Boat AM/FM/CD Deck Problem
 

My son (who ought to know better) used a pressure washer to clean the inside of our 2002 Four Winns Horizon 180 bowrider. Since then the AM/FM/CD deck hasn't worked. The unit's display lights up, it tunes stations and otherwise appears to operate but nothing comes out of the speakers.

Thinking that he had damaged the deck itself, my son picked up and installed a new one. Same story - looks fine to the eye but nothing for the ears.

Anyone have an idea what might be causing this problem or, alternatively, who to see to get some professional help?

Thanks much.

Did he check the speakers themselves?
 

If he replaced the entire deck and you still have the same issue, I would wonder if he also pressure washed the speakers themselves?

Most marine speakers are water resistant, not waterproof. And most are not designed to survive pressure washing, which could easily destroy the cones.

Usually it is very easy to pop off the speaker protective grill and physically see if the speaker cone material has been damaged.

Just a thought on something that could be checked and ruled out fairly quick.

Skip

I had the same problem.
 

I had the same problem in my truck two years ago, after closer inspection they told me (circuit city :rolleye1: ) that my wires were damaged going to the speakers. All in all it wasn't the case it was the wires behind the head unit that had trouble. But this could be the same problem. We know the unit has power, but it isn't getting sound. Sounds like a definite speaker or wire to speaker issue. Does it have waterproof speakers installed? the wires could be frayed, check them out before professional help, it ended up costing me 60 bucks for a simple problem.

Check the connections
 

Not knowing what you have for a system it's hard to be sure. Like Skip said, pressure washing the speakers is not a good idea. If one or more can be easily removed you can check them on a home system. If practical you can also substitute in an alternate speaker to see if the head unit and amp are good or bad. If you can't easily remove any of the speakers, I'd ask if you have a 4 speaker system. It's unlikely that all 4 speakers would have been washed into oblivion. No sound from all of them would make me wonder if they are plugged in.

You have either a combined head unit/amp (likely) or a separate head (AM/FM/CD) unit and amplifier. If it's the former we know you have power and ground but perhaps the speaker connections aren't right. Check these first. If you have separates then in addition to making sure the co-ax cables that connect the head to amp are plugged in, make sure the wire (often blue or orange) that "tells" the amp the head unit has been turned on, is also connected. Without seeing it (or knowing the model number), it's hard to instruct you with any more detail.

Was the boat at least clean when he was done??;)

System Model
 

It's a Sony CDX-L350 with 2 speakers.

What little I can say ...
 

I was able to find some info online and so from that you have a 4 speaker (only 2 connected right now) AM/FM/CD player. I didn't see any pre-amp outputs so I can safely assume you're using the self contained amp. There is one connector on the back of the unit that brings in power and ground and brings out speakers and more stuff. Since it lights up and tunes and such, I believe this connector is plugged in properly (wouldn't hurt to give it a push though). Off this connector there should be a bundle of 8 wires (purple, grey, green and white; 1/2 with striping) that go to another, separate connector. These are your speaker wires. I'd check that this is plugged into the connector that brings the wires to/from your speakers. It may have been missed during re-installation. If all connections are good then, and assuming no operator error*, I'd reluctantly say your speakers are suspect. You'd have to really damage the speakers though to get no sound at all from either of them. I've seen some pretty manged speakers still squawk if not exactly sing.

The only other thing I can guess at is that there's a light blue wire (not the blue&white striped one) that's intended to go to a cell phone. I think it's supposed to mute the radio (hmmm !) when a call is in progress. Just make sure this is not connected to anything or dangling with the bare wire touching metal. Other than that I'm out of ideas. Not doubt it's something stupidly simple (and so being simple and stupid myself means I should "get it" but alas what can I say :D ).

*I'm assuming you've turned up the volume, made sure the attenuation/mute is not activated (ATT button) and selected radio or CD (SRC button) as needed. I've also assumed you replaced the old unit with an equivalent one as otherwise the connectors and pins assignments wouldn't work, heck they probably would'nt even go together.

We'll Give It a Try
 

Thanks much for the suggestions, Mee-n-Mac. We'll take another look under the dashboard over the weekend.

In case we are still stumped, is there any place/person you'd recommend we take it to?