Bad battery killed the radio - Ford Crown Victoria

Maintenance/Repairs
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Summary: The radio went dead when the batter was defective, and it came back to life when I installed a new battery. What’s going on with the radio?

This is a 2003 Ford Crown Victoria with 150,000 miles. A few months ago, the radio went dead without any indication. I thought it’s not so unusual that the factory radio died. We drove it around with the dead radio for a couple of months. But when the weather got colder, I had not been able to start the car in the morning a few times. I had to put it on a charger to get the car started. The battery is less than 3 years old, but I have been taking a lot of really short trips, so I put the car on a charger after every trip to make sure the battery starys fully charged. But one day it just won’t hold enough charge to start the car and finally died. I took it to Costco, where I bought it and got a new battery under replacement warrantee. I installed the batter in the parking lot. When I went on to start the car. To my surprise, the radio came back to life.

I am thinking what happened was that the battery had one defective cell, so it was not able to hold the correct voltage, and it was able to start the car only when it was fully topped off. The battery part is easy, But what puzzles me is why did the radio die? The radio remained dead even after I fully charged the battery to start the engine with no problem. But the came back to life when I installed the new battery.

Can anyone explain what happened to the batery and the radio?

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I have a good idea of what killed the car radio: It’s 20 years old.

I think the battery going bad and the radio going bad are just coincidences.

Check with crutchfield.com for some replacement suggestions. Or, if you’re not electronically inclined, take the the car to Best Buy or something similar, and they’ll be glad to help you out.

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The old battery was marginal and the radio did not take kindly to low or inconsistent voltage/current. It works with a new battery, great that Costco worked with you on the warranty, enjoy the radio.

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4

No need to replace a working radio. I think SteveCBT is correct.

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5

If the radio fails again, the first step is to measure the battery voltage. Two times, before the first start of the day, then immediately after starting the engine. Report what you (or your shop) measures. Beyond that, not much else you can do.

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6

It is possible that since a lot of Fords alternators will go into a fail safe mode (stop working) if/when battery voltage drops to a certain point the radio may have done them same to help with current draw on the weak battery… just a thought…

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