Radio/Relay Problem: 1995 Civic EX Sedan

The car had been sitting for about two weeks when I used it today.
Almost immeduately after starting it, I started to hear a series of
clicks (about five loud clicks, then a brief pause, then about five
more) coming from what sounded like the top center of the dash. The
radio cut out while it was doing this, and came back on when it stopped.
I had to rush to make a doctors appt, so I took the car anyway, with
fingers crossed. It did it frequently all the way there, with the radio
on or off. When I drove home, the clicking had stopped, but the radio
unit was now frozen on the last station I had selected. The volume
control works, I can turn it on and off, but none of the logic function
buttons work. This is the AM/FM/CD Changer OEM unit.It's pretty clear
that the stereo packed it in. What I'm wondering is:

* Was I hearing only the stereo clicking, or was there a relay going
bad that just happened to take the stereo out with it?

* Has anyone else had this happen?

* Is the stereo hard to replace with an identical unit?

 

-----------------------------

Just disconnect the battery for 20 seconds and your radio will be
healed. You may need a code if it has the light that blinks 'security'
when the car is off. When you hook the battery back up, try to avoid
'spitzensparken'.

'Curly'

 

Why do you think a 'hard reboot' will solve this particular problem?
I'm not arguing, just curious. Is the radio power connector easy to get
to? I'm a little concerned about 'rebooting' the fuel injection as well...

 

I believe the ECU needs much longer than 20 sec to clear it's memory.

You could pull the fuse for the radio,I suppose.
Fuse panel is under dash,driver's side.

 

Crystal ball is broke so have to guess. It is possible the battery was weak
allowing a lot of electrical noise on the system causing the noise. Due to
the chatter things get locked out of sequence. Check that the battery is
fully charged and load tests good then do as advised. Remove the battery
negative terminal. I would leave it off for 30 minutes or so and then
connect it back up. It may clear the problem. If you are squeamish then take
it to a mechanic. You could also have some corroded or loose grounds so they
should all be checked..

 

I thought of that after posting. All you need to kill is the logic
power, because the rest of the unit gets depowered with the ignition off
anyway. I'll try that. I'm still wondering that the heck the loud
clicking was. The cassette deck...?

 

The battery was just a little low - it's old - but it wasn't low
enough to make me worry the car wouldn't start. I'm going to pull the
fuse that powers the stereo's memory for 30 minutes, and see if that
helps. Thanks.

 

You have to disconnect the battery before unplugging the stereo's
connector anyhow. If you want to do it after dismantling all the stuff
to get to the ...

Do what you want.

 

------------------

There's two fuses for the stereo. One is under the hood, usually marked
'back-up', having nothing to do with the white lights on the back of the
car.

'Curly'

 

sneaky....