Radio turns on and off while driving. What could be causing this? How hard/expensive is it to fix?

Question

I bought a 1999 GMC Envoy. It runs great the only problem it has is while driving the radio switches on and off. It loses power completely, the digital display flickers on and off which resets the time every time this happens. At times the volume level will go from nearly mute to blaring and back again without touching the control. I dont know anything about it, but I figure it must be a short somewhere. Its driving me crazy whatever it is and I really would like to fix it. Can anyone help? (perferably in alot of detail?)

Answer 1

first, if the stereo is aftermarket like a sony, pioneer, kenwood, panasonic... u know... then get someone that knows what they are doing and check the wiring from the stereo into the vehicle. there might be something wired wrong that either sends power to the stereo from the wrong source or the stereo sends signal to the wrong things.

if it is aftermarket stereo, once the stereo is removed to inspect the wiring, check if they used a "installation kit". these are connections which have wires on one end. these wires are color match to the wires from the stereo. if doesnt have one, go to your local audio shop or bestbuy and buy one for your specific vehicle, usually they are around 10 bucks.

alot of people dont want to spend the extra time and money on gettin one of those kits or they dont even know. so what they end up doing is cutting into the cables from the factory. this is a huge NO. all the cables from the factory are in another color and are just way too many. which is why there might be a problem if the installer doesnt know what to do.

but

if the stereo is the one from the factory, then more than likely that stereo is done because it is probably wired up correctly and with good connections.

there might be something loose inside the stereo or its just getting old and starting to fail. if so, try upgrading to an aftermarket stereo.

i use this site for alot of customers. they have just about the lowest price you could find, all stuff is brand new, and they include free instalation kits for stereos if you include your vehicle type, model, and year.

http://sonicelectronix.com/cat_i10_cd-re...