'95 J30T Radio Isn't Working, component-level approach...

[MadPSI]

I have the stock head unit out of my friend's '95 J30T (big power button one), it's torn totally apart and I'm attempting to repair it. The thing just went dead one day, but all the fuses checked out fine. After a ton of searching, I found that this was a common problem on the J30s, and I also found a similar problem with G20s I believe where the resistor(s) in position(s) Rxxx had failed and needed to be replaced. Thinking that the components in the radios were probably very similar, I went ahead and tested most of the resistors I could find on the base board of the unit, but they all seem to check out fine.

I also plugged the unit in and tested for power throughout the unit, and it seemed to have power throughout...

Is there a certain component that is known to go bad in these units? I'm assuming there's a VERY common problem with some component because there are companies that will repair them (at a huge premium) all over the place. I can take photos of the head unit PCB top and bottom if that'll help in identifying the problem.

And please no "Just buy an aftermarket unit." or "Just fork over the dough and get it repaired or buy another one." or "I heard from some dude's girlfriend's buddy that it might be a ground strap thinger..." replies. That's all I've found in the past week.

[metaverse3]

Read this Link: http://madchef.5u.com/maxima/bose/bose.html

[MadPSI]

That was the site I was referring to with the G20 comment (I guess I meant I30 when I said G20)... The head unit is designed differently in the J30, unless I missed something.

[metaverse3]

No it is not designed differently.. All nissan/infiniti's with bose come with line driven headunits that send an amp trigger signal to the door amps/speakers. It might look physically different, but, if you retrofit a late 90's pathfinder headunit, it will work with the right harness.

I own a 93 J30T. When I researched headunits 1.5 years ago, the wiring harness that was in my car was identical to a 92-94 maxima. I took a gamble with a metra harness and Digital multi meter and traced the wires to be identical. Currently that metra maxima harness is feeding my Pioneer GPS/DVD combo unit in the dash and works fine. In 1994 and up, the J30 has the updated harness similar to the 95 maxima Here is a link to the conversion harness you will need if you want to use a 95 and up bose unit in an older J30: http://www.courtesyparts.com/M...IN-03

Fixing these bose headunits sounds like proprietary info if you look up websites like carstereohelp.com. My suspicion has always been crap capacitors and resistors since one of the widely known bose amp fixes has been to replace capacitors in the door amp that leak and swell. I have never been a fan of bose, and removing it from the car acceptable to me.

[DominickJ30]

The J30/Q45/I30/QX4/Maxima/Pathfinder all share similar bose systems. Units may look/have different functions but they will interchange for the most part.

Aftermarket is even easier.

[MadPSI]

I finally got around to taking a couple shots of the boards in question. I've checked most of the large SM resistors on the large board (there aren't any on the smaller one). The small one connects to the larger one via the white clips on the bottom edge of the small board to the sockets in the upper-left corner of the large one. I kept the pics large for obvious reasons.

[metaverse3]

I did the same thing you are doing a year ago.. I have 2 bose receivers sitting on a shelf..one's display is out, the other's tape player is out. I switched components, resoldered/replaced SMD etc. No luck. I'm not going to pay to fix it since I can get a newer unit for a bit more money, which is what I did. I ended up with a Pioneer navigation unit in the dash..

[faridric]

this may help;http://madchef.5u.com/maxima/bose/bose.html