Radio/Cassette Not Working
 

The stock radio/cassette in my 1981 280zx lights up but none of the buttons function. The radio is on, cannot tune, and will not turn off, only static. The cassette works, but only over the static. I replaced the unit with another stock unit and all worked well for a few months. It has now quit working, doing the same thing as the original unit. Any thoughts?

Go ahead and do what all purists hate to do. Put a cd player in its place. It took buying 2 used units and taking them in and out to make me give up the idea of staying stock. If the stock look is hard to lose, then put the cd player in the glove box. I contemplated doing that but decided to just take the plunge and make it easily accessible by taking out the old unit. If done right it doesn't look bad.

If you're getting static no matter what, maybe the antenna got disconnected?

It would be nice to keep it stock, I have radio/cassette issues also...radio works but sometime the vol just goes very low I have to turn the radio off and then on again to get it to normal. Possible switch issue, I have heard that those radio have a lot a of switch issues (the buttons don't contact properly). Wish there was a list of issues and possible solution somewhere?? definite wishful thinking :biggrin:

Yeah...I just started having this issue today after the radio had not been working for a few days. Most annoying shit on earth. I had to pull the fuse because I was tired of the constant in and out popping of the speakers.

None of the buttons are sticking right? I would go ahead and pull the radio out a tad to make sure all the connections are good. I haven't had betty working, but if betty is constantly on, won't it prevent the radio from playing?

My radio use to play stack alot, and would require a few 'love taps' to the side of it to get it playing correctly. I didn't want to remove the stock look either so I installed a radio in the glovebox, but kept the lighting wires to the radio in, so it still lights up. My set up works pretty well since I use my old phone to play music from with an aux cord.

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My stereo had display issues that were really annoying so I installed a nice Pioneer unit with bluetooth audio and phone. Had to butcher the factory unit to mount it the way I wanted it and I retained the antenna mid/high switch.
Total cost about $150

I can appreciate people wanting to keep the factory look. But at what cost? Not to mention I've never heard a stock unit sound decent, even with new speakers. You can install a modern radio and not have it cheese up the interior.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-8...222_164813.jpg

You wouldn't go through all this trouble if the 80's Hitachi unit was in your home and not functioning properly, would you? No doubt the old hi-fi's looked better, but you're not going to go hiding a new surround sound in your closet. Where would you hang your coats?

Chances are one of the buttons on the radio is stuck down or at least the inside of the switch is stuck. If you hold one button down on ours and try to do anything else you won't able to. This is because the CPU in the radio is locked out. Much like having a bad keyboard on your PC.

I'd probably take it apart and see if you can figure out what button is stuck. Might as well try that before you throw it out.