My wife'* car "died" in the garage yesterday. It was last driven 3 days ago with no problems. It had no power at all. Not even the dome lights. The battery is less than 2 years old (replaced with a AC/Delco new one from the dealer). I was able to get the car started with a battery pack. Car runs fine once I got it started. I checked all connections at the battery, rear fuse box, and engine fuse box and everything is OK. One strange thing though... the radio will come on but no sound from the speakers. When it first comes on, it says "calibrate" in the radio display. Has anyone else had this same message or have any idea what I need to do to resolve it? I am the original owner of the car and I checked the owners manual as well as Alldata for any ideas. As to the charging problem, I had both the battery and alternator checked by Advance Auto and they say both are OK. I think the alternator may be the problem since it is the original on the car and I have been getting a whirring sound around 50MPH that stops when you let off of the gas. Sorry for the long diatribe but I know you guys are good with the answers. Thanks. :?:

Bump...Hasn't anyone had this message on the radio after losing power? Radio comes on with all displays but shows "calibrate" for a few seconds when it turns on. No sound from any of the speakers. I know there are some great minds out there! Thanks

I can only guess toward the "calibrate" display on the radio, having never experienced it. The Theftlock system for the radio looks for the proper vin stored in the system. Is it the original radio? Does the red LED flash when everything is turned off, or remain steady?

If you measure the voltage directly across the battery terminals, what voltage do you have? Did you clean the bolt and threads in the floor pan where the negative battery cable is connected?

Archon,
Thanks for the reply. The radio is one that I bought on Ebay several moonths ago to replace the original radio that failed. I went to the Pontiac dealer and they unlocked the radio with the new security number. It worked fine and has been working fine for more than three months. The Theftlock LED light does flash when everything is turned off (just like the original radio did). When I first installed this radio, the display indicated that is was locked.(untill the dealer entered the new code) . But now, right after I turn it on, is says "Calibrate" for a few seconds and then the display is working and all the buttons on the radio work but no sound. I can adjust the volume (and see it in the display) with either the dial on the radio or the steering wheel controls.

I also found my problem with the battery. All terminals and connections were clean but I noticed that the positve lead was loose. I removed it and reinstalled it and the reading on the DIC for the voltage was reading 14.7 consistantly and not fluctuating as it was before. All other electronics and displays are working properly with the exception of this radio problem.

Archon, I know you are an expert on this site so if you haven't heard of this issue before, it may not be resolved unless I try some experiments myself. I searched the Bonneville forum for a while looking for this answer before I posted the question. I might even try the Pontiac dealer as the last option. They will probably tell me to just buy a new radio!!!

Thanks so much for all you do for this site and I'll keep checking to see if anyone else has any Ideas.

Did you happen to check all of the audio fuses in the rear fuse block to be certain that none of them were blown? Depending on your system - you may have 2 that I believe are "audio" and "audio amp". This is one warning that I found, however it didn't have any further explanation.
Perhaps your loose connection created enough surges to just blow a fuse.

Looking a bit further, I found this information that could also have been caused by the loose connection. It has a similar entry for the cassette player.
And, thank you. We all like to hear that the help is appreciated.

Archon,
Thanks again for the information but I have checked all fuses under the back seat and they are all OK. I tried using a CD and it inserts OK and the track number appears and I can skip through tracks so it seems that the radio is working fine except I have no sound out of the speakers. Could it be something in the radio malfunctioning but I still get the message to "calibrate" everytime I turn on the radio. It stays on about 5 seconds and then the radio station displays. I will wait a few more days before I go to the Pontiac dealer for the resolutjion unless I hear something from this great Bonneville Club.

Again, you and Willren are some of the greatest assets we have here!!!

Archon,
I called the stealer (dealer) today and told them about the "calibrate" message. They indicated that I would have to bring the car in so they could reprogram it. I took it in and the said it would take approximately 1 hour and cost $99. So at this point, I told them to go ahead. After waiting for about 45 minutes, they told me that he could not program the radio so the head unit must need replacing. He also told me, for future reference that you can unlock the radio that is put into a different car but if the vehicle looses power, the radio would need to be reprogrammed since it is not the original equipment. Do you think they are giving me bull**** or has anyone else heard this?

Needless to say, I am going to have to find a new radio for the 2000 Bonneville (CD/Cassette). I bought this replacement from Discount OEM Radios off of ebay but maybe you know of a better source. Any suggestions on where to get another radio? Thanks again for you help!

From the symptoms, I thought that it may be either the radio or the amp. I can't say for certain about the need to reprogram a radio that didn't come with the car each time that you disconnect the battery. However, it doesn't seem likely. Things break, and need to be replaced. It doesn't seem to be a likely scenario of having to reprogram replacements each time.

You may want to check with Ed Morad http://www.moradpartscompany.com/ to see if he has a used one in stock.

Archon,
Just an update. I had my older radio that had a bad display problem with it which was the reason I purchased the replacement from Ebay. I decided since the radio itself did work, I swapped the front display panel from the new radio to the old radio. It worked perfectly! One suggestion for anybody doing work on the display unit... to remove the display, it is easier to unplug the connectors on the display if you gently pry the bottom plate off of the radio. Then you can easily reach the connectors to remove the wires from the display. Then the display just snaps off of the radio. I just wanted to contribute my 2 cents for whatever it'* worth. Thanks for all your help and suggestions on this site. I have confidence to do my own repairs due to the great people we have on this site to help others. Have a great day!