When we brought my ranger home, i plugged in the battery and the radio worked great. No static either. Then i discovered it wasnt working so good and that my antennae snapped off. So we went to the local pick n pull and got a new, used antennea and the mount that plugges into the wire below. I tried the radio. It still didnt work. Then about 5 minutes later i jumped back in and tried it. It worked fine again. No static. Then later today i tried it yet again and nothing worked :( so i pressed the seek button and it kept scrolling through the channel list for about 2 minutes. Then it picked up 1 station that worked great but none of the other stations worked. So i dont know whats going on with it. Could it be a loose ground or what?

 

Hi, First off let me say I am sorry your post has gone unnoticed.

Is your radio a stock Ford head unit?

What year is your Ranger?

If I read your post correctly your radio always turns on but it has a intermittent radio reception problem.

Does this happen with AM and FM channels?

Some Rangers have a one piece Cable while others have a Two piece cable that goes from your antenna mast to the radio.

From your description it sounds like you have the two piece cable and you did not have to remove the radio to plug the new to you antenna cable in to it.

If this is the case I would remove the Radio and make sure the cable is plugged into the back of the radio correctly.

If you removed the radio and made sure you have a solid connection at the radio yet the reception is still intermittent the problem must be inside the radio.

Normally when you have a intermittent problem like this it is caused by a bad solder joint on the Printed circuit board.

This is especially true if the head unit is a aftermarket head unit.

I have found very few solder connection problems with OEM Ford head units.

Please get back with me and answer the few questions I asked and perhaps I can help you further.

 

My ranger is a 1999 base model with the stock ford head unit. It does happen with both am and fm channels. When i changed the antennae pole i also changed the base plate for it the plate plugged in to the wire under it when i tested the radio it was in my garage so i innitially thought it was because it was in a building. But later when i tried the radio again it all worked fine and, without static. But later i tried it again and it was all static.

 

Let's keep this simple, I am guessing you have not owned the truck since it was new.

Someone may have had a aftermarket radio in the truck at one point.

Remove the radio inspect the connection at the back of the radio to ensure a good connection.

If the connection is good and feels solid.

Disconnect the antenna cable and get a large paper clip, straighten the paper clip completely then on one side of the paper clip bend about 3/4" of it over with needle nose pliers where it looks like a v shape at the end of the paper clip

Insert this v shape part of the paper clip into the center smaller hole where the antenna plugs into.

Make sure the paperclip does not touch the case of the radio or the large portion of the antenna hole which is grounded.


Do not push the paper clip in too far because it may become stuck in the radio.

Once the paper clip is installed turn on the radio and try some FM Stations.

You will not get many stations like this but you should pick up a few stations

If you want better reception connect a 1-2 foot of speaker wire to the paper clip.

If the radio works and proves reliable after cycling the ignition switch a few times
And tapping on the radio this means the antenna cable is the problem.

If your still not getting any stations or the symptoms have not changed the radio is to blame.

Let me know what you find and we will go from there.

 

My truck used to be a city fleet truck so the radio thats in it is probably the original ill try the paper clip and ill get back to you when i can :)

 

I guess my radio is just weak because i pulled my truck out of the garage and it worked fine. My garage has a tin roof