Radio Stops Playing Repeatedly

[Fluke]

One place that I travel to several times a week causes problems with my '22 XLT's radio. The FM radio audio will cut out and the head unit screen goes back to the AM/FM selection buttons screen. I can select FM button again and it will play for a while but in this one area of town it will repeat this process dozens of times. The strange thing is that it only happens coming back toward home from this location (it keeps cutting out over a 8-10 mile route with roads going different directions on the return trip). It never happens on the trip to the location using the same route. Has anyone experienced anything like this? It also does not happen every time, but maybe half the time or more.

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[Traegorn]

I've never had that happen on my '23, but I rarely use the FM radio (only when I'm at a drive in movie theater really). Have you tried resetting the head unit? And have you made sure you have the latest software update?

 

[d7602002]

Sounds like you've just crossed over into... the twilight zone.

 

[oysterville]

As you've experienced it seems location dependent and not necessarily truck dependent.

 

[Ozarkbeard]

Does it do it on different FM stations? Or just one?

 

[Fluke]

I have reset the unit several times so far, but have not checked for a software update yet. I also will check if it happens on a different FM station this week.

I agree that it is location dependent, but don't understand why it would only happen in one direction of the trip.

 

[oysterville]

I agree that it is location dependent, but don't understand why it would only happen in one direction of the trip

It's been a long time since I've studied such things, but I recall that radio broadcast signals can vary in strength due to time of day and temperature, among other things. You might find that other stations do the same thing at the same spot, while others do not. That could be antenna sharing.

 

[CurtisB]

Sounds like you've just crossed over into... the twilight zone.

And slipped into..........."The Outer Limits"

 

[AzureBlueBill]

Mine does that too, but it is totally random.

 

[Fluke]

I tried the same route today listening to a different FM station and did not experience the same dropouts. It looks like both stations operate at the same power and are not that far from one another. There is about a 200’ difference in tower height though. Maybe that impacts the reception in this particular area.

 

[Phimosis]

Common things being common, that sounds like an overcurrent shutdown.
-Are you cranking your radio up over 20, overheating the mplifier unit?
-Are you using the stock head unit to drive aftermarket, high power speakers?
-Have you modified any of the wiring that could be leading to a short or a incomplete ground?
-Are you driving by something with a high powered radio/radar Antenna? Normally your antenna picks up weak radio waves from tens of miles away and generates millivolts of induced current in the antenna lead that is plugged into the head unit. If you are getting a direct blast of 100,000 watt radar from your local airbase, that can create a large enough voltage to tell the unit to shut down to prevent damage.
-Why does it happen at certain times of the day? If it’s from overheating, it is cold in the morning and warm in the afternoon. If it’s from EMI, electromagnetic interference, maybe the radio station, weather station or airport is shut down in the early morning, but operating in the afternoon.

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