Forester - weird radio stuff...

[Guest]

Hey - can any of you Subu Gurus tell me what is going on with this...

2004 Forester, stock standard, NZ new, with standard Sub radio/cassette/cd player - all (usually) in apparently good condition.

But every now and then the gremlins strike -

I start the car after it has been parked overnight and try to turn the radio on. Nobody home - radio is totally dead, no display, no sound, nothing. I drive for a short distance and turn the engine off. When I start the engine again - the radio works perfectly.

This has happened several times now and on each occasion it has behaved in exactly the same way - the radio seems to "reset" but only after the ignition has been turned off and then on again. This problem is (very) intermittent and the only common factor with these events is that they have all occurred at the first start of the day.

Can anyone give me any clues about what might be happening here??

[Guest]

check the fuse it should be on the drives side of the car, clean the terminals etc if that doesnt work, might have to remove the head unit and add another earth wire or find the the current one and clean its connections.

[Guest]

Thanks Gzzmos, will try that.

I am also wondering if the radio is powered through a relay (there seems to be a lot of light gauge wiring in the looms, so I guess there are quite a few relays in the system) but I don't have a wiring diagram so I can't figure out the layout of the power supply to the radio. I guess that if a relay is sticking it might display the same symptoms??

[The problem with these intermittent faults is that you can never be sure if the last remedial action you tried was effective!]

[Guest]

apart from the ignition relay there shouldnt be one for the stereo. there isnt enough current used t warrent a relay. but hey u never what they could of added

[spark_38]

from years of experience factory radios generally 'give up the ghost' after the 4-5 year period.... does your vehicle still allow the aftermarket headunits to be fitted? i'd go with that option and a $30 pocket from repco to fill the gap left by the double sized factory unit.

the internal power regulators and or storage capacitors in the unit itself have most likely shit themselves - factory stereos aren't really designed with the best quality in mind - back when i did a lot for my mates car yard the stock ones went straight in the skip without thought. it's usually the cd player that plays up too - shit lasers maybe?