I have a 1990 SEL and I’m having some problems with my stereo.

My stereo was working perfectly, but then I turned off the car with a cassette inside. It tried to eject, but didn’t come out all the way. The cassette got stuck halfway – wouldn’t eject, wouldn’t play, wouldn’t allow to be pushed back in. It continued to try and “play” the cassette, thus causing the radio to not work.

With a little careful finangling with a screwdriver, I got the cassette out. But then the stereo would play only at one volume (loud) – adjusting the volume did nothing. If I tried turning it off, it would just cycle back on. If I changed the station, the stereo would just stop working until I turned off the car for an extended period of time.

I brought the car in the a stereo place to have another stereo head unit installed. The installer removed the original, then got totally confused because there wasn’t an amp and said it all had to be rewired. (I tried to explain that the amp is beneath the rear seat, but he still insisted that it’ll take all new wires and a lot of money.) When he re-inserted the stereo, it acts the same EXCEPT that now the volume is very low – I can hear it, but just barely. None of the buttons work. It turns on, lights up, looks all classic and pretty, but that’s it.

I know I did something when I somehow worked the cassette out (it took a long time, and wasn’t easy). Sad thing is that the stereo sounded great and worked great before trying to play and eject that cassette.

Anyone have a similar strange experience that may help? I really want to just keep the original unit in the car.