So first thing I want to say is nothing happened, didn't punch, didn't spill anythong on it, nothing common sense.

A weird thing I noticed was when driving a few minuetes to pick up my brother was, I had the radio on, and ever now and a few times it seemed like it would phase/static out.

My brother got to the car, I turned it off so I can hear him speak, when I went to turn it back on I felt a shock, not painful at all, but than I went ro turn the radio on again, nothing.

A friend who used to fix cars said it was the deck not gettingbpower, and not thevfuse, because the fuse were sending information, the radio was,stilk on with the clock showing, and he said he knows its the deck because if it wasn't, we should still be able to change the tine. There is also a CD in the car, and since we can't get it out, it is definitely the deck.

We tried pressing all buttons too.

I doubt one small shock is going to cost me 100-150$. Is there any easier, cheaper fix?

 

Though I hardly ever play the stereo in my own '04, I was playing a new CD a few months back and noticed it was skipping on occasion. I thought it must be the CD. So I gave it a quick clean and put it back in. Same thing. I took it in the house and washed it. Same thing. I tried another CD that never skipped before and it skipped too.
The car is of course 8 yrs old now but I am the original owner. And as I'd said, while I get in the ocassional mood to hear something while driving I don't use it that often.

Years ago I read that Mazda had two main vendors for the 3 series cars (not including the upgraded Bose system,) and that one of them was Clarion. Ther other was a less familiar name to me and I don;t remember what it was.
I've never had much faith in Clarion's before so I figured that sooner or later this thing would crap out on me.

I'm guessing that its even more likely you have the Clarion unit in yours because that's what they do from my experience.... crap out.
I think if you're sure it not any of the fuses, and remember that there may be one INSIDE the deck (there often is,) and if its that important to you that its time to either fix or replace it.
It's not that hard to pull the deck and have a look, so I'd suggest doing that first.

 

So there is a possibility there is a fuse inside the deck?

That will make me so relieved.

Yeah I need some music, it helps me relax when I stress out when driving.

This car is my moms old mazda, shes at work right now so I can't really ask but I do know she took good care of it. If it did crap out, I just hope it is what you said, a fuse being inside the deck.

Before I take everything apart, is the fuse easy to find? Where would it be?

Thanks for your reply!

 

As you said, "a possibility," one worth looking into IMO. I have seen this before in other car decks. The circuit is fused at the car's fuse block, but then the deck itself is often fused again.

The ones I have seen and are familiar with either have a fuse plugged into a slot in the back of the deck somewhere, or under the top cover, or in the case of an aftemarket
HU, inline with the power cable but that's not as likely here, and I've never seen one in mine..

 

I appreciate the help.

I am going to do a bit of research to verify that there is a fuse in my car, before I start taking it apart.

I appreciate the help! You could of saved me a good amount of money!

 

So I know this is really late, but I had it checked. Apparently this is common in this car, and they said the mechanic used to work on these cars a lot.

They said it is the radio.

I got it checked at Pepboys.

I called the dealer my mom got the car, and they said it should be 800$ for a new radio, and 200$ to be installed. Is this accurate?

Can I get cheaper?

Our friend who used to work on cars said anything above 150$ is bull.

 

Holy mother of ripoff......... $1,000 for a new OEM HU installed in a '04 model. I'm not sure if I should be laughing, crying or punching a hole in a wall.

First things first check around on the different mazda forums as you can frequently find OEM HU's for sale from people who have swapped out with aftermarket HU's. Sometimes people even let them go for free just to clear up closet space. Generally I've seen the older '04/'05 models go for around $50 for the 6CD..... generally. Even brand new the 6CD HU runs about $450..... certainly not $800 though. Just for ****s and giggles go in and have them print you a quote including the p/n of the HU for the cost of the part. If they actually say it's $800 for just the part on the quote then I'd report them to Mazda North America.

Second you can use either a '04 or '05 HU. Starting in '06 the wiring for the LCD was separated from the HU ('04/'05 it's wired directly to the HU) so while a newer HU would work in your car the display wouldn't show you anything as it would get no signal. The only real difference between the two is the '05 HU has the SAT button. If you plan on installing the OEM sirius module then try to find a '05 model, otherwise it shouldn't matter.

Third, once you have the HU in hand you can swap out them in about five minutes. You pop the dash strip off (four tension clips), remove two screws holding the HU to the dash, pull on the HU to release it from the tension clips holding it in place and then just unplug it. That's it.

Fourthly you now have an opportunity to replace the HU with an aftermarket one if you so choose. There are any number of different kinds you can get, though there are a few OEM-style touchscreen navigation HU's available in the ~$500 range. Check out eonon.com for examples. EDIT: Apparently they're 1st gen model is now $419 with the voice command add on module.

 

I'm w/"spots" on this one.
For $1000 you could install a nice sounds system AND a 32" HD TV, for crying out loud!!! That's just insane!!

eonon? That's that Chinese company. In spite of the fact they now help sponsor the 247 forum, I still don't know about them? They used to do a pretty good job of SPAMMING up the boards, including this one. In fact they once PM'ed me here trying to get me to try one of their products at a greatly reduced cost if I talked them up on the forum. I ignored their offer.
Frankly, I'd be a little concerned about doing business with them.

 

Eonon is indeed one of the Chinese companies, and in general I'd agree with your reaction Richard. That said they are a sponsor on M3F and I've interacted with Melvin (their main internet guy) quite a bit in that capacity. He's really good about dealing with customer issues, be it problems with shipping, replacing units, or troubleshooting issues with settings. They're also really good about accepting customer feedback on what features people would actually like. If I had the spare money I'd probably grab one.