Hi everybody, first post here.

I have a stereo from a 93 Prelude (not sure what that translates to in America, this was an Australian car, most likely JDM spec), very slick unit I would like to revive.

The stereo is a Kenwood HCR 7408 sold in your market as a Gathers GXC 7408 (still made by Kenwood in Japan). Honda number 08A01-425-2110-85.

Now the issue is the stereo appears to power up for a second and flashes a "DA" message on the VFD after which it goes off.

I can "force" it on by pressing "Tune" or "Play", but the display flashes the same "DA" message alternating with "TAPE" or "TUNE" respectively. There is no sound in either mode and no tune or tape transport motion. I can introduce the cassette in (loading mechanism works), I can eject it, but I can't do anything else. All other controls seem to work if I am to believe the display, which shows the respective bars going up and down with the volume ****, or tone control, fader, etc.

I have checked the wiring, all seems in order. In fact the first few tries I had it worked fine (I tested all the functions for both radio and tape) and then all of a sudden it started flashing the message at me.

Anyone here have any idea what this message means? Or what is wrong? Does the stereo want some code or something? I have the original manual and I have read it, but there is no mention of code (nor is there any code stamped on the manual) and the error codes seem to be completely different. I have tried resetting the unit, but no luck.

I do not have the remote for this unit, and am not sure it ever had one.

Alternatively, is there a source of service manuals for these things?

Any help is appreciated.

 

Well, I did a little digging and found this old thread:

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-...or-da-2883291/

Where someone pointed out that DA stands for digital audio and is not an error code but a message that the unit is reading a signal on the CD input. Now why these units do that when no CD is connected, is another question.

My stereo has a plug with some internal connections so the CD inputs are shorted out somehow. I suspect the plug is original and correctly wired internally otherwise the unit wouldn't have worked the first time around.

Now why is it that all of a sudden the stereo has decided to switch to CD input, I have no clue. If anyone has any idea, please help.