Onkyo T9 Tuner - no sound in stereo

[bzb882]

I picked it up a few weeks ago, seller said it would only intermittently play in stereo. I figured I would recap it before giving it a try. I replaced all electrolytic caps, the three A726 transistors and the sole VD1212 diode. I cleaned all the switches and pots with deoxit. It plays fine in AM and FM mono. FM stereo is dead silent. Any ideas? Lokks like no one had ever been inside the unit. I'm guessing the lights are original, so I ordered replacements,

 

[Punker X]

You are mostly likely looking at an alignment issue and the tuner is muting because of any number of reasons. Low signal strength, zero discriminator adjustment, VCO adjustment are most likely places to to look at.

 

[bzb882]

Just a follow-up. I’m sure it still needs an alignment but its playing stereo now, and sounds excellent even without an alignment. I pulled and tested all 7 trimmers on the main board. R814, Tuning Meter Center adjustment, read open (manual says it should be 2 K Ohms). I replaced all 7 with Bourns single-turns and adjusted the ones I could adjust (R214 [VCO to 19 MHz], R814, R815 and R309) Locked, tuned and stereo lights all light when a station is tuned,