BallOFurPoms

Hi everyone. I need some help! I just got my 2006 HHR LS and I am IN LOVE with it. It was really well taken care of, owned by a company used for business purposes... so you would NEVER know it had 120K miles on it... but I have ONE small issue: SOME of the buttons on the radio/stereo system do not work. The radio comes on when I turn the car on, but the power button doesn't do anything, neither do any of the presets or navigation buttons, OR the clock button. Which really sucks because the clock is 30 min fast and I can't change it!! The tuner KNOB turns, but the button that should switch AM to FM doesn't do anything, and it seems like it MIGHT be stuck but I can feel it clicking when I push it...
Does anyone have a clue what this might be?? Since the radio is working I'm sure it is probably just something simple, my friend thought it might just be a fuse but looking at the diagram he couldn't see which one was for the audio stuff and I haven't had time to look at it myself.
Just thought I'd ask some fellow HHR owners if they had any insight before I pay someone to fix this for me!! THANKS!

KinseySS

Maybe there's fuses directly attached to the back of the radio, but that's just an out of the park guess. Do the buttons seem kind of sticky when you press them?

BallOFurPoms

The only one that is kind of sticky is the am/fm button, so I thought, well maybe it's stuck and that's why the rest aren't working. But i fiddled with it quite a bit and it didn't change anything. I haven't tried the CD player yet but when I press the eject button it tells me No Disc so I think it has to work.

One of the guys that was trying to sell me one but couldn't get me approved said he'd check out whatever I ended up with, so maybe one of the guys there can tell me how to fix it, and maybe not charge me an arm and a leg if it is something simple lol

ZTony8

The radio will have to be pulled out for exchange.

masterchief1112

just replace it with something aftermarket or go to the junkyard and find one. the new stock radio i tihnk has to be programmed to your car so that has to be done at a dealer.

BallOFurPoms

Actually it was just the sticky button! I couldn't get it unstuck but figured since I'd fiddled with it enough it would have fixed the issue if that was it, but my manger got it unstuck completely, and everything works just fine!! I will probably get an aftermarket one eventually, but no hurry now since this works. It's just the little button in the tuner knob so I'll never HAVE to use that button. If I do, I'll have the same problem again, but yeah no biggie!

I'm shocked this car has 120K miles and is in this great of shape... *KNOCK ON WOOD* I've read some scary reviews on these, but I show dogs and this is the perfect car for that. I'm driving it to Kentucky in a couple weeks, and can get there on two tanks of gas (from HOUSTON!)

urbexHHR

I saw one on eBay about a week ago with 172,000 miles on it, so yours should have plenty of life left in it!!!

Chris_T

This is the closest post I found to the issue I am having....
Took my HHR on a trip this past week. On the way to S.C. and everything on the radio worked perfectly. On the way back we tried to use the "seek" button to search for different radio stations, and it didn't do anything (Like I said it worked on the way up.)
I DID get the < and > buttons to change the channels one decimal at a time, but that's such a pain in the ass.....
SO has anyone had this problem; or have any idea what it might be and how to fix it. EVERYthing else on the radio works perfectly... so I am stumped?

843de

OK, a quick fix to try, and even though it sounds dumb...it brings the preset buttons back to life on both my 2006 and 2011 HHR's when the buttons go goofy every 18 months or so.

With the key turned to accessory, turn the radio off, and give the volume knob two or three sharp raps on its top edge with your knuckle, like you're trying to crack the shell on a hardboiled egg.

Then turn the radio on and check the presets for a return to normal function.

Why the head units lose certain functions on their faceplate buttons is debatable, but my technique of rapping on the volume knob has never failed.

Chris_T

Well 843de.... As ODD as that remedy sounded I tried it
glory be... IT WORKED.
Wonder if the root cause is something works loose from road vibration or something?? The "vibration" seems to fix it... hhuumm
THANKS