Hello,
We have a 2005 Ford Escape that has a factory 6-disc changer, AM/FM radio. The Disc changer stopped working long ago, which doesn’t bother us since we typically listen to the radio; however, starting last week the radio will randomly stop making sound. Power remains, but no sound comes out.
After being puzzled by this for a week, we were finally able to find a correlation this evening between the brake pedal, window controls, and radio (I suppose you just start trying things when you’re stuck in traffic). Here are two patterns we noticed when traveling <10mph. Behavior at >10mph still appears random.
1. When in stop and go traffic, the brake pedal seems to control the radio. When the brake pedal is depressed, the radio works, when not depressed, the radio is silent.
2. If the brake pedal alone does not operating one of the four window switches will cause the radio to work.
Any ideas?!?!
I don’t know if your vehicle has a seperate amplifier for the audio system but it may have. The problem with the sound system sounds like it may be due to a faulty ground to the amp.
I suspect either a bad ground as was mentioned by Cougar, or that the unit is just failed and the voltage pull-down from using a high-current device (such as the tail lights or window motors) is creating a situation that allows the unit to function.
Can you remove the radio and “bench test it” that is provide it with constant power,switched power,and ground? This will allow you to see if you can turn the radio on,see if it ejects CD’s, see if the display works,it will help narrow things down.
Cougar,
Thank you for the reply! How can I test for a faulty ground?
How many pennies and dimes are in the cd player ? they drop down to touch the circuit board and wreak all kinds of havok.