Tom

[Z51JEFF]

whoever engineered the spot where the cdm box is ought to be shot. i finally got it in after 2-3 cooloffs. with it and the radio is still hanging, i put the power to it. played well except left rear popping and distorted. swapped the rear speaker assy.`s and the trouble moved. i`ll order a new amp tomorrow. looks like its gonna be ok after a little over $400. next time i`ll post maybe willie will be singing "on the road again". Heres a question I should be shot for asking.Did the CDM go back in easier than it came out?Im putting mine back in tomorrow and Im not looking forward to it.

[flyin ryan]

as i said a few days ago i put the system back in my Ruby. next winter i'll send my 90 unit out so i'm curious if your CDM goes IN easier than it came out for you. if it's a b...atch maybe i'll send my 95 out first ha, ha. no, the 90 has to get done sooner or later. i'm lucky only one of my cars has the box in the bad area, could be all three:redface: .

[Z51JEFF]

as i said a few days ago i put the system back in my Ruby. next winter i'll send my 90 unit out so i'm curious if your CDM goes IN easier than it came out for you. if it's a b...atch maybe i'll send my 95 out first ha, ha. no, the 90 has to get done sooner or later. i'm lucky only one of my cars has the box in the bad area, could be all three:redface: .
To answer my own question,no,it does not go back in easier.

[flyin ryan]

Got it out of my 90 last night...wasn't too, too bad. I can see it being a pig to get back in though, for sure :cool:.

[flyin ryan]

My stereo showed up from Doctor Don's today. Now we'll see how much fun the CDM box is to get back 'IN' the dash of my 90 :cool:.

[RICHARD TILL]

Better keep a New Testament handy. You might need it when all your blood runs to the top of your head from standing on it.

[GrayZ]

richard, missed you at bowling green this year, again??? :dontknow:
still racing boats? :dontknow:

[RICHARD TILL]

Yep, I was racing boats. I really wanted to go to the gathering but was in Poplar Bluff, Mo.. Got a 4th place out of a class of 14. I broke out with a 9.883 and other guy ran a near perfect 10.02 I`ll be up in your neck of the woods at Creve Couer in two weeks. Ever seen a blown alcohol boat run 175 mph? Come on over. I`ll put you to work.

[flyin ryan]

Yep, I was racing boats. I really wanted to go to the gathering but was in Poplar Bluff, Mo.. Got a 4th place out of a class of 14. I broke out with a 9.883 and other guy ran a near perfect 10.02 I`ll be up in your neck of the woods at Creve Couer in two weeks. Ever seen a blown alcohol boat run 175 mph? Come on over. I`ll put you to work.Keep running that kind of MPH on the water & i'm afraid sooner or later you'll end up on your head :neutral:. Damn wet pavement is ssooo unpredictable. Be safe :pray

BTW...got the Stereo & CDM box in last night. Doctor Don left one of gold studs off the side of the CDM box, don't know if he did that on purpose to make it easier going in or just lost/misplaced it? Seems more than stable enough anyways so no biggie either way.

[LoveMyZ]

We have to send in our speakers and amps in the 92Z for rebuild. Is there anyway to remove the rear speakers without cutting the carpet?

[gbrtng]

We have to send in our speakers and amps in the 92Z for rebuild. Is there anyway to remove the rear speakers without cutting the carpet?
It's been a while - but I think if you remove the horizontal plastic trim along
the side of hatch you get room to get around the carpeting without cutting it.
For some reason the standard C4 is much easier - has to do with the extra
rear end width, I guess.

[csavaglio]

Just out of curiosity, how much did FCSR charge to fix just the CD player? On mine, it won't even accept CDs... just makes a clicking noise. I spoke to Dr. Don and he wanted a huge sum to replace the CD module with a modern one that plays burned CDs (that's all I have...haven't bought a real CD in probably 5-10 years). I understand he goes through the whole radio, replaces the face, etc, but mine doesn't really need any of that. Everything works perfectly except the CD player.

Did FCSR put the newer style CD module in?

I've done lots of electronics work....I wonder if replacing the module is possible without having to send off the unit.

Chris

[RICHARD TILL]

When i had my repair work done they wanted more money to replace the cd with one that would play burned cd`s. Thats all i had and it was already playing them so i didn`t spend the money. I didn`t realize until rereading this post that it had been so long since the repair and its still working. I`ve got cd`s that i burned 7-8 years ago that still play just fine. I think the secret might be not to store them in the sun but thats just me. Send that radio to the repair man and tell him just to fix it. You`ll save yourself lots of worries and what ifs. Not only will it be fixed, it`ll also have a warranty. Thats worth something in itself. My belief is that its a lot easier to complain about the price than it is the quality.

[Kevin]

We have to send in our speakers and amps in the 92Z for rebuild. Is there anyway to remove the rear speakers without cutting the carpet?

yes but it's a pain in the ***.

[csavaglio]

I agree about price/quality. On the other hand, Dr. Don's quoted me about $400, but his service includes a lot of stuff my radio doesn't need. If someone else is able to fix only what is broken and at the same quality for half the price, there's no reason to spend double.

As far as the cd player playing burned CDs....some older players seem to work with them, most don't. I wouldn't want to go through the trouble and expense of fixing the radio if, for a little bit more money, it's not going to play the only CDs I have. I know my luck, so if it's not meant to play burned CDs, I'm not going to be one of the ones who luck out......

Chris

[FU]

It's very easy to remove the rear carpet that covers the speakers.

[RICHARD TILL]

Since i had my repair work done i found this place; East Side Automotive, Booneville, Mississippi. 662-728-9914 . You could call them, discuss your problem and decide from there. They sell take-off auto/truck parts and have a well equipped and organized audio repair shop with hundreds in stock. The repairman seems to be very informed. I have an 08 GMC truck radio that won`t make sound from the right front speaker. If it not the speaker itself, they`ll be the folks i`ll go to. I asked him about an exchange and he said that my radio was matched to the VIN of the truck and repair would be my best option. I`m thinking it had something to do with the XM part of the radio.