The clock in my car doesn't work how do i fix it??? Is there any system that i can put under my seat to listen to CDs?? with out ruining my sytem? thanx pat
There are many cd changers out that use rf thru your radio antenna, but you have to have fm for them to work. I recently bought a good kenwood 6 disc changer that fits under my bench seat for around $40 on ebay. It came with a wired remote (plus a bonus 6 cd's that the seller forgot to remove before he un-installed it; I wrote him about it and he said to keep them). You can find good deals on these if you shop around.
If you can get the dash clock out of the car, they're really quite easy to fix. Parts that usually fail on them, after only 30+ years, are the rewind contacts. These clocks are actually a mechanical clock with an electric solenoid rewind mechanism. They close after every 3-4 minutes by rotating on a shaft with the movement itself. When closed, a solenoid is energized, advancing the winder springs on the clock, starting the process all over again. Once the clock stops it usually tends to seize up a bit. Nothing a good soaking of WD-40 or similar won't cure. Wind the mechanism by hand, spray the oil & set the whole thing on the bench. In about 5 minutes you'll hear the familiar TICK,TICK, telling you the clock is working again. If not pitted too, too bad, you can file the contacts flat with an emery board & resurface them a bit with a silver tipped pen, available at any electronic shop. Should the pitting/burning be too far advanced you may consider replacing the movement with a quartz set-up or start searching for another clock.
I had three cars with no radio. I hated goig for cruises with no music, I considered the Secretaudio system, but for three cars I would have spent $1,500 for the radios and CD players. Plus I would have had to buy three sets of speakers. I finally went to Walmart and bought a Pioneer DEH-P3600 radio/cd player with wireles remote and two 6X9 Pioneer 4-way speakers which I mounted in speaker enclosures. I wired each car for speakers and power using quick disconnect connectors from Radio Shack (thanks Yuk). I mounted the radio/cd player under the dash using 2 inch wide velcro strips. I place the speaker enclosures on the back floor with the speaker facing up with enough spare wire to place the enclosurs on the back seat if need be. I spent a total of $260 on the complete system and can now move the systen from car to car. I can also remove the radio/cd player when not using the cars so the system won't be stolen. All of the wires tuck neatly out of site when not in use. My 65 Skylark is so loud you can hardly hear yourself think, but this systen sounds great cruising down the road. It actually drowns out the engine/exhaust noise. I could have just as easily mounted this sytem under the front seat, but it doesn't look bad under the dash, especially at night with the muti-colored face lit up. I am really pleased with this set up. I think anyone else would be to, unless they are really into serious stereo. But with high performance cars like these that make lots of noise it seems to me one would be better off listening to music in a Cadillac, Lincoln, MB, BMW, etc. But, that would not be as much fun. Good luck. I hope you find what you want.
