I live in Florida so you can guess that it does not get really cold here. It gets down in the 20s every now and then. However, twice this year including today when I started my SD everything lit up but the radio did not come on. It takes it a coulpe of minutes and it just comes on like the lights do when you have them on auto. Has anyone experience this and if so have you taken steps to prevent it? If so, what did you do or what did the dealership tell you?

 

I had the same problem when I lived in Montana. There have been a couple of posts on it as a few others out there have had the same problem. It never bothered me that much because the truck is not my daily driver and I end up replacing the factory radio anyway. If it is still under warranty the dealer should replace it.

 

It's probably a bad solder joint or connector. When things get cold, metal contracts and could make a bad joint go open. As things warm up the joint will close up and things will start to work again. These are PITA and usually only get worse over time. If it is under warranty you should have it replaced.

If not under warranty you might replace the unit or if you are handy with a soldering iron, do the old freeze spray trick and find the bad joint. Also you could wiggle all the connectors and sometimes that is all it is.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

I have a 2002 F-250 with a 6 disc cd changer, and mine also does this from time to time when it's very cold. It has always done it even when it was brand new. I always
warm up the truck when it's below freezing and the radio is on by the time I get back in the truck.

 

I have an '05 F-250 that I just bought used. When I leave it outside overnight in the cold I have the same radio problems. I noticed this morning (temp in 20's last night) that the elec windows and the dome light also do not work. After about a minute, I'll notice the time display appear on the radio, then everything starts working. I only have about 1,000 miles left in the warranty so I was going to leave it parked overnight at the Ford dealer so a service guy could see it happen. I assumed that with the radio, windows and dome light all not working, a sharp person with a wiring diagram could get close to finding where the problem is. Of course it may be three bad connections...