Dangers of Changing one's battery
 

I'm not sure if this has been ever posted. But a friend of mine could not get his 2003 TT radio going. It would light up / display the Porsche name while in the off postion.
We too it to Newport Porsche and my buddy Stan Reed check it out. It appears that the battery was changed at Pep Boys and during the install. They shorted the rear fuse on the radio . The radio now displays the Porsche name but that's it.... when the battery shorted the fuse- it must have fried some internal componets... MSPR for a new radio @ $700 :(
I've changed my battery many times - but with the radio in the off position.

FYI

Sure is bad news.
Time for an upgrade, with the shop management paying for it.

I'm not sure how you can manage to short a fuse by installing a battery. Perhaps you mean it is a blown fuse? Fuses are designed to be blown to protect downstream components. So if it is a blown fuse, the fuse probably did it's job and just needs to be replaced.

Their is a fuse on the back of the CDR 2003 radio- that was blown. Once it was replaced, the Porsche name appeared. But if you push the on button..it simply blacks out.
Stan thought that mybe the front amp was causing the problem..he disconnected it and it still did not help.

Proving that this shop messed it up will be difficult.

who knows what they did - maybe they connected negative first and than positive it created spark = blown fuse

Borrow the radio from someone or get one from ebay, or get aftermarket one, just get harness, Maybe the radio is in lock mode? - see owners manual - if you take the radio out from the car, it requires you to put in security code, it should be in your car manual if not you need to get your car to local Porsche delaer so they can unlock it for you by punching the code in.

MadWhip,

The car was at Newport Porsche (SoCal ) for the diagnose. Person who check it out is a Master Porsche Tech I've went to High School 43 years ago - he's been wrenching since then at various LA Porsche dealers - he's the only one I let work on my Porsche cars...no drama - simple here's the fact kind of advice.
So if Stan's say X, I'm going to have to believe him. As for buying a used electronic item, it's going to be a toss up. Thanks for the advice.

Probably installed neg on pos and pos on neg. That can mess up a lot of stuff from what I have read

changing a battery is the most simple thing a car owner can do, and an owner should be able to. come on now op.

OK that makes more sense now that I read the fuse was already replaced. I'd post in the for sale section that you are looking for a radio. I'm sure there are lots of people who put in an aftermarket head unit and now their perfectly good stock unit is just collecting dust.

Agree that they probably switched the terminals. I remember noticing once that there is something red color on the ground cable on these cars. Usually red means positive, black ground. But then you notice that the cable is less that a foot long and bolted straight to the body right next to the battery.

Which radio are you looking for ? I may have one or two spare that I will never use again

I would go up to my study to confirm this but our recent earthquake has made a disaster of my manuals, etc. I can barely get in the door, much less find anything.

Unless I am mistaken, the problem is likely that you need the unique radio code to make the radio work. That the radio is lighting up with the PORSCHE indicator tells me that the radio has power, etc. Look up instructions for your radio code and do it. Many people bypass this issue by using a small power unit in the cigar lighter plug to keep power to the radio.

If you don't know the radio code, it should be in the owner's manual packet - usually where the radio manual is [they always say to put the code elsewhere but usually it is found here.] As I recall, if you do not have it the radio will be inop. Any dealer should be able to give you the info if you have the vin and show proof of ownership [Caution: some charge a LOT for this]
GL

JR

Ok, I had a similar situation with my radio. The radio turned on, but no sound.

There is another fuse behind the amp in the front trunk upper passenger side. Simply undo the screws that hold down the amp pull it forward, and you will see the fuse in the back.


Good Luck

It looks like I am wrong and as of 2003 they no longer need the radio codes. In case this is also incorrect [!!] here is a link regarding radio codes:
http://www.renntech.org/forums/index...adio-code-faq/

interesting, can someone confirm that?