Missing 10 V

My Business CD player doesn't work of the sudden in my 1999 E36 328i convertible with the HK system. One day it asked for the code and after it was entered it worked ok. The next day the system did not work at all. I removed the unit and checked the female connector that the systems plugs into. Voltage reading across pin 9 (Continuous positive, terminal 30) and pin 15 (ground, terminal) is 2.08 V. Shouldn't this reading be +12 VDC? If it is supposed to be 12 VDC, it looks like there's a problem with the wiring. Any suggestions for troubleshooting? Many thanks.

Originally Posted by philkeating

My Business CD player doesn't work of the sudden in my 1999 E36 328i convertible with the HK system. One day it asked for the code and after it was entered it worked ok. The next day the system did not work at all. I removed the unit and checked the female connector that the systems plugs into. Voltage reading across pin 9 (Continuous positive, terminal 30) and pin 15 (ground, terminal) is 2.08 V. Shouldn't this reading be +12 VDC? If it is supposed to be 12 VDC, it looks like there's a problem with the wiring. Any suggestions for troubleshooting? Many thanks.

yet another Masshole, jeez

You download the Bentley repair manual .PDF for free and it covers the diagnoses of the HK system. From personal experience I know that the factory amps are pretty infamous for just quitting on life. First and foremost I'd make sure I have 12.5 at the battery..just in case. and then I'd start going through all my connections from the radio back. I never had a stock head unit but I know that when they're removed from power or such that they lose the codes and have to be reset, so you could have a faulty connection somewhere in there or, by the amplifier. Car audio drives me nuts... good luck.

Thanks for the reply. BTW, I'm a RI native! Voltmeter shows 12 V at the battery and 12 V when the key is set to acc when looking across the ground and the +12V acc pin at the female connector. I don't know where the wires from the radio connector route to. The bundle under the rear seat I presume has some (or all) of the wires that eventually get to the radio. Is that right? Is there a wiring diagram posted somewhere? Thanks again.

The Bentley PDF manual has the whole radio wiring diagram, i found it fairly useful when installing a new stereo. there's also quite a few threads about this problem on this forum if you search them up.