2004 Radio doesn't work | Ford Thunderbird club group 1955-2005 T-Bird models

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2004 Radio doesn't work

  • Thread starter Thread starter Xssive
  • Start date Start date
Xssive

Xssive

Platinum Member
Reaction score
33
Thunderbird Year
2004
The last time I drove the car, about 3 weeks ago, everything worked fine. I got in today to go for a drive. and the radio is dead. Any ideas?

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I don't have a potential solution, just some comparable issues.
I am on my second retro bird. The first was an 05 anniversary edition. This current one is a 'Galpinized' pink 02.
I have seen odd electrical issues with the radio in both of them. The 05 had a volume knob with a mind of its own, sometimes worked, sometimes didn't. Other times I would start the car and the display on the radio and heating/air would not come on. Then after driving for five minutes, it would light up and work just fine.
I have had an identical problem with the pink 02, and she has way fewer miles than the 05 had.
When I bought the 02, the guy at the classic car dealership said he has a Mustang of the same year and has already had to replace the radio once. He said he had read that many Ford products had issues with radios in that 2000-2005 era.
These things are high maintenance at times, but worth the struggle, in my opinion. I figure that the radio will just stop working one day and not come back on, and then I will have to let somebody dig into the dash and replace the thing, like that guy did with his Mustang.
 
When you say doesn't work does that include the CD player?

Also could you have accidentally pressed the SAT button or doesn't your entertainment center offer SAT?

When AM is selected do you hear a humm on stations lower than 6.00?
 
Ah, sweet mystery of life. I went out this morning and checked all the radio fuses. All good. Was going to pull the radio and check for power. I decided before I did, to stick the key in and turn on the radio to see if it work. You know the rest, radio is now working.
 
I've got an 03 with weird radio problems too. The radio will mute, press mute button to get it to unmute and it will play for a second or two, mute again and do the same thing over and over. After a few minutes of that I will just turn the radio off and leave it off then it will work normal for a while. It will also change from FM1 to FM2 to AM to CD, and just keep cycling like that over and over. Only solution I found is just turn the radio and leave it off . Seems to have problems more often when there is a lot of moisture in air. WTH???
 
Update, the above situation happened again about two weeks ago. The radio never did come back on. I pulled the radio and checked the power at the plugs. Memory plug had solid 12v, and keyed port has 12v when the key was on. I ordered a radio, online, and it came yesterday. Switched the radio and every thing works fine. I talked to the place I got the radio from, thinking I would get it fixed, and have a spare. He seemed to think it was the circuit board, and they don't fix circuit boards.
 
Bet radio has a bad filter capacitor. Volume issues is dirty contacts on volume control.
Both easy to fix if you know something about electronics.
 
Xssive said:
Update, the above situation happened again about two weeks ago. The radio never did come back on. I pulled the radio and checked the power at the plugs. Memory plug had solid 12v, and keyed port has 12v when the key was on. I ordered a radio, online, and it came yesterday. Switched the radio and every thing works fine. I talked to the place I got the radio from, thinking I would get it fixed, and have a spare. He seemed to think it was the circuit board, and they don't fix circuit boards.
Click to expand...
Where did you find an OEM Sat Radio??
 
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