Here's the deal: I've got a '96 with the Bose. In August, some girl rear-ended me on the highway. The car was fixed (for the most part), but the Bose hasn't worked correctly since the very day that I got it back.

An Electrical Engineer friend of mine helped me to take out the headunit to verify that it was receiving power. It was.

We found that if we cut the power to it through the wiring in back or through the car's battery, it would reset itself and work fine for a few days. Everything worked exactly as it did pre-accident. After a day or two, it shuts down again.

The interior lights still work on the headunit, but it won't do anything. The radio, tape deck, and CD player just don't respond to anything. Not even the little green CD indicator light turns on.

We originally found that the headunit wasn't grounded completely. There was a little screw behind the headunit that wasn't fully screwed in. Apparently, its used as a ground. Worked fine after that little fix for a few days. Seems to have stayed screwed in. Am I missing another ground somewhere?

Does anyone know what causes this cut-out condition?

I've got four options:
1. Assuming someone on here knows what is wrong, I can fix it myself.
2. Insurance will pay for a repair, but it will take another two months to get it repaired.
3. Insurance can pay for an aftermarket deck, but I read up on how much of a PITA that is... and it won't sound as good, from what I've heard.
4. I could try to buy a new Bose headunit. Anyone know where I can get one? The Nissan dealer didn't know.

What do you recommend? Thanks for any help you guys can offer.

 

If you think it's your head unit you can get a used Bose headunit on either E-Bay or in the ForSale section here on Maxima.org for around $150. I just got a 98 Bose HU to put in a 91 SE I'm fixing up for my daughter and I got the HU and 2 front speakers and amps for $200. If you decide to go with an aftermarket HU you'll have to replace the speakers because Bose uses 1 Ohm speakers while aftermarket systems are designed to drive 4 ohm speakers...It'll cost you $300 to $400 to get a decent HU and 4 speakers (I'm not talking competition level stuff but something that will sound similar to the Bose setup).

Good Luck

 

- Hmmm... Thanks for your advice. This is so frustrating. I'll have to see what insurance will cover. I wouldn't mind a new HU, but I priced out some nice speakers with a friend and it would run me about $550-650 for the set of six. Granted, it would sound better than the Bose, but that's a bit more than your average starving college student can afford. Maybe I'll just end up with a new Bose HU and forget about it.

- Thanks again for the advice. Happy Thanksgiving!