Repairing the original stereo

[jodawill]

Does anyone have experience repairing the original stereos? At least, I assume it's the original. It's dated 1989, just a few months before the truck was purchased. There aren't any identifying markings on it like the Jeep cassette players I see on eBay.

 

It mostly works, but I can't read the channel number because the backlight doesn't work. I tried replacing the bulb, but it isn't sending any power to the light. Also, the cassette player seems to be stuck on eject. It won't let the tapes lock into place.

 

It's a very compact design, soldered together at some points.

 

Is there someone out there who specializes in repairing these? Looking online, I've only been able to find people who work on tube radios.

[jodawill]

I just found Minuit's post on repairing these radios. There are two in his post that look like mine, except they have the Jeep logo. Very strange that mine doesn't have it. I sent him a message. Hopefully he can help!

[MagicJames]

You have an automatic radio, pretty similar to the RX170, but people say they're less reliable. To be fair, once you get inside them, they're very similar and the problems like what you're saying with the cassette being spit out happen to all of them, whether it's a 170 or an automatic. 

 

The bulbs you replaced are for the back light that comes on when you turn on your headlights in the truck. The other light is the screen light, which is similar to a plasma screen. In my experience, the plasma screen on the automatics is always notably weaker than that on the 170/171s.

 

Both lights have their own wire in the harness, usually orange and then orange with white tracer on the newer connectors, but one needs 12V only when you turn on the highlights. The other should have 12V when you turn the ignition. In my experience, when the plasma screen light goes out you options are to replace the screen, which is a bit finicky. So make sure you're sending 12V to the correct wire just to be sure first. I think the manual calls one a dimmer and one an LCD. 

 

As for the cassette getting stuck on the eject, it could be logic or mechanical. Basically, anytime the radio doesn't like something about the cassette, it ejects it. Mechanically, this could be the motor not engaging or a belt issue. Logic issues are more unfortunate, but it could be that the radio is not passing the first logic step, where it has to sense the cassette. FYI, all cassette decks are removable inside the radios, but they did sometimes differ from year to year, so you have to get exactly the right one; the plugs and brackets for them both differed. I'm trying to build a portfolio of all the variations to post on here.

Tell me, with the lid off, when you insert the cassette, does the deck seat the cassette? Does it pull it and drop it down? 

I think people don't like the automatics because they're a bit ugly. Like, even when you play a cassette, you just get a blank screen with a direction line, no clock. I have one in my 90 limited, and it looks like this. FYI, all buttons can be individually swapped out, so if you're not happy with your power button looking like that, you can sawp if if you find a junk radio. 

 

Hope this helps 

 

[jodawill]

On 6/10/2026 at 6:51 AM, MagicJames said:

You have an automatic radio, pretty similar to the RX170, but people say they're less reliable. To be fair, once you get inside them, they're very similar and the problems like what you're saying with the cassette being spit out happen to all of them, whether it's a 170 or an automatic. 

 

The bulbs you replaced are for the back light that comes on when you turn on your headlights in the truck. The other light is the screen light, which is similar to a plasma screen. In my experience, the plasma screen on the automatics is always notably weaker than that on the 170/171s.

 

Both lights have their own wire in the harness, usually orange and then orange with white tracer on the newer connectors, but one needs 12V only when you turn on the highlights. The other should have 12V when you turn the ignition. In my experience, when the plasma screen light goes out you options are to replace the screen, which is a bit finicky. So make sure you're sending 12V to the correct wire just to be sure first. I think the manual calls one a dimmer and one an LCD. 

 

As for the cassette getting stuck on the eject, it could be logic or mechanical. Basically, anytime the radio doesn't like something about the cassette, it ejects it. Mechanically, this could be the motor not engaging or a belt issue. Logic issues are more unfortunate, but it could be that the radio is not passing the first logic step, where it has to sense the cassette. FYI, all cassette decks are removable inside the radios, but they did sometimes differ from year to year, so you have to get exactly the right one; the plugs and brackets for them both differed. I'm trying to build a portfolio of all the variations to post on here.

Tell me, with the lid off, when you insert the cassette, does the deck seat the cassette? Does it pull it and drop it down? 

I think people don't like the automatics because they're a bit ugly. Like, even when you play a cassette, you just get a blank screen with a direction line, no clock. I have one in my 90 limited, and it looks like this. FYI, all buttons can be individually swapped out, so if you're not happy with your power button looking like that, you can sawp if if you find a junk radio. 

 

Hope this helps 

 

 

Thanks for the reply. It looks like mine is actually different from yours. I see your screen is lit from the side like a Casio F-91W. Mine had a tube style incandescent behind the top of the screen. I think it should always be lit while the radio is on, but it never receives power. Since it's not actually built into the screen, who knows where it's not making contact.

 

I'll borrow a power supply to look at the cassette deck and I'll report back once I have some information. I suspect it's not a mechanical issue though. I'm thinking the problem with the light may be related.

[jodawill]

It looks to me like there's supposed to be a motor engaging to pull the tape down when you push it in, but it isn't being powered on. It's probably related to the issue with the backlight not receiving power.

 

This is way outside my area of expertise. If anyone out there is able to fix it for me, please message me. I'd love to pay someone to find someone to pay to repair it.

 

For now, I might just replace it with a cheap Bluetooth stereo. I'd really like to keep it original long term.

[AnotherOldJeepGuy]

I'd recommend Crutchfield as a good source for the cheap Bluetooth stereo if you go that way.  I have used them for a long time.  They include the mating harness with the purchase for no extra charge as well as a molding kit (even though a molding kit isn't needed.)

[Pete M]

have you looked up adding bluetooth to the original radio?  Jeremy did that to a couple of mine (meaning he added an AUX input in place of the AM input and I added a bluetooth dongle to that).

 

I put one of them in my Liberty  

 

[jodawill]

27 minutes ago, AnotherOldJeepGuy said:

I'd recommend Crutchfield as a good source for the cheap Bluetooth stereo if you go that way.  I have used them for a long time.  They include the mating harness with the purchase for no extra charge as well as a molding kit (even though a molding kit isn't needed.)

 

Thanks for the recommendation! I might pick up the cheap Pioneer for now. I don't love the way it looks, but it does at least have a dimmer for the lights.

 

22 minutes ago, Pete M said:

have you looked up adding bluetooth to the original radio?  Jeremy did that to a couple of mine (meaning he added an AUX input in place of the AM input and I added a bluetooth dongle to that).

I haven't seen that before. Do you mean the bluetooth dongle plugs directly into the antenna jack? Does it only work on a specific channel? I've been using a bluetooth FM transmitter in the cigarette lighter, but, because the backlight doesn't work, I can't see the display to change the channel when there's interference.

[Pete M]

it is a new AUX port (headphone jack style port) soldered to the AM input inside the radio.  Jeremey has a writeup on it somewhere here on the CC and I imagine by now other guys have youtube vids on it.

 

another option I found that might work for your current deck (read the whole thread):

 

 

[jodawill]

1 hour ago, Pete M said:

it is a new AUX port (headphone jack style port) soldered to the AM input inside the radio.  Jeremey has a writeup on it somewhere here on the CC and I imagine by now other guys have youtube vids on it.

 

another option I found that might work for your current deck (read the whole thread):

 

 

Wow. That's a wildly simple solution.

 

There's several options here to consider. The Pioneer stereo seems like a great solution functionally, but it's definitely not the look I'm going for here. The aux input would keep the original stereo in place, but feels kludgy. I'm not sure which route I'll take yet. If it wasn't my grandpa's truck, I would probably just replace it and move on.

 

If anyone reading this knows how to repair the original stereo, please reach out to me.

[JYau]

These radios have a fair amount of electronics in them. Fundamentally, to even begin troubleshooting these, one would need a schematic to first understand the design and then how to repair them. If you can find a schematic I would be happy to look at it and provide suggestions on where to look.