When the weather is cold, the radio speakers won’t play. After the inside of the car warms up, they start to play? What kind of speakers do I need to install to prevent this from happening again?
I can’t believe the problem is in the speakers, since, according to your post, it is all the speakers.
My first thought was that you have moisture collecting inside the door and frost is collecting on the speakers. However, if the other speakers aren’t playing either, then that rules out that cause. I think it is more likely a problem in the amplifier section of the radio that is temperature sensitive.
If it is the door speakers, make certain that the “weep holes” in the bottom of the door are open so that water from the rain doesn’t collect in the bottom of the door and cause a moisture problem.
At any rate, before buying new speakers, make certain that the problem really is in the speaker.
I doubt the problem is the speakers. If ONE speaker didn’t play, then it would be a speaker problem. Since your posting seems to imply that you don’t hear anything from ANY of your speakers, the problem is likely with the stereo in your dashboard, or with an amplifier, if your vehicle uses a separate amp.
The problem you describe is a common failure with electronic equipment. Either something doesn’t work until it heats up, or another common failure is an electronic component cutting out after it heats up.
I didn’t see what year of vehicle you had, but if it’s still under warranty, I’d let the warranty take care of it. If it isn’t, this may be a good time for an upgraded stereo. (but first make sure there isn’t an external amp that’s causing the problem)
It’s somewhere in the headunit or amplifier (if it is separate). There’s a bad solder joint or cracked copper trace. When it is cold, the metal contracts and breaks contact. This is known as an “open.” When it warms up a little, the metal expands and makes contact.
One of the tricks in electronic repair when looking for intermittent problems is to spray parts of the board with cold spray until it stops working. This is done to find where the bad solder joint is.
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My speakers on my car radio won’t come on until it heats up inside the car why is this happening and is there a simple fix? Its very frustrating.
As the other answers have said, you have a bad electrical connection in the head unit. It needs to either be repaired or replaced.
This problem haunts several GM products. I have been searching for a very long time and will add to this post for future seekers.
I did narrow the problem to the separate amplifier. On a cold day when the radio speakers were playing a faint tinny sound, I used a heater to warm the amplifier and low and behold the speakers and subwoofer were playing perfectly. I have removed the amplifier and I am inspecting it for cold solder joints. I will post my findings later.