afterthisnap

Update: DID NOT WORK. I had half sound for a few seconds before everything went dead. Luckily, I found a replacement unit online and now everything sounds great!

New fancy autorange multimeter says: Middle Setting 1-3: 9.6 kOhms 1-2: 12.4 kOhms 2-3: 12.53 kOhms Clockwise setting: 1-3: 9.6 kOhms 1-2: 9.61 kOhms 2-3: 9.3 Ohms (no kilo) Counterclockwise: 9.6 kOhms 7.6 Ohms 9.62 kOhms All these were taken with the pot on the board. I'm about to take it off now. 4-6: 10.2 kOhm 4-5: 13.6 kOhm 5-6: 13.6 KOhm 7-9 had identical values Thanks. Edit: Desoldering pumps are cool! Off the board I get: Middle setting: 1-3: 39.7 kOhm 1-2: 19.9 kOhm 2-3: 20.0 kOhm Clockwise: 1-3: 39.7 kOhms 1-2: 39.7 kOhms 2-3: 10.4 Ohms Conterclockwise: 1-3: 39.7 kOhms 1-2: 7.7 Ohms 2-3: 39.7 kOhms I'm wondering if the heating from desoldering did anything to normalize the middle setting. Regardless, I'm still into the idea of doing the bypass. It looks like the pot+/- resistance for 1-3, 4-6, and 7-9 are all about 40 kOhms. Will six 20 KOhm resistors do the trick?

Here are some more pics if it helps clarify anything:

Also, the #2 connection does not have continuity with the steel case of the radio, which I assume would also act as ground. I should have a better multimeter available to me tomorrow. I'll post up some better readings.

Thanks, guys. Cleaning the pots didn't help, and I'm pretty sure the innards of the pots are mangled based on how crunchy they now feel. I'll get some more pics up tonight. I should have mentioned that connections 1 through 9 are connected to the balance/fade pot. You pull the knob out (up in the pic) to adjust balance, push in (down) to adjust fade. 10-15 are connected to the treble/bass pot. Nathan- I've only really used multimeters to test car parts and batteries. It's entirely likely that I'm using it wrong to test circuit boards. The volume control knob is on a separate board but is connected to the one it the photos via a 4 wire connection. The volume wires connect via the 4 vertical connections at the bottom of the first pic. Replacement pots have been impossible to find (unless I order 800 or more). Thanks!

Apparently I don't know how to use a multimeter... All these values were taken at a 10x setting. At 1000x I get different values but they are relatively the same. Also, I get different values if I test the same connections but switch the black/red probe of the multimeter.

The left side sound cut out on the oem 1990 tape/aux head unit. Jiggling the fader control worked for a while to restore full sound, but now the left side is totally dead. The front/back fade setting works fine. Treble/Bass seems to be functional. I've read that you can bypass the fader/potentiometer by replacing it with resistors rated at half resistance of the fader/potentiometer. I opened up the unit and the fader connections are a bit more complex than I anticipated. Here are the pics: I think the FUBAR condition is in the 1,2,3 connections. Checking resistance with all settings in the middle, I get 1-3: 45 ohms 1-2: infinite 2-3: 70 ohms With the left/right fader turned all the way clockwise, I get 1-3: 45 ohms 1-2: 60 ohms 2-3: 5 ohms With the left/right fader turned all the way counterclockwise I get 1-3: 45 ohms 1-2: 7 ohms 2-3: 55 ohms I'm not entirely sure what to make of this, as when the fader is turned full counterclockwise (right volume cutout), I don't get any sound from the left speakers. I don't get any sound from the left speakers in any setting anymore. I know it's easy enough to put in an aftermarket unit, but this is a quest of curiosity to see if I can rig a fix. I don't need fade/balance, so I thought perhaps a 20 ohm resistor from 2-1 and 2-3 would bypass the fader and give me full left/right sound again. Please let me know if I'm missing something as circuitry is not exactly my forte. Thanks!