radio problem

since i left the store the fm radio dosent work anymore

05 Dodge Caravan problem with radio/cd won't work.
Sometimes when the van starts the radio may come on for approx 10 sec....longest time 1 min! I have had it to Chrysler dealership...they don't know much! Took it to an independent auto mechanic he wouldn't touch it. Says the wiring mess on my vehicle looks like it is 20 yrs old. Has anyone fixed the radio problem? I don't want to replace with new radio as I would like to get rid of it very soon, but who wants to buy a vehicle with no radio. Runs well...anyone interested? I have spent over $2200 on just repairs since bought new. I am so upset with this piece of @#$*. Engine lites keeps coming on, O2 sensors replaced umpteen times... software updates, etc. etc.

Thank you to Ron who posted the information about the mini 20A RDO/IGN fuse. Our radio stopped working after our son put his adapter into the outlet for his IPod. We searched our manual with no luck so I decided to search the net and it led me to this site. It worked beautifully. We changed the fuse and the radio and CD player worked fine.

Thanks again Ron.

I see a lot of radio problems here as I was searching for the answer to my own radio problem. I got mine working and decided to post it here in case somone else has a similar problem as mine.
Vehicle - 2001 Dodge Caravan SE
Poblem - Nothing on the radio/cd player. Won't play and no display, also the door locks will not lock with the key off.
Answer - There is a fuse in the fuse panel under the engine hood listed as RDO/IGN. This is the regular fuse for the radio. Unfortunately it was not my problem.
There is a 15 amp fuse listed as IOD. This was my problem. It did not look blown but I changed it and my problem was solved.
Why did I change it you ask? The IOD fuse and a fuse listed as IGN next to each other had the amps reversed. The 10 amp fuse for the IGN was in the IOD place and the 15 amp fuse for the IOD was in the IGN place. I switched them because stupid things like that bother me. I turned on my key and the radio display was lit up. I was happy. Now when I tried to start the van, I got nothing. I then put a new 10 amp fuse in the IGN and all was good.

I hope this post will be useful to someone with a similar problem.

Ken Bishop
http://truckbedtonneau.com

I have a 1998 Dodge Caravan that the radio was working perfect until I had the valve cover and intake gaskets replaced. Now, the strong local FM stations are coming in weak. I checked the antenna connection at back of radio and tightened the antenna mast. What gives?

Sounds like all 90s Caravans have similar radio problems. I've got a wrinkle on mine I haven't seen above ...
This is a 96. Previous owner told me entire sound system didn't work at all. I found there was a cassette stuck in the tape drive, keeping the
system in tape mode so radio wouldn't work. Actually the eject button worked, in that the spindle disengaged releasing the cassette, but the motor that pushes the tape out did not work. Removed the cassette manually and the radio worked fine after that -- for awhile.

After a few days the radio started cutting out, sometimes for days at a time. When radio went dead, so did the clock.(Sometimes equalizer buttons were lit, sometimes not.) Sometimes radio would work again next time car started, sometimes would kick in suddenly -- a real scare while driving if the volume happened to be turned up!

Here's the weird part: sometimes the radio "half" works -- there is a very loud AM carrier signal, occasionally with intelligible sound -- sounds like a Spanish talk station but may not be a commercial broadcast at all. The weird part: when radio is doing this, sound is not affected by volume control, or even by "off" switch -- sound continues even when radio is turned entirely off!

The trick of disconnecting the battery for a few minutes seems to fix this, sort of: it can take 10-20 minutes or even a day for the "fix" to kick in and radio start working normally again -- and this generally only lasts a day or two before problems start again.

What amazes me is that this type of problem seems to be common to Caravans for maybe ten or more model years, the company never fixed it and dealership service departments don't even know about it. Wonder why Chrysler is tanking?

Bobby wrote:

I have a 2002 Caravan. I was trying to remove the radio to put in another one. When I was trying to remove one of the plugs in the back, the interior light shut off. Now the interior light will only work when you turn it on manually. When I start the car, the guages all move forward, and then back again. the radio is no longer working at all.

I have the same problum i just bought a 2002 dodge gran caravan sport and the radio didn't work and the dome lite only works when you turn the key on and when you start the van all the gagues go up and back again .

did you ever find the problum i was thinking to onhook the battry cable and put it back on to see if that would reset the wireing.

Ron wrote:

The radio fuse is in the main fuse panel under the hood on the driver's side. It is a mini 20A fuse and I believe it is labeled RDO/IGN.

I have the same problem as these others. Radio/clock dead, lights blinking on bass and treble, CD does nothing. Sometimes I get weird things like "a200" with other things that don't make sense where the clock should be. I've had times where the clock is on but won't shut off when I turn the car off and get out. Once, I pulled the RDO/IGN fuse and the clock stayed on! If I disconnect the battery and reconnect it, the stereo often works fine for a short time before it goes crazy again. I have a feeling it's moisture in the wiring somewhere. This is almost as disgusting as the swaybar links/ bushing problems I'm having. I replaced them myself 6000 miles ago (for the third or fourth time) and the van rode great. Now, I hear the familiar thumping again when I hit cracks in the road. Next time it's Honda Odyssey for me! Our Civic has been no trouble and it has 165000 miles.

Wolfie wrote:

<quoted text>
I have the same problem as these others. Radio/clock dead, lights blinking on bass and treble, CD does nothing. Sometimes I get weird things like "a200" with other things that don't make sense where the clock should be. I've had times where the clock is on but won't shut off when I turn the car off and get out. Once, I pulled the RDO/IGN fuse and the clock stayed on! If I disconnect the battery and reconnect it, the stereo often works fine for a short time before it goes crazy again. I have a feeling it's moisture in the wiring somewhere. This is almost as disgusting as the swaybar links/ bushing problems I'm having. I replaced them myself 6000 miles ago (for the third or fourth time) and the van rode great. Now, I hear the familiar thumping again when I hit cracks in the road. Next time it's Honda Odyssey for me! Our Civic has been no trouble and it has 165000 miles.

I take it back about the problem being in the wiring. I tried disconnecting the battery again, then the power locks wouldn't work. I disconnected the battery again, then the passenger window wouldn't go up. When I pulled it in the garage because it was supposed to rain, the window started working again. I'm going to try the fix with the two fuses next.

Tonight a co-worker told me to disconnect the battery and not only wait a bit, but also turn the headlights on to draw any residual power out of the computer. This worked and the radio started working after some weird displays first, but it played a cd just fine until I turned it off after about a half an hour of driving. Then next time it came on and off and stayed off with no blinking bass and treble lights. I also seem to notice a pulsing in the head lights, very faint, but possibly another clue. Even when the radio is working, the clock runs extremely slow, a minute takes about fifteen or twenty minutes or more.

Wolfie wrote:

Tonight a co-worker told me to disconnect the battery and not only wait a bit, but also turn the headlights on to draw any residual power out of the computer. This worked and the radio started working after some weird displays first, but it played a cd just fine until I turned it off after about a half an hour of driving. Then next time it came on and off and stayed off with no blinking bass and treble lights. I also seem to notice a pulsing in the head lights, very faint, but possibly another clue. Even when the radio is working, the clock runs extremely slow, a minute takes about fifteen or twenty minutes or more.

Note: I don't live in any of these places by my name except United States, what's up with that? Here's my latest...not too bad! I took the radio out (removed the two screws under trim piece above the drink holder on 2001 Gr caravan, removed radio cover, then plug-ins etc.) Sprayed electrical contact cleaner in the connections (battery disconnected of course)after it evaporated let it sit for awhile and put it back together. It's acting like it did before except that after it flashes on and off (radio station and other weird numbers) 40 -50 times (Trying to reboot?)it finally goes off and just when I think it's given up, 12:00 appears instead of the radio station numbers, then if I turn the volume up, the radio IS on and it works like normal until I turn the car off. This has happened the last three times I started the car and even though it takes 4-5 minutes to go through all of this, it works. I don't know if the contact cleaner helped, but it's working better than it has since the problem started (which I think started when I used an inverter and a 120v phone charger instead of buying a new charger for a new phone I have. As I think I mentioned in other posts, I had most of the craziness listed in other posts including the radio staying on when the car was off and once even when the radio fuse was pulled!(But not the IOD fuse which seems to affect things too! Stay tuned...

I had my alternator replaced so I had to remove battery cables and now all I get is blinking Eqlzr lights on the radio and the dodge dealers are so clueless anyone know anything about this????? I have taken the positive cable let the car run 30 min and also took the radio out and unplugged all the wires and stil only blinking lights???????

I don't know Schelithea, but mine's back to not working again. But blinking treble/bass lights is definitely a symptom. It's doing that again. But nothing on the radio/clock display. It acts like it's an automatic resetting circuit breaker that just gives up after so many tries. There IS another fuse that seems to kill the power to the radio...it's marked IDO or IOD or something, when I pull it out while the radio IS working, the radio quits. My wife has the car so I can't go look at the initials. I'm thinking the power to the blinking treble/bass lights is separate from the radio display power and that's why they still work. I'm amazed this problem is so common, but the fix isn't clear.

Status update: two weeks since last time I tried disconnecting the battery, and my radio is still working but lately won't receive some stations that come in loud & clear on home radio. Clock showed incorrect time for first time in several weeks today. Last couple of days the "Door ajar" alert light and tone has been coming on every time I hit a bump or brake or turn sharply.(Needless to say, first few times this happened I stopped and checked: all doors firmly closed.)
Let's face it: Caravan electrical systems are just plain psycho!

You got that right Bruce. I guess I shouldn't complain, aside from the radio and the sway bar links it's been a great car and even now at 142000+ miles.

Try this: Pull "IOD" fuse and replace. Start car. Turn on radio (button out). Watch for strange displays on radio going on and off. If it's going to work, at some point, the display will read "12:00". At this point turn the volume up and the radio should be on at least until something interrupts it again. In my manual it mentions auto matic resetting fuses that need to be addressed by a technician which seems like my problem but I haven't followed up on that yet.

steve wrote:

I have a problem with my radio,it started with the time display showing the wrong time of day,to the radio not playing at all.I have a 2001 es model.I can't find the radio fuse,anyone have this similar problem.

My final solution after trying many! I found a junkyard who had the same radio for $75. Tried it worked fine, bought it. It has a clock that still works and a cassette player along with the CD. Everything plugged in just right it sounds great! No more weird stuff on the display. I'm going to try to prevent moisture from the AC vent directly above the radio dripping into the radio which is obviously the cause of all of these problems. Questions? Please post...

I have the same problem that the "Bass" and "Treb" are blinking and the front panel shows nothing when I start the engine. There is a CD inside. Because of radio does not work at all so I cannot take it out. I have tried the all the solution/suggestion here, including disconnect the Neg battery wire and remove change the IOD fuse but has no luck at all. The radio is still not working. Is there any other solution? I do not want to take to the dealership because I know they will tell me that I need a new radio set which will cost hundreds of dollar. Please help.

i have Intrepid 2001. today after hot day my radio did the same thing:
equalizer lights are flashing in tact (about 1 sec) and I can hear faint bump from speakers for each flash. clock works, AM works, CD and FM don't.