A few weeks ago I decided to rededicate myself to “Operation Car Stereo”. In preparation for my offensive I re-soldered all the connectors, remounted the harness, and strategically plotted every aspect of my plan. I decided that this time I would strike in the middle of the day when the sunlight would work to my favor. 

The moment of truth had finally come the following Saturday afternoon. I drove my car out into the back lot of my apartment building. I meticulously connected all the wires and slowly pushed the head unit into the harness until I heard that magical ‘click’. This time it fit. With confidence I turned the ignition to “On” and pressed the power button. To my delight the display lit up and I was greeted by the sweet sound of success. 

“Mission  Accomplished”.

I was on cloud nine, my life once again had meaning. Granted it wasn’t perfect by any means – the unit still stuck out a little farther than I would have liked and the color wasn’t the exact shade of amber as the rest of my interior. But whatever, minor details… the tides had turned, the is was the pivotal battle and victory was mine. The music was once again back in my life. And so for the next two weeks I drove my car in bliss; rockin’ out to The Postal Service and Hot Hot Heat. 

All was well until one night while driving home from work I realized that the sound wasn’t coming out of one of the speakers. “No problem”, I thought  “It’s just a loose connector. I’ll just pull the unit out and make sure it’s connected securely”. So as soon as I got home I set upon my new mission. It was only
a minor setback – one which I could easily remedy.

With the unit powered “On” I popped off the bezel, and pulled the unit out of the harness. A little jiggling and… “Voila!” I was back in stereo.

“Mission Re-Accomplished”.

With the unit still powered “On” (I figured I’d be able to make sure the connector didn’t get loose again as I reinserted the unit) I started pushing the unit back into place. And that’s when it happened… the lights when off. There was no power. I pulled the unit out and checked all the wires. I turned the car on and off. I tried this at least a
dozen times to no avail. The unit was dead. 

I’ve tried a few more times since then and still nothing. I must have shorted something. Lucky for me it’s under warranty and I’ll get the chance to fight another day. Until then it’s back to practicing ‘Do Re Mi’ to myself… I wonder if G. Dub practices “Do Re Mi”.