I just bought my 2001 Dodge Stratus 3 days ago. It had the factory OEM radio (not infinity) still in it and it was flickering with popping sounds in the speakers. I took it out and replaced it with an aftermarket radio. Once connected my digital speedometer read "NO BUS" and all gauges sat at zero. I disconnected the radio and all gauges & speedometer came back & worked fine. I figured it was the radio so I grabbed another aftermarket radio and replaced that one. Once again it read "NO BUS" and did the exact same thing as before until I took it out. Is there anyone that could explain to me what might be the problem, as it's not the radios. I also can't live without my tunes so this is killing me!..lol Thanks!
On the factory radio, there are multiple plugs. 1 flat black plug, 1 flat grey plug, and a small white plug with one wire in it. There is NO ground wire in any of the 3 harnesses. The radio grounds itself through the radio chassis and the metal radio housing. The small white plug with the single wire in it, which I believe to be white with a purple stripe, ; tests as a ground, but it is in fact a data wire which controls some functions on the dashboard. I believe you have used this wire for your ground. Disconnect your ground wire from this data wire, and ground it to the metal behind where the radio is. There is a small tab which can be bent up by hand on the right rear area of the radio opening, use this. Put a small ring on the ground wire, and use a 1/2" self tapping screw to penetrate the metal. Voila, your problem will be solved!
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2003 Dodge Neon R/T
Alpine CDA9813, RF T2000.1bd, RF T162S, RFT142C, RF T600.4, RF T215D4
140.7 @ 28Hz
Thank you Jason for the info. I did what you said and it worked! I have tunage!...LOL. This is my first Dodge, all I've ever driven is Fords so it was a bit foreign for me as I am still learning. Thank you again for the help I greatly appreciate it.