do you think this is the clock spring

[ZWilson07]

i know this is a common problem on the LS's but I dont really seem to have any of the problems anyone else does. I dont have the airbag light or anything like that. All my lights work, all my controls work, all my steering controls light up and work. the only thing that happens is sometimes when I am driving the radio will mute itself and then unmute itself a few seconds later. Some time it will do it over and over for along time, sometimes it only happens a few times then seems to work fine after alittle while. Like i said everything else works fine, even the mute button on the steering wheel will unmute it after it mutes itself. I just figured if it was the clock spring it was cause other problems not just only muting itself then unmuting itself. any ideas

 

[1LoudLS]

my bet is that is either the very beginning of a clock spring failure, a problem with the wiring (maybe the wire is getting shorted by just the right amount of resistance(i think this would be very unlikely)), or the mute button on the front of the radio(or steering wheel) is malfunctioning.


follow up question: does the mute button feel the same as all the other buttons on the face? or does it feel weird, like the button is not springing back to its resting position(this also goes for the button on the steering wheel)?

or i guess it could also be a problem in side the radio itself (not the button)



if it happens all the time, you could cut the signal wire coming from the buttons just before it goes into the radio, if the problem goes away, then you have isolated the problem to either the wire, button(the button on the wheel), or clockspring. time itself will then tell you if the spring when other stuff starts going screwy.

 

[Lincoln Jealous]

i hate clocksprings

 

[ZWilson07]

yeah im almost positive the mute button is working fine becus even if it mutes itself on its own i can push the mute on thewheel n radio and itll turn the mute back off. ill have days it only does it on startip then after 5 min it goes away but here the last day it does it non stop. im just getting tired of fixing this lil bs u know what i mean. i gues every car has their quirks n grimlens but you know what i mean. i guess theres no way to bypass it to stop the clockspring from causing it to mute.

 

[1LoudLS]

i guess theres no way to bypass it to stop the clockspring from causing it to mute.

did you read the whole post, you can cut the wire coming in from the steering wheel buttons just before t goes into the radio, and IF the problem is with the wiring, button on the wheel or the clockspring, the problem will go away until you actually want to fix it.

 

[Quik LS]

the only thing that happens is sometimes when I am driving the radio will mute itself and then unmute itself a few seconds later. Some time it will do it over and over for along time, sometimes it only happens a few times then seems to work fine after alittle while.

do you have 'traffic' turn on?

It's a feature that allows the radio or CD to be interrupted by traffic updates (or other 'critical' events). It 'was' going to be popular so it was built into several model, however it never realy caught on.

So you may be in an area that is broadcasting with the feature and it's interrupting your radio.

Traffic announcements
This feature allows you to hear traffic announcements while in CD mode.
These announcements are broadcast by traffic capable RDS stations.
MENU + SEL
Controls and features
When in this mode, traffic announcements will interrupt radio and CD play.
² Press the MENU control until TRAFFIC is displayed.
² Press the SEL control to engage the feature. The display will read
TRAFFIC ON.
This feature also allows you to control the volume of traffic
announcements. With the display reading TRAFFIC ON, adjust the
volume using the volume control to the desired level. The volume level
will show at the bottom of the display. Interrupting traffic
announcements will be at the selected volume level.
To disengage the feature, press the MENU control until TRAFFIC ON
displays. Press the SEL control. The display will read TRAFFIC OFF.
Traffic announcements not available in most U.S. markets.

 

[1LoudLS]

if it was interrupting the radio for traffic updates wouldnt it be playing something?

 

[ZWilson07]

can someone get me a picture showing exactly which one i need to cut and how to get to it. im always afraid im going t mess something up on the lincoln. an so let me make sure im correct if i cut this wire it will disable the buttons from he steering wheel and even though it will disable them it will cut off the clock spring and it wont cause it keep muting itself just if i ever want to get it fixed then id have to replace the clock spring and then put hat wire back together. does that sound correct

 

[1LoudLS]

can someone get me a picture showing exactly which one i need to cut and how to get to it. im always afraid im going t mess something up on the lincoln. an so let me make sure im correct if i cut this wire it will disable the buttons from he steering wheel and even though it will disable them it will cut off the clock spring and it wont cause it keep muting itself just if i ever want to get it fixed then id have to replace the clock spring and then put hat wire back together. does that sound correct

yes that sound right, i cant upload any pictures but depending on which harness your car has.

00-early 03's and you have the black plugs, all you have to do is unplug the largest(and most square) harness at the back of the radio, the smallest on is for factory subs, the middle sized one has all of the audio and power wires, and the largest has the steering wheel and cd changer signal wires

if its mid 03 or newer and you have the gray plugs, then you need to cut the wire at pin 18, if you unplug the harness and hold it with the harness release tab at the top, and your looking at the side with the wires coming out at you, the pins are numbered from left to right, top row is 1-12 and the bottom row is 13-24
bottom row, 6 spots over from the right is the wire that you need to cut, make sure you leave enough room on both sides to be able to reconnect it

 

[ZWilson07]

ok thanks i appreciate it, these lil grimlens are killing me. also what controls will this disable. just the mute volume and channel change or all the steering wheel controls like cruise control etc.

 

[toast9897]

cruise control has nothing to do with your radio, but if this is the clockspring, you'll probably lose those eventually.

 

[ZWilson07]

ok here this might help idk if mines an early 03 or late. it is an 03 gen 2 but heres some pics.

i have the 3 black ones with the antenna and the 2 bottom grey ones. im assuming the 2 bottom grey ones are for the heat and ac climate control but i tried counting but couldnt seem to the find which one had 12. maybe im just having a dumb moment but thats why I posted these pics to help clear it up. so which one am i supposed to cut here, im assuming that I have an early 03 because of the 3 black ones and you said the biggest most square one is the one I need but which wire on the big one do I need to cut? i think its 7 wires across and obviously 3 down

 

[mtggtmmtg]

Why cut the wire when you can remove the pin terminal from the connector.....

 

[ZWilson07]

very good point' sorry when it comes to electrical i know nothing. how would i go about doing that and i still need to know exactly which one to do

 

[mtggtmmtg]

Your last pic shows the radio connectors, the connector in the middle(20 pin) pin #14 white/black is the one you want to remove. The red face of the plug pops off to allow you access to removing the pin. After you have removed the red retainer, look inside the connector and you will see that each pin is held in by a tab. Use a paper clip or very small flat blade screw driver to gently pull the tab away from the pin as you pull on the wire from the back of the connector. Make sure you don't ram your screw driver/paper clip in too hard or you could damage the tab. Take a piece of electrical tape and tape the removed pin/wire back againt the wiring harness. If the radio still mutes than you know it is internal and not the clockspring.

 

[1LoudLS]

the first three pictures are the harnesses for the climate controls, the last picture has the radio harnesses (red ends) just leave the middle harness (middle in that picture) completely unplugged from the radio, no need to remove the pin OR cut any wires, unless you have a non in-dash CD changer, it wont make a difference, and the only thing that will stop working is all the buttons on the right side of the steering wheel, all the left side buttons (cruse control) will still function.

pin 14 is in the farthest upper most left spot in that picture(center harness with red end pic 4) BUT DINT CUT OR REMOVE ANYTHING, JUST LEAVE THAT HARNESS UNPLUGGED (its way easier to reverse if that is not the problem)

apparently you have an early 03, they changed to harnesses for the radio mid year

 

[Quik LS]

if it was interrupting the radio for traffic updates wouldnt it be playing something?

No - that's the problem, the way they transmit the update changed - so they can interupt your radio but your radio cannot receive the broadcast.

 

[mtggtmmtg]

the first three pictures are the harnesses for the climate controls, the last picture has the radio harnesses (red ends) just leave the middle harness (middle in that picture) completely unplugged from the radio, no need to remove the pin OR cut any wires, unless you have a non in-dash CD changer, it wont make a difference, and the only thing that will stop working is all the buttons on the right side of the steering wheel, all the left side buttons (cruse control) will still function.

pin 14 is in the farthest upper most left spot in that picture(center harness with red end pic 4) BUT DINT CUT OR REMOVE ANYTHING, JUST LEAVE THAT HARNESS UNPLUGGED (its way easier to reverse if that is not the problem)

apparently you have an early 03, they changed to harnesses for the radio mid year

If you leave the 20 pin connector unplugged you will also loose the speed sensitive volume feature and the parking aid mute signal(if your LS has the reverse sensing system)