My radio woes continue

[yerpalal]

Don't get me wrong, I love my PT . . . . . but the gilt is somewhat off the lilly for me.

Within weeks of the time I took delivery of my car an odd defect became evident, occassionally, perhaps one start in 50, when I start the car the radio would get no power. There would be no music and the face would not light up. I tried everything I could think of and had been suggested, (jiggling the key, the turn signal, steering column, etc) and nothing. The only way to get the radio to play would be to shut the car off and restart. The dealer replaced the radio . . . twice and last replaced the wiring harness. Not only does this still happen, but a NEW problem has now started. Now, sometimes, the radio will make a loud noise through the speakers sounding like a relay being thrown, the radio will come on and play for a few seconds, the loud sound will go off again and the radio will go silent. Face lit up as normal, but no noise whatsoever. And when this starts I lose radio for some time, usually for the rest of the day this is the way the radio works . . . . or in this case, fails to work.

Needless to say this is driving me, and the dealer, somewhat batty.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

Thanks,

[FlowRW]

I would locate the regional Chrysler office, tell them the problem, offer copies of where the car has been in for service and tell them you want it fixed.....NOW. Copy the dealer in on the letter. I wouldn't make it sound like it's necessarily the dealers fault but rather something in the car. Hate you're having those problems.

I had an Olds many years ago and occasionlly the transmission wouldn't shift out of first gear. I kept the receipts where the dealer did the warranty work. In six visits and repairs bills, the dealer had over $3900 in repairs to that same transmission and nothing changed. I went to the regional office and demanded a new transmission which at that time was less than half of the repairs they had already put in it. They did it, it ran fine.

[mobiletoys]

Do you have a CD changer installed? If so, is it the Chrysler version or an aftermarket unit? The DIN cable may be pinched and causing feedback and a short in the radio.

This will occur even if the cd changer function is not in use.

Otherwise, assuming that you did trade the radio out and the problem returned, you have a databus problem that the radio is reacting to. It's the symptom, not the cause.

Return to the dealer and have them perform a diagnostic test on the vehicle's databus plug and ECM.

Rob / Mobile Toys [e-mail]

[yerpalal]

It is the stock Chrysler radio/Cd unit so your suggestion about the diagnostic sounds like the way to go. I'll call the dealer today and ask if they have ever done that to the car.

After that I suppose it will be time to kick it up to the regional office.

Thanks for the feedback all.

[FranksredPT]

And I thought the clock on my radio gaining 10 minutes a month was annoying. Good luck on getting it fixed.