Radio Issues.

Mopar

I have a 1997 Dodge Ram 1500 Pickup with a factory AM/FM Cassette Radio and it will turn on and work normally then after a few minutes the radio will lose signal to all stations on AM and FM. Rest of the Radio still works just no signal. If you hit a bump the radio will sometimes again gain a signal and other times not again rest of the radio works. It will turn on, display lights up and there is sound just sometimes no signal. What could be the problem?

xwesx

It could be the amplifier or the signal modulator, possibly even broken wire in or to the antenna.

Mopar

Thank you. I did Remove the Cup Holder, Ash Tray and Removed the Outer Plastic Dash Cover/Trim to gain Access to the Radio and honestly what I found is that the Radio Antenna seems to be acting up at some point. I turned on the Radio and let it play till it acted up. I then wiggled the Antenna Wire and the Sound/Reception seemed to come back. However I am not sure if this is the full problem however it is part of the problem. My Uncle bought this 1997 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 Brand new in 1997 and never had the Radio removed until I got it. My next quest is to just unhook the original Antenna and Plug in a different known to be good Antenna and point that out of the Bab and see what that does. If it works then I have the task of trying to figure out how to remove the old Antenna from the Pickup which I am sure won't be easy as they route them in and out through the worst places. If I can get the old one out I will just route the other one through the easiest way as it is just a Yard Beater but it does run good and the 4x4 works good. Just Nice to have a working Radio once in a while, Everybody says I am nuts for wanting to change the Antenna however I say Can't hurt the Pickup any. Not like its a Brand new one

xwesx

Depending on how it is installed in there, once you work the external antenna mount loose, you may be able to pull the antenna cable up, cut it, then tape it solidly to the end of the new cable. After that, just pull the old cable from the radio end, and it will draw the new one through.

However, if you wiggled the wire near the radio itself and was able to get it working, you could have a bad solder joint between the circuit board and the antenna receptacle. Dodge vehicles of the late 90s are somewhat notorious for the use of low-quality solder in their circuit boards (though I don't know whether the radio was actually a Mopar assembly or not).

Mopar

Ok thank you. Yes when I wiggled the Antenna Cable End in the Radio I did get it working for a bit. Then it quit again. I again wiggled the Antenna Cable in the back of the Radio where it plugs in and I suspect it is partly the Antenna Cable and partly the Radio where it plugs in in back there. So being that it is just a Yard Beater I can live without a Radio. I was going to install a older Dodge Pickup Radio in there like from a 1986 but naturally the Plugs won't work I would have to Modify the Wiring and I don't want to do that. So I will just put it together as it was and leave it be. Who knows? It may start working correctly on it's own someday. Like I said it's just a Yard Beater. It was driven in lots of Salt. The Seat Frame is so rusty. The Body has rust. The Rocker Panels are pretty sketchy as are the Box Wheel Arches. But thank you for your help.