Right turns causing radio to short, antenna to go up and down

[TheFishingGeek]

That fuse is in there TIGHT. It was a PITA getting my fingers in there tight enough to pull the thing out, and even when I got a grip on it the thing sure didn't come out easily. It wasn't a winch job by any means, but it didn't slide out like it was packed in a tube of KY, either. Definitely seemed well-seated.

Good idea about starting behind the glove box. I didn't look too much under the hood other than to see if the antenna was something to uninstall from under the hood or not. That'll be added to my list of things to do this weekend.

 

[Rscotts1]

physics

Hey karl-burns can I look you up when I start my Physics class next month? lol.



http://members.cardomain.com/scotts1

 

[Okrazie1]

Sounds to me that you are losing the ground to the radio, instead of the power to it. I say this since the radio is turning off and you're losing your memory presets. The main power is fed from a different fuse than the memory power, but there is a common ground to the radio. The antenna retracts because the power antenna module (which is located behind the right rear interior panel, I think) thinks the radio has been turned off. My theory goes to hell in a bucket when you say the antenna is extending when the radio is off, however .

 

[TheFishingGeek]

Actually I'm not losing presets during the brief time that the power is lost to the radio (right turns can only take so long, luckily). In my fantasy world what is happening is that the connection between the radio and the antenna which has a hot lead to it is shorting out, and that is making the power go out on the radio and it is triggering the antenna to go up when it's down and down when it's up.

Of course, I have little knowledge in this field but I'm willing to go looking for trashy-looking wiring.

 

[Okrazie1]

I'm not an expert by any means, but I do troubleshoot and repair mechanical and electrical problems on multi-million dollar industrial equipment for a living, so take the following for what you feel it's worth .

My bad on the presets. I just looked and found out that the memory is contained in a non-volatile EEPROM, which means you wouldn't lose presets during a power interruption. But the clock is fed from a circuit that is hot at all times, and the main power is fed from a switched source. This still leads back to a common ground problem, since you are losing both at the same time.

I wouldn't waste time pulling things apart to check the antenna. The antenna is functioning properly. It's going up and down when being commanded to.

The Limited has a two-section unit. The head unit is a just a control panel. The actual tuner and amplifier are mounted in the back behind the right interior panel. If this were my Explorer and I was having this problem, I think the first test I would do is pull the head unit, find the ground wire at the power connector (if it's like a '95 it should be the black wire), and check resistance between that wire at the connector and the chassis of the truck. The resistance should be low (<1 ohm). I would then stay at the same test points, have someone drive the truck, perform some right turns and see if the resistance changes between those points. If the ground is opening, the resistance should go high.

 

[GR899V8]

Okrazie1 has a good idea! You could do the same with the HOT leads from your fuse panel by checking for VOLTAGE when driving, and see if you are losing that while turning right. I think that would tell alot.

FishingGeek, here's your incentive: No fishing until the radio is fixed!