Suddenly no volume on my CDR23

All of a sudden I have no volume on my CDR23. Cd or FM, nothing. Worked just fine 2 hours ago. Any ideas. Thanks

Strange.. Same thing happened to me about 2 weeks ago. I turned off the unit, turned it back on a couple of times, and then after turning the volume up a bit, it came back (just make sure you don't turn the volume up too much).

works now, I have no idea what was wrong. Just went out to run errands and all is OK. Weird

I had the same problem and took it to the dealer and they found that I had a defective unit. They replaced the CDR23 but 2 weeks later same problem occured. They told me that the replaced unit was defective also. There must be a problem with these units. So far the third CDR23 has been working with no problems for 3 months.

I have the same problem in my 03 c4s. The CD player will sometimes lose its signal and the controls will not work. Or, I will be listening to a CD and it will suddenly switch to the FM radio. These units must be defective.

Same thing happened to me. I changed from CDS to CDC and lost volume. I came to a red light, turned the car off and then back on, and everything was back to normal. Pretty weird. 03 AS C4s

After the car is shut off, mine will occasionaly switch from CD to FM(1st preset) and lose all of its audio settings. It has also appeared to "overheat" a few times, shutting off any volume, only to be just fine a few hours later. Strange. I'll probably get it looked at during my next service...

same thing has happened to me in my tt. it happens every couple of weeks.

I just found this thread by doing a search on CDR23. The reason I was searching was because of the same problems listed here. Volume sometimes cuts out; can't get it to change from CD mode to FM mode or vise versa; shows I changed to a different radio preset, but keeps it on the original station; etc. I notice that all the posts in this thread are before I bought my car. Clearly this is a on going issue. How many other people have had this problem? Does anyone know of a recall? This is something that would be covered under warranty, isn't it? Thanks.

Funny you should raise this issue. I just had this happen to me a couple of times. I think it might have something to do with the car's security system and a glitch in the interface between it and the radio. In my case, I've unlocked the car using the remote, get in and am greeted with the "PORSCHE" message on the radio, or it looks like the FM or CD is on, but when I turn up the volume, nothing. Change stations, the call letters change, but still no volume. CD controls work, too, in the sense that I can change tracks, etc., just no volume. If I turn the car completely off, remove the ignition key, and lock and unlock the car again with the remote, problem solved.

Ditto, Been there, Done that...Ugh I just never turn off the radio now. I leave the volume at zero if I want to hear my engine.

Same problem here too. They had to replace my amp. Works great now. 03 C4s

Mine will switch from one pre-set frequency to another which is not set. The dealer said they've seen this problem, it is defective, and would order a replacement. That was 3 weeks ago and no call yet from the dealer. Guess it is such a small problem to them they are waiting for me to bitch at them. They are trying to make me rude and impolite! The real solution is to replace the POS CDR23 with any aftermarket system.

good luck replacing it. Unfortunately since it uses the MOST bus network and nobody (that I've found) really seems to support MOST Bus and/or make products that utilize it.

The new problem with my radio now is that the radio display does not change when I switch to a new station. If i'm on 92.7 preset #1 and then hit 101.3 Preset #8 the display will stay 92.7 eventhough 101.3 is playing. Ugh, these radios suck.

the real overall problem is the friggen most system. they make it impossible without spending big bucks to upgrade. i was going to switch my xm ready alpine receiver from my c4 to my tt, but now i had to add an xm addapter to the cdr23, which makes it almost impossible to use the am part of my radio.

My CDR23 failed in my new '03 Targa just an hour's drive from the Dealer. It would go off then come back on. All settings were erased. OK, I'll just turn it off and listen to the car. It would then come on by itself. Took two weeks to get it replaced on a brand new car. I'm on the second one and it's defective. Different problem, but defective nonetheless. A third one is on its way. This problem is obviously a serious one. There are problems reported with these radios in every 996 forum. Is there some pressure we as owners can put on Porsche to eliminate this most irritating problem? We pay big money for these cars only to have them fail in areas we know can be reliably engineered. Think about the amount of time we customers are wasting going back and forth getting these radios installed and reporgrammed, installed and reporgrammed, etc. because of this substandard reliability. Shouldn't this be unacceptable? My 2�

this really is horrible you can't even change it out yourself because of the most set up

this really is horrible you can't even change it out yourself because of the most set up

whoops but this brings up a good question for me how do you edit/delete post? i can't seem to find in the help section

Here's one that I have: While listening to CDs 2 - 6, if I press the button to select CD 1, nothing happens. If I then press the button for another CD (other than CD 1 or the one I'm listening to) it goes to that CD. Then I can select CD 1 and it works fine. Turn off the car and the same malfunction happens. So I took it to the dealer. They swapped out the radio, same problem. Swapped out the CD changer, same problem. Went to a new car on the lot, same problem. Swapped out the radio in the car on the lot, same problem. They said they believe it's a problem with the radio (CDR-23) and reported it to Porsche and will let me know what Porsche says. That was a month ago, haven't heard anything...

Any news on this?

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Mine failed on the way home from the dealer, too. The radio still worked, but the CD player stopped on the second CD. The next radio had trouble handshaking with the instrument cluster, so it would go into PROTECT mode. It happened on a 2,000 mile trip. I wasn't happy, to say the least. The third one had low volume, and I got the dealer to change that one out, too. Finally number four works fairly well, and has been going for the past 3 years without major incident. Every so often it'll have trouble resuming on a CD from where it stopped, and it also has a tendency to rattle the disk when you open the door. Still, compared to its predecessors, it's golden.

wow.... when you start seeing itzkirb.... you know itz old.

My 2003 CD-23 lost volume (but not power) a few months back. The radio display appeared fine, but no sound came out of the speakers. I isolated it to a loose amplifier fuse by the left footwell. In my case the fuse wasn't blown, it was just slightly loose. I pulled the fuse out, re-inserted it and the problem went away.

Resurrecting this one because it "just happened to me." Car on, 80's rock playing from CD player. Car off....car back on, no 80's rock, no nothing. Power, function perfect. Taking these posts to mean (1) this is really common; (2) usually can be fixed by simply getting out, locking/unlocking car, and trying again; (3) might be covered by after-market warranty that I own, but might not and radio would be replaced with new stock radio (carp). Assuming I want a working radio, replacing stock radio with real radio won't fix the problem, unless I also change out the amp, is that correct? Thanks.

Correct. We have the MOST connection (fiber optics) between the headunit and amp. You cannot just replace the headunit and expect it to work with the factory Bose amp; the aftermarket headunit will not plug into the Bose amp. You could install an aftermarket headunit and then run wires from the headunit to the speakerout wires of the Bose amp, thereby bypassing the factory Bose amp. However, the sound quality will not be good. I went another route. My amp died under warranty years ago and the dealership installed a new one. The same thing happened again this year; headunit looked like it was working but no sound, just some popping noise every 5 to 15 seconds. Since it is now out of warrany, Porsche wanted about $650 for a reman amp and about $850 to $950 for a new one plus labor. I brought a cheap Alpine headunit with ipod connection (CDA-105) and a nice 5-channel amp (Alpine PDX-5) and installed it myself to the factory Bose speakers. I had to get the factory Bose connector so I didn't have to cut the factory harness. I then added a Bluetooth connection and changed the factory subwoofers with Aurasound/Mcintosh. Slightly better bass than before but not perfect. I'll probably upgrade all or some of the speakers with Focal or Morel. So for about the same price as just replacing the amp with a new one, I now have more, cleaner power with iPod and Bluetooth.

As others have noted, the system is sensitive to fuses & connections. Being digital, once the components get confused, it often requires a reboot (turn the car off/turn back on). Switching to the radio, then turning the unit on and off can sometimes revive it without having to shut the car off. Mine used to have problems on a fairly regular basis. I started turning the radio off before turning the car off. Only turning it back on once the car was running. No more problems.

Having this type of problem and thinks its as quoted above by Jim CIA re handshake to cluster which I just had fixed - I guess not quite fixed maybe the case. Do the 04 996 radios have codes that you need to put in? I read something about the radio would need to be on for about an 1-1.5 hrs with the ignition in stationary mode (does that mean electrics on pre ignition? Or radio on with car stationary?) for the Protect to come off. Once it does come off there might be a code that is asked and it will be 5 digits - any one able to confirm that?

I've lived with this same issue for 5 years on my 04 C4S. It comes and goes

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+1 2003 same problem same "fix." I found that to reboot quickly I could pull the two sound system fuses. D 8 & 9

Mine is also a cdr23 (made by Bekker)

Reviving an old thread to see if there was a permanent fix ever found? I have an 03 986S with the exact same problems described here. No volume, but all button works. Or sometimes just 'PORSCHE' is displayed. Pulling fuse D 8-9 for a few min and reinserting fixes it 30% of the time. Annoying and embarrassing with passengers.

I had a very similar problem and it took the dealer a bit to figure it out - in the end it turned out to be a bad amplifier - costly repair but was covered under 3rd party warranty. Works perfectly now and sounds excellent.

Same thing was,happening to mine,so I will change head unit two a double din,soon

Mine displayed similar behavior, but now it's dead. I've got a radio removal tool on order and am planning to buy a replacement unit via Ebay.

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Adding that the dealer initially replaced the head unit, seemed to be okay but with in a few days the intermittent problem returned.

Had same problem with mine (03 C2 w/BOSE). Dealer tried several fixes: replaced cdr23 HU, replaced bose amplifier, replaced MOST fiber optic cable. ALL attempts failed to fix problem for good. Eventually I chalked it up to a peculiar failure mode of the early MOST implementation. Frequency of occurrence also seemed to be correlated with ambient temp, to a degree. I saw the problem more often in fall and spring. I ultimately swapped out the CDR23 and amp with an aftermarket unit, intending to add ipod, bluetooth, nav features etc. Which I think is a better option than struggling with this "bug" to keep the cdr23 (which doesn't even have an aux in). For anyone interested, i have the amp (ARC Mini 4) plus bose harness connector available for sale, which makes an easy bolt in replacement without any cutting of factory wiring. Pulling a pair of RCAs into the dash to support a new DD HU is an easy DIY. i also tried a CDR22 as a factory-look HU, which made sense to me for a while - got Aux in, but still no BT or Nav. Anyway, PM me if anyone is interested. Both the cdr22 and the amp/harness/mounting board are available. (i traded my 03 in recently). Sanjeev

Sanjeev, I basically followed your old posts in Renntech which gave me the courage to change the system without cutting into the factory system. I used the Alpine pdx-5 5-channel amp and Alpine head unit. Got the factory Bose harness from England and plugged it in. Thanks!

same problem here. for years, my radio volume intermittently was muted, but eventually worked. now, the radio turns on, but no volume. changed all the fuses. porsche dealer tested and couldn't identify which component was the problem. any ideas besides blindly replacing all the components? (HU, amp, cables) or if i go aftermarket, what adaptor do I need for an aftermarket HU and amp to work with my Bose / MOST system? thanks!

I had this same problem sometime ago. I called Becker and they could not give any insight into how to fix the issue. My display would show NO TP then back to whatever mode I had been using, but the radio was frozen until I shut down the car. Very frustrating. I did some research, because I couldn't believe: a) I was the only one with this problem and b) no one had figured out how to fix it. I came across a post on a boxster forum with a fix that worked for me. Apparently, the TP Mode had turned on somehow. This mode is used widely in Europe, but not in the US - as the rep I spoke to at Becker told me. Sometimes a radio station will emit a signal that the radio interprets as a TP signal and awaits a message that never arrives. I found the fix here: http://www.renntech.org/forums/topic...3-radio-no-tp/ 1. You need to be in CD mode when you turn the CDR-23 on. 2. Immediately after it powers on the display shows PORSCHE, and then the CD information is shown. For a few seconds, there is an additional symbol (actually a small arrow) on the display above the 0 button. 3. Press the 0 button (before the arrow disappears) 4. If you now press TP it will cycle through TP ON, TP MUTE, TP OFF and you make your change. TP OFF should fix the issue. I followed these directions and that took care of the problem for me...until my battery started going bad and resetting the radio. Since fixing the battery...problem solved. Hope this helps.

Exactly the same problem in my 40th, fuse resets made no difference. Sent the head unit and amp to Becker for testing and the report back is that the amp is the culprit, they do a reconditioned one with warranty for $500 which I went for. I was thinking about going aftermarket, and may still do later, but wanted to be able to put the car back to standard. So just waiting for it to arrive and the MN snow to disappear!!

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This worked for me, thanks!!!!

So funny that this old thread was revived. My quirk is not quite the same, but strange nonetheless...I can't turn off the unit! Everything works but I can't power it off. Luckily it turns off when car is turned off. So I just leave it on lowest volume because if I do somehow manage to turn it off, I may not be able to turn it back on again. Probably just a bad switch, but not worth it to try to fix.

The Becker radio is a real POS even with the Bose option. The sticky ***** are a bonus. Always turn it off before you kill engine. I think the voltage drop/spike while starting engine freaks it out.

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Well I'm glad you resurrected this thread. I've been having trouble with my radio since owning my 04 C4S. I really don't want to change out the radio and when it does act out, I just shut it off and listen to my car. Currently my radio plays nw, but it will not accept a CD. Occasionally it would go to the TP mode, now I know whats going on. Thanks

I just cannot resist adding my own $0.02 to this old thread. I have owned my 03 C2 with Bose Sound CDR-23 for seven years and up until a week ago had never had a problem with it. I was aware of the potential problems described in this thread and the purported fixes. Well, a week ago I disconnected the battery to do some electrical work and left it off for a couple of days. When I had all the work done, I re-connected the battery. Everything that I had done (nothing associated with the sound system) worked perfectly except that the radio now had no sound. It lighted up, said "PORSCHE", showed response to changing from CD to FM, AM, etc. Just no sound. So, I can honestly say that I searched this forum and all of the others I could find for solutions and tried each and every one with the exception of installing a new HU or amplifier. Not a one of them worked. In the mean time, I continued to drive my car, locking and unlocking it while still trying to get the sound system to work. No luck until today. I backed the car out of the garage and washed it. No sound. I left the car in the sun for a couple of hours at about 70 degrees and, on a whim, locked it and then unlocked it by remote just before I was about to drive it back into the garage. As I turned the ignition key on, the radio began to blare! Now it again works perfectly. What is to be learned from my experience? The fact is, I have no idea. This bothers me a lot because I have always respected Porsche for their high quality engineering and that of their suppliers (Becker in his case). This just lacks a logical explanation. Sorry about carrying on about this.

Chalk it up to 13 year old car stereos can be finicky? Any chance it could be a symptom of your ignition switch starting to go bad? That can cause all sorts of gremlins.

That is easy, it was having a hissy fit because you don't wash it more often.

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The ignition switch was replaced two years ago. Plus, the HU always powered up and all of the buttons responded, just no sound. Still can't figure it out.

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True, it hadn't been washed since October. Maybe a passive-aggressive attitude programmed in.

Ok, so here's my story with Porsche, Becker sourced stereo system... From looking at all of the original service invoices, the original owner had nothing but problems with the Becker systems. He ordered the car with "Hifi Digital System" option which I assumes means the CDR23, amp, and higher quality speakers with digital signal I/O via fiber optic cable yadda yadda. Unfortunately for the seller, the system went "Becker silent" when I went to purchase the car. The owner was upfront about the problems and so I offered him a price with the cost for replacement in mind. After many different "rennlist tricks", nothing seemed to work. I looked into having Becker service the unit, but after hearing about their service rates and decided it wasn't worth the money. Instead, I purchased a Blaupunkt system that integrated perfectly and offers more capability such as streaming music from my iPhone (Bluetooth), hands free phone calls, SD ram input, etc. Plus, it has virtually the same type of wiring hook up and so installing the trunk amp (to drive the door sub-woofers) and other speakers was painless. Basically, I downloaded a Porsche wiring schematic and hard-wired the system properly and it worked beautifully without any error codes from the car. It also has a nice clean look over the others such Pioneer, Sony, etc... they look more Spaceshipish if you ask my opinion on it. Cheers!

Can you tell me which Blauplunt you bought?

I went with the Blaupunkt Brisbane 230 back when it was being sold for around $150 - $200 for the main unit and the Blaupunkt amp for the subs. However, Blaupunkt has discontinued the Brisbane (which excepts CDs), but you can still get the non-CD version called the Adelaide 130 for under $100.00. This unit is being heavily discounted because I believe they are going to discontinue it. A lot of people are doing the double DIN type stereo with Apple CarPlay or Android, but they're expensive. The Blaupunkt New York 940 with Android goes for $650.00. Cheers!

My money is on the ignition switch not powering up the amp.

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OK, but why would the HU be completely powered on and absolutely no sound. Even if the amplifier was not powered, would not there be some reduced amplified sound to some of the speakers? Or at least some noise/static? Also, the ignition switch was replaced less than 1 1/2 years ago.

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Here's the way the Blaupunkt looks installed. It comes with a white display and it's relatively easy to add an amber filter to match the other displays. As I said before, the other stereo manufacturers tend to think the more the display and buttons resemble a space ship control console, the better, but I prefer a cleaner look. Performance is the top priority for me and it boiled down to either Blaupunkt or Alpine. But I must admit, I really wanted the OEM Becker system to work, but the more I looked into it, the more I realized the Porsche/Becker digital systems like the CDR23 are not reliable and expensive to repair; plus, they don't have some of the more modern features like Bluetooth for phone support and Streaming music. Hope this helps. Cheers!

Looks great. Thanks for the info. I've still got the CDR23 and it's a little flakey. I'm going to make a change soon.

I don't have a CDR23 in my car and in reading about them it is certainly possible it is the head unit. With radios I have worked on you use a different plug if you have an external amp so the speakers are attached to the amp not the HU and if the amp is faulty you may get reduced sound/channels out etc. but if it is off you should get no sound. The reason I'm betting on the ignition switch is that "sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, problem comes and goes" is pretty typical of ignition switch problems. There are lots of reports of ignition switches failing again in only a few months to a year or so. There are probably many that have never failed again, or even once but it is a common failure component that can cause all sorts of strange intermittent electrical problems. It could also be a frayed wire, partially cut or damaged insulation, all sorts of possibilities. It may be worth wiggling the wires around near the amp and battery to see if you can recreate the issue.

Mine (in the C2) went silent a few months ago. Powered up, looked ok, but no sound. I got to work, wondering what this was going to cost. When I got in and powered up to drive home, we had volume, lots and lots of volume. Go figure. As noted above, my ***** are sticky, too. Anybody have a fix for that? The GT3 has the same sound system, but unless you crank it all the way up you really can't hear squat over the Mezger yelling "I vant to eat chu" at every Miata we pass.

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Hahahahaha.... that's funny. I must admit, when "little sports cars" come up next to me and tend to bite at my heels, I can't help but kick them in their butts with my 996. I also have the sports exhaust option which is loud as hell, but the new Blaupunkt system will easily produce sound far above the engine; however, doing so will probably make you deaf. I even had to turn down the amp because the bass frequencies was driving me insane. I currently have it EQ for a nice jazz type "clean" type setting. Fortunately, the OEM speakers and all wiring was in good shape and so it was just a matter of studying the wiring schematics and connecting it up. If you don't like hard wiring a system, they do make wiring harnesses for purchase. But as I said before, the reliability of Porsche/Becker systems are too low for my standards and prefer something I can rely on. I have two receivers and an Amp if anyone would like to purchase them. Seriously.

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OK, problem diagnosed and solved. It turned out to be a failing amplifier. Following a telephone conversation (with Tom), I sent the failed one in to Becker Autosound LLC in NJ. They sent me back a refurbished one and the system now is up and running. Cost me $400 plus shipping, but includes a 3-year warranty and I did not have to go to any of the alternative fixes needed to convert from the MOST system. Pleased to get the sound back (when I am not listening to the exhaust hack sounds).

Just bought a replacement most amp from another member. Hopefully when it comes it solves my silent problem!

Let us know how it turns out when you receive it J.

I�ll add my �fix� to this issue as well. Like others, had the same problem, no sound from radio after a battery disconnect. Searched and tried all the things minus a replacement. Shop even checked it out and no luck either, everything had power and fuses were fine. Pulled D8 and D9 fuses, nothing. Lock/unlock etc. nothing. My �fix� was to pull fuses D8 and D9 and leave them out overnight. Radio fairies must have heard the call. Next morning, put the fuses back in and voila � the Smashing Pumpkins live to play another day.

This happened to me as well. The unit was completely functioning, showing the track time, the radio station, etc, however just no sound coming out of the speakers. In my case it randomly fixed itself after a few power cycles.

"It's not a glitch. It's a feature..."😳