Hello,

The sounds from has started randomly not working. The radio has power and the led display works and what not. It's always when I've turned the truck on and it doesn't work right away. However, if I have the truck off and just put the key in accessory mode the radio will always work.

Sometimes when I have the turn signals on the radio will start blipping in and out, and then start working all the sudden.

Otherwise I'll be driving for about 15 minutes or so and it'll randomly start fuzzing in and then start working.

Any ideas?

 

I assume it is a Ranger
What year?
What engine?

There is only 1 wired used to power the radio/sound part of the unit, same wire for ACC or RUN
From your description it works fine when not moving but cuts out when you are moving, so I would guess you have a loose power wire.
Could also be loose Ground wire but I would expect Clock to reset to 12:00 if ground was loose, and you don't mention that

Problem could be in the Radio itself as well, some years did have flaky power supplies, vibration could cause an issue, try tapping on radio while sitting still

 

Should've mentioned, aftermarket stereo. Had it for 2 years this problem started 4 months ago and has steadily gotten worse.

I think it might be the wire that signifies if the truck is being started to let the radio know to turn itself off. Not sure if people have had similar weird issues.

I will look at the door fuse maybe that's the problem. Wondering if anyone else has heard of the problem because I believe I've read about it before.

1998 3.x l Manual transmission - no electric windows/doors. 4x4

 

Probably the radio then

1998 Ranger radio wiring diagram here: http://www.therangerstation.com/tech...dio_Wiring.pdf

 

I would've thought it was the radio as well, had the radio not work fine when the key is in accessory mode. Hard to say it's the radio when it works fine when the truck is off.

Thanks for that wiring diagram, very helpful! I will check it out and go from there. I will check fuse 28 and 20 and also check the voltage on those wires as well. Will report back when i get that done.

 

Are the grounds G203 and G104 located at different points in the truck? Is there anywhere I can find out where those grounds are located?

 

Only source of connection locations is an EVTM(electrical vacuum technical manual)
These are model and year specific

Look for a 1998 Ford Ranger EVTM
trim, engine size or 2WD/4WD doesn't matter, they will all be covered

EVTM is part of the Service Packages sent out to Dealers for each model each year, but EVTM are specifically what you want, other service books won't have what you need


Unless you have done some recent wiring under the dash then the radio is the problem.
i.e. when sitting still radio works, when truck is moving radio doesn't work all the time.
Your description

So.........vibration is the issue not the wires
Occum's Razor, the simplest answer is usually the right answer