Radio Tech (1 Viewer)

[Braden620]

I figured out what was wrong with my radio. The preset cam that disconnects the tuning clutch was dragging. A little alcohol and some white lithium and it works great now. Any recommendations on speaker impedance? I don't know what the output is, but I bet it isn't much.

 

[Engineer8000]

I think 8 ohm would be fine.

 

[Braden620]

I think 8 ohm would be fine.

I called my audio supplier of choice (JL) and asked to buy one speaker. They said no.

 

[Miloslavich]

Hi, after some discussion with @ToyotaMatt, he turned me your way for a possible radio resto.

One thing I am curious about is if you could add bluetooth connectivity to an FJ60 Radio.

check out this bluetooth module device and their videos demonstrating their functionality on older vintage car radios:

do you think that is something you could install in a vintage Toyota radio?

thanks

BTU Bluetooh/USB | Aurora Design

www.tech-retro.com

 

[Engineer8000]

Interesting that you ask. I have these blue tooth modules, I am going to install one in an old AM/FM from a mini truck. It does not have all the functionality of that shown in the video but it will do blue tooth from a device.

 

[Engineer8000]

If you are powering up a 08600-00014 for the first time that has been sitting or is new to you, be careful. There are diodes mounted to the output transistors at the heat sink in small plastic holders. If a diode should open, it will cause the transistor to run very hot and it will melt the diode holder. When you power it on, monitor the temperature of the bottom right rear corner of the radio, it will normally be slightly warm after the radio has run for a while but if you detect it becoming quite warm or hot even, power the unit off immediately. Those diode holders are unique and if you melt one you are sol. You can see the leads for the diodes in this picture, one set is green and red, the other is yellow and blue. That corner where they disappear under the circuit board is where it will get hot. Those closest two screws in the bottom hold the diodes and transistors to the heat sink/case.

 

[MadMace]

The radio that Russ is referring to above is the original radio for my 1974 FJ40. When I got the 40 3 years ago, the original radio was in place but not functioning. I removed it, opened the case and it was full of dust and dead spiders. I disassembled it, cleaned it, and recapped it. It would power on but would get quite hot to touch as Russ noted above. It also would tune to stations but sound was very low, even with full volume.

I tried everything I knew to try but couldn’t get it working as it should. I came across some posts by Russ and clearly could tell he was the Mudder to go to for my radio issues. I PM’d him and he had me mail it to him. He jumped right on it, found out the problem but then ran into another issue—NLA parts it needed. Instead of washing his hands of it, he found radios to serve as donors for the parts my radio needed. Additionally, he tracked down some transistors it needed.

He got the parts switched out. No more overheating. Reflowed some solder to get the sound normal again. He even changed out my lamp and repainted the needle.

Okay, so here is the part that blows me away. His invoice was only for parts and shipping. No labor charge. When I told him I wanted to pay him for his time and how much I was going to send him, he insisted it was too much. Incredible.

Needless to say, I wish I knew more people like Russ. There are dudes and then there are DUDES. Russ is a DUDE.

Rock on Russ!!

 

[Engineer8000]

I've been working toward getting the radio lab business up and running but will be putting it on hold. I was offered a great opportunity to help start up two new AP1000 reactors at Vogtle. I will get back to this in about a year.

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

Good for you but please don't forget about us with radio repair needs

 

[ToyotaMatt]

I've been working toward getting the radio lab business up and running but will be putting it on hold. I was offered a great opportunity to help start up two new AP1000 reactors at Vogtle. I will get back to this in about a year.

no !

come back russ....

 

[Engineer8000]

Finally moved off the kitchen table. Still a lot to do.

 

[70fj40]

What a fascinating thread. Just read through the whole thing and filing it for future reference. To be honest I didn’t understand a thing you guys were saying but I did read every post and I did love the pictures. Amazing work you do Russ. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us simpler minded folks.

 

[Engineer8000]

I have a few of these that I am going to go refurb and offer for sale so I started reviewing the service manual on my high tech viewing device.

This is a 24 volt radio. I always figured that Panasonic just used their normal 12v design and added a 24/12 v converter. No, they designed a new circuit to use 24V, (26.4 actually). The audio amp uses the full voltage while a dropping resistor is used to power the rest of the radio.

 

[Engineer8000]

Finally found this after months of searching. D2 and D3 are the temperature compensating diodes mounted to the amplifier transistor heat sink used in the 08600-00014 radios. If you recall from earlier these will fail over time resulting in melting down the transistors and plastic diode holders. Now I can find a suitable replacement.

 

[Engineer8000]

BTW, the cat is Mickey, a Maine Coon rescue whos eyes were so infected she could barely open them. As you can see, she is fully recovered and magnificent. She is one of three living here, her little sister (20lb) Tinsel and pretty young one Cinnamon. I know someone (@Spike Strip) will get the reference.

 

[Spike Strip]

Marty Landau's wife

 

[Engineer8000]

MBBW, LOL!

 

[Engineer8000]

I spent some time with one of those compensating diodes and my SPA, this one is slightly high, should be 0.59 - 0.65 Vf at 3mA, but not too bad. Yes, that is a 5.25 floppy drive.

This is the diode in it plastic holder that gets screwed down with the transistor on the heat sink.

 

[Engineer8000]

One step closer

 

[thorslc1977]

Do you have a faceplate for what I believe is a Matsushita radio like the one in post #53? I am the original owner of the vehicle (77 FJ40) and radio works fine but one of the corners of the faceplate has broken off. Thank you.