Anyone had a stock radio/cd player overheat?

[rickcott]

I have a 2003 Yahoe with the stock radio/cd/cassette player. On long trips, say over an hour the unit gets hotter than a firecracker,,,I mean uncomfortable to touch. I had two thoughts, 1. electrical issue (bad unit) or
2. an open duct from the heater core. The radio has had two malfunctions, in both cases it had been playing for over 3 hours. Both times it just locked up while playing a CD. If you insert your fingers thru the cassette door it's well over 100 degrees in there.

Anybody ?

 

[justimagination]

If you pull the radio out, you will find a fan on the backside, which keeps from overheating. The fan is probably not workingcausing the overheating problem. Good luck,
david g.

 

[rickcott]

David, any tips on removing the bezel and radio without breaking anything ? I've gotten pretty good at removing the player from my Camaro - but have not attempted this on my Tahoe...

 

[justimagination]

David, any tips on removing the bezel and radio without breaking anything ? I've gotten pretty good at removing the player from my Camaro - but have not attempted this on my Tahoe...

Be patient,don't get in a hurry and you won't break anything. Take the gearshift out of park and lower it, tilt the wheel down, close the cup tray, put your fingers behind the seam in the bezel and pry out slowly all way around it, unplug headlamp harness, unplug door jam switch and your bell will stop. Tilt bezel toward you and it will come out real easy. The radio has alligator type clips on each side, squeeze and pull the radio out and unplug the harness. When yput put it back in, take a regular coathanger with the paper roll on the bottom and cut one side off. The end that fit's in the paper roller is perfect for putting the wiring hatness back where it belongs and saves mashing the harness behind the radio. Don't forget your flashlight, JMHO, it worked for me, good luck.
david g.

 

[rickcott]

Be patient,don't get in a hurry and you won't break anything. Take the gearshift out of park and lower it, tilt the wheel down, close the cup tray, put your fingers behind the seam in the bezel and pry out slowly all way around it, unplug headlamp harness, unplug door jam switch and your bell will stop. Tilt bezel toward you and it will come out real easy. The radio has alligator type clips on each side, squeeze and pull the radio out and unplug the harness. When yput put it back in, take a regular coathanger with the paper roll on the bottom and cut one side off. The end that fit's in the paper roller is perfect for putting the wiring hatness back where it belongs and saves mashing the harness behind the radio. Don't forget your flashlight, JMHO, it worked for me, good luck.
david g.

David, I have been super busy - but finally this morning I pulled the radio unit out - there was no fan or really even a space for one. I had a buddy to eyeball the layout to confirm that I didn't miss it. No joy.
I was truly hoping to find a bad fan and replace the aggravating POS. Do you think the unit is just defective (causing it to overheat) ? I have searched other forums and only found one other person posting an overheating radio, but it was in a GM truck.

 

[kntrydr]

I can't count the amount of factory stereos that I have replaced for various reasons and I have seen the cooked head unit Syndrome before but it's really hard to prove what killed it more just that its dead head units in general do get pretty hot but if you suspect that its over heating it might be time to replace the last thing you want is to come out to your truck and find out that it has burnt to the ground because of a crappy stereo good luck

 

[rickcott]

I can't count the amount of factory stereos that I have replaced for various reasons and I have seen the cooked head unit Syndrome before but it's really hard to prove what killed it more just that its dead head units in general do get pretty hot but if you suspect that its over heating it might be time to replace the last thing you want is to come out to your truck and find out that it has burnt to the ground because of a crappy stereo good luck

Thanks guy - That is good advice for sure. However, I may have solved the issue (maybe). While at a local quick oil change place they told me that my battery checked out as just "OK" instead of "excellent" and advised me to put it on a trickle charger overnight. In the process of doing that I discovered that both the positive and negative connections were loose. I immediately tightened them - maybe the bad or inconsistent ground is the culprit. Time will tell. Thanks again. Rick

 

[rickcott]

Thanks guy - That is good advice for sure. However, I may have solved the issue (maybe). While at a local quick oil change place they told me that my battery checked out as just "OK" instead of "excellent" and advised me to put it on a trickle charger overnight. In the process of doing that I discovered that both the positive and negative connections were loose. I immediately tightened them - maybe the bad or inconsistent ground is the culprit. Time will tell. Thanks again. Rick

To follow up....after tightening both of the battery terminal connections the overheating problem went away. It gets warm but not blistering hot - even after playing an audio book for the 5 hour trip from Atlanta to SC.
Thanks again to all whole submitted helpful tips.

 

[nyc boldest]

Hi everyone I'm new to the forum and I wanted to inform everyone I had extra parts for sale 1- bose radio navigation head unit 2 - amp 3- amp wires also escalade mirrors and roof rack if anyone was interested . If interested feel free to reply back..

 

[nyc boldest]

The head unit is OEM BOSE fits 2007-2012 in mint condition I also have pics if you are serious buyer everything is negotiable.