Mark Levinson - Occasionally No Sound

[01 Ultra]

maybe someone else has had this problem & has found what it was? i live in minnesota & during the winter (or when the temperature happens to be below about 30 degrees), after starting the car, there will not be any sound from the radio/cd/tape, but the navi voice can be heard. it seems that this only happens when i start the car for the first time in the morning & then after that, if the car is still warm (hasn't been sitting in the parking lot at work or wherever), there is no problem. if the car has sat for long enough, and its cold enough, this happens several times a day. i've also found that if i turn the ignition off and then restart it sometimes the sound will come back on. i haven't had this happen during the spring/summer/fall at any time, so that is why i am thinking it is a temperature issue.

[CAPTVIC]

maybe someone else has had this problem & has found what it was? i live in minnesota & during the winter (or when the temperature happens to be below about 30 degrees), after starting the car, there will not be any sound from the radio/cd/tape, but the navi voice can be heard. it seems that this only happens when i start the car for the first time in the morning & then after that, if the car is still warm (hasn't been sitting in the parking lot at work or wherever), there is no problem. if the car has sat for long enough, and its cold enough, this happens several times a day. i've also found that if i turn the ignition off and then restart it sometimes the sound will come back on. i haven't had this happen during the spring/summer/fall at any time, so that is why i am thinking it is a temperature issue.

I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM BUT NO ONE SEEMS TO KNOW WHAT PROBLEM IS

[GS430inIA]

maybe someone else has had this problem & has found what it was? i live in minnesota & during the winter (or when the temperature happens to be below about 30 degrees), after starting the car, there will not be any sound from the radio/cd/tape, but the navi voice can be heard. it seems that this only happens when i start the car for the first time in the morning & then after that, if the car is still warm (hasn't been sitting in the parking lot at work or wherever), there is no problem. if the car has sat for long enough, and its cold enough, this happens several times a day. i've also found that if i turn the ignition off and then restart it sometimes the sound will come back on. i haven't had this happen during the spring/summer/fall at any time, so that is why i am thinking it is a temperature issue.

I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM BUT NO ONE SEEMS TO KNOW WHAT PROBLEM IS

I also have the same problem with a 2001 GS430 for about 5 months. It also seems to take longer to start working in colder weather. I also noticed I can sometimes get it to start up right away if I restart the car about 4 or 5 times. No luck in diagnosing the cause of the problem. Whenever I take it to the dealer the problem seems to go away by the time I get there and then they start the car and it works normally that day. My wife claims it is possessed, but I suspect there is a relay that gets energized by the ignition switch that just hangs up in cold weather. If anyone has a fix I would really like to hear about it!

[MrL]

It's probably a solder joint in the head unit or amplifier. Have the dealer use cold spray to isolate the issue or refrigerate each unit one at a time until they can reproduce the failure. This ain't rocket science, but it is beyond the usual knowledge base of auto mechanics.

MrL

[Dave Lybarger]

www.autoecu.com might be able to rebuild your amp if you determine the amp to be your problem.

[Speedemon]

after starting the car, there will not be any sound from the radio/cd/tape, but the navi voice can be heard.

Have you figured out this issue and repaired it yet?

Another question I have for you is when it would not produce any sound do you remember whether or not the ASL button was missing from the Audio screen on the LCD? Did you also lose the midrange button adjustment and all functionality under the Sound button, including bass, treble, fade, and balance adjustments?

Or did everything look as it is supposed to but just didn't have sound?

All the research I've done points to the amp, supposedly it's common on 01's with the ML audio.

[uhalde]

Speedemon: you asked about ASL button missing on LCD and non-functionalty on sound button...I have lost both on my 2001 LS430 w/Levinson...gps works w/voice but no sound on cd or radio(disc is spinning)...sound just cut out and never came back...battery ok...fuses ok...maybe amplifier? New here...please email me at uhalde@sbcglobal.net or call (408)768-4089...thank you