2003 Work truck radio issues...

[Badfish740]

Ok, so one minor problem with the radio in my new rig-it sounds really strange but it seems like the radio only works when the truck is warmed up!? When I first test drove it they had taken it out to fuel it up so it was already warm and the radio came on when I started the truck so I thought nothing of it then.

When I drove it off the lot last night I was pretty excited so I didn't realize until about 10 minutes into the ride (that diesel clatter is sweet music!) that the radio wouldn't turn on. All of a sudden once I had been driving for almost 30 minutes the radio popped on and stayed on for the rest of the ride home which was about an hour.

This morning when I went out to warm it up it up it didn't come on, but when I was about halfway to work (15/20 minutes into the drive) it came on again and stayed on til I got to work. I parked it and let it idle down/shut it off about 9 and then decided about a 1/2 hour later to move it to the front lot since there aren't a lot of people here today. When I started it up the radio came on right away! I know it doesn't make much sense, but its not like I'm making this up

Anyway, I have the super basic bare bones work truck radio which is the plain old station display (no clock) 4 presets, a volume knob, a seek/tune button, and a band changer, no CD, no tape, no nuthin. I don't know if that makes a difference but that's what I have. I'm planning on putting an Alpine head unit in soon, but in the meantime I want to be able to play my Sirius through the stock radio and not being able to use it for the first 20 minutes of driving is pretty annoying!

[bigcountrysg]

This is what I recommend. Replace with aftermarket radio, even upgrade the speakers. You don't need nothing fancy just a good name brand stereo and some good 3-way or 4-way speakers. The install is not hard now that they have easy install kits.

[Banshee34]

Yep sounds like an upgrade is the best bet... but in the meantime, almost sounds like a loose wire????

[Badfish740]

Maybe the stocker will be coming out of there faster than I thought...it worked ok when I ran to get lunch so I dunno.

[Badfish740]

So it's definitely NOT the radio itself. My gf and I took a trip this weekend and did a lot of driving. I noticed two things-one, whenever the radio turns on or off at random I hear a "click" somewhere behind the instrument panel, like a relay opening and closing. Two, whenever the radio won't work, the dome light also will not turn on. Once the radio is working again, the dome light also works. Why would the radio and dome light functions be connected?

[bigcountrysg]

might be the gem module under the dash. but that is a guess.

[Badfish740]

At the risk of sounding stupid what the heck is that? I tried searching but "gem" is too short so all I get are posts with the word module in them.

[bigcountrysg]

Well what I know about this little thing. It can cause electronic ghosts in your truck. If some how it gets wet from a leaking windshield, or door seal, or cab lights. It can cause electronic problems. I know it is located under the dash somewhere. I don't know much about it, Maybe some one with more knowledge about it will chime in.