Radio fades out on FM ONLY

[Man in Black]

Hello all. Got a bunch of little problems popping up as my Marauder approaches 78kMi. My fan bearings have worn out and it rattles horribly, the AC just got replaced, but it's over charged, and that combined with the fan issues means it doesn't wanna blow cold air, and now the radio will randomly start to FAAaaadde.... out. Then it's out till the next time I get in the car to go somewhere, then it will play for a few minutes and then it fades out. This is ONLY on FM/FM2. AM, CDs, Cassette all play fine. It think it's made worse by the heat. It will occasionally crackle like it wants to come back on, when I turn sharply or bang on it a little (I don't do that alot, I just wanna see if there's something loose in there).

So, has anybody had this problem? Is there a loose wire or something I can get at to fix this or do I need to buy a new stereo?

[RF Overlord]

While I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a "common" problem, like the LCM or EATC, it is not an unusual one. It's a known issue...I believe some bad soldering. This (http://www.videoservicestop.com/radiorepairs/ford.htm) place can fix you right up.

[Man in Black]

Well, that's cheaper than buying a new one. I'll probably pull it out and turn some screws tomorrow. Any other ideas, gents? I did a search, but I couldn't find anything specific.

[RubberCtyRauder]

Not sure if it is the same thing or related but my factory radio had poor reception (apparently some units have a bad connection) so I upgraded to the 6disc Audiophile radio from the Ford Escape/Mercury mariner..It runs the factory subwoofer and steering wheel controls work. All plug and play inlike 3 minutes. The trunk mounted 6 disc changer (if so equipped) will not work , but this unit has 6 disc in dash so not a big deal..it sounds much better than the factory marauder unit too. I picked one up at an area junkyard for $150.00..Ebay has them generally too for around the same up to around $200.00..There is another one called the mach 300 too that fits..There is a few posts about them. Use the search button and type in "audiophile" and the posts will come up including part numbers..You can search ebay with the part number as long as the description or title have that part number inthe listing..also try car-part.com..I found mine that way. Good luck getting it all worked out.

[Man in Black]

Thanks for the info, fellas.

[jsignorelli]

I had the FM go out first: fadded after playing, and then nothing. Next the AM went through the same fadding, and then nothing. At this point, I just replaced the radio. Now I have GPS, HD, Sirius, Backup camera, iPod, etc.

[MrBluGruv]

For $157, it's worth it to you to buy a newer aftermarket head unit.

My own radio lost FM signal lock capacity first, then ate a cassette-to-lineout cassette, then had problems working reliably with the 6-disc changer. These really aren't that fantastic of units.

[Man in Black]

Update: I replaced my radiator fan, and now my AC works again (which makes sense). Now that I'm running the AC, the radio works fine on FM. It was just getting too hot without AC. I can hack it, but the electronics cannot, apparently.

[Man in Black]

Hell, I spoke too soon. This morning, it went out, even though the AC was running @75 and it was only 78 outside.

[rayjay]

United Radio in Syracuse, NY is also a place to check for repairs. I believe they have a branch in NC too.