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Radio and heater issues. Help!!

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So after two years in the garage I got the cabby on its feet and decided to chuck it through an mot.

On the way to the garage, I had the radio on and thought it would be best to check the heater was working, just out of curiosity. Turn the knob to 2 and the radio cuts out and so does the heater. I know both we're working before hand but then just stopped.

Doing some research they seem to be on separate fuses but about to go out and check, any other advice?

Any help is gratefully appreciated.


P.S. the cabby passed the mot!

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Could be your heater fan has seized and when you turned it on it blow the fuse, the radio may have be wired in via the power to the heater blower as it's close to the radio.
Just because Haynes etc may list the radio having a separate fuse yours may no be like this as it's an old car and has propblery been through a few radios by now.
Check/test the fuse to the blower and check the fan spins by hand.


1988 Mk1 Golf GTi Cabriolet 1.8cc DX, K-jet. Daily drive. 317,000 miles and counting
1978 Mk1 Scirocco GLS 1.6cc FR, Webber carb. Weekend toy.

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Thanks Mark. Just checked, no fuses blown so the mystery continues :-/

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Sounds as if you have a Grounding issue.

The heater blower, and the radio have different ground points, but Grounds are really an issue on these guys.

If it was an after market radio, then yes I agree it could be on the blower switch but I usually use the Demister to get the power.

The Grounds for the heater blower is on the left side of the blower box, it is a white 5-0r-6 pin white, now yellowed connector going to the motor.  The Brown ground (Earth) wire has been known to me to get toasty, where it can burn the connection.  If yours is a brown color then you may want to disconnect and reconnect.  If yours is blackened, then you want to re-wire it with insulated male/female spad connectors.

Electric Gremlins are funny, when a ground becomes missing or flakey, they sneak around and try to find a Path back to the battery…. and they don't care as to what else they interfere with.

This is why I usually say to replace the Battery to frame and frame to engine/tranny grounds…

This and the fact that they used unshielded multi-stranded wire, and well placed it so that road grime,  salt, battery outgassing can attack it….well lets see on my 90, the thing looked blackened….on my 92, and 93 it was a really dark shade of brown.  But when I untwisted the cable at the back of the battery I could see green corrosion staring to build on the insides….
Instead of having one big wire, I was headed to a bunch of smaller wires…


What do Divorces, Great Coffee, and Car Electrics all have in common?

They all start with GOOD Grounds.

Where are my DIY Links?

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Welcome to the world of MK1 Lectriks. Get a cheapy multimeter (£5-£10) and check you are getting 12v at the radio and heater and work backwards from there.

Lord only knows how moderns are that have electric and electronic everything are going to cope when they are 30+ years old…..

1983 Mars Red 1.8 Golf GTI
1987 Alpine White 1.8 Clipper Cabriolet

The trouble with doing nothing is that you never know when you are finished.

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Early-1800 said


Lord only knows how moderns are that have electric and electronic everything are going to cope when they are 30+ years old…..


They won't that is why they are made from Cost reduced Steel, and a lot of Plastic.    They don't build them like they used to…..  

Oh, and just be glad you aren't driving an older British Leyland.  37 miles of to wire protect the 2 fuses on the system, where the wires melted long time before the fuses pop.

But then again, those are the good old days, no computers at all…..  :)




What do Divorces, Great Coffee, and Car Electrics all have in common?

They all start with GOOD Grounds.

Where are my DIY Links?
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