Odyssey, radio works, speakers dont; engine causes buzz in speakers when lights on

Greetings,

I have a 1997 Odyssey. Three days ago the speakers to the radio stopped
working. The radio, itself, works -- the LCD lights up, you can switch
stations, switch to CD, etc. -- you just can't hear it. The speakers are
silent.

At least they were silent until last night when I was driving with the
lights on. Then there was engine interference -- a whining buzz directly
linked to the speed of the engine. The faster the engine was spinning
(OK, the engine wasn't spinning, but the parts inside it were) the higher
the buzz. The interference is only present when the lights are on -- it
goes away when the lights are off.

Also, now I cannot turn my parking lights off.

I a confident all these events are linked, and I leave it to some clever
diagnostician to give me some insight.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Frank

 

How do you know the radio works if you can't hear anything? Do you mean it
lights up or the display works?

 

Yes. The LCD display lights up enabling me to switch stations, scan
tracks on the CD, etc.

 

The amp section of your radio is out. There is no getting around it. You
might want to check all the radio fuses. Don't know about the 97 but the 99
on the same fuse feeds the accessory sockets and the audio unit. Do your
accessory sockets work?

 

Thanks for the info. Do you mean that the radio is kaput and need to be
replaced? I will check the radio, fuses, and sockets.

I don't understand why I am getting interference from the engine now when
I never did when the radio worked. Does the amp offer some kind of
shielding? I discovered that banging on the steering wheel affects the
whinning buzz -- it might make it softer or louder. It's all very
interesting.

Ted

 

The stereo is connected to the parking lights so that the display may
dim when you turn on your lights. Your now faulty stereo is probably
back-feeding power onto the parking lights wire, thus you can not turn
the parking lights off. The real question is which of your kids emptied
a vanilla Coke inside the stereo? Regardless, I think your stereo is
toast.

 

My 2-year old. And I don't think it was vanilla.

Frank

 

It wasn't Coke, and it wasn't Sprite. It was $0.31 -- three dimes and a
penny. I figured out how to remove the car's radio panel/cover. I took
out the radio, and it jingled. I took the top off the CD player and
shook out four coins. I thought maybe the coins had permanently shorted
out the CD player, but I plugged it back in, and it worked just fine.

So that's the story in case anyone is actually interested

 

You forgot the crucial piece of information: you have small children
and allow them to play in the car.

That would have cut the diagnostic time down to about two seconds.