I have a 1997 Dodge Dakota Sport 3.9L Extended Cab. About a year ago someone tried to steal my truck, since then I have had power issues with the stereo. I have finally concluded that its an issue with one or both of the power wires (constant & switch). How would I go about replacing these and is it possible for a some what amateur to go about doing safely? Please help I hate having no or at best sporadic music while driving lol.

 

I have since posting thought to try and isolate which power wire may be the issue but even when i hook both wires to either switch or constant power wire that I have same issue...is it possible that my antenna could be a factor? it seems loose even attached to the truck? Ive tried tightening it but to no avail. If its possible its the cause then Ill just get a new one and hook it up.

Thanks again!

 

So your radio doesn't work at all, is that what is going on? Fist I would check the fuses 1 for each power input, next test to see which wire has power.

I will move this to the 2nd generation Dakota sub-forum.

 

No its not that I have no power I have sporadic power. For example Ill get in truck radio stays off and Ill be driving along and itll suddenly turn on. Stay on for a while then turn off again usually when braking or stopping. I can also take off the radios face plate and put faceplate back on and radio comes right on. But as soon as I press function to choose fm tuner/cd/aux etc then it turns off again until its choosing.

 

This does not sound to me like it has anything to do with the theft of the truck. I would think either the faceplate is bad or possibly there is an intermittent connection when the faceplate is in place on the radio. You can try using a pencil eraser to clean the connectors on the faceplate and the connector on the face of the radio itself, but chances are the radio may need some repairs. You could take the radio out and have a good local car audio shop bench test and repair it for you, but you may come out cheaper by just replacing the radio. Or maybe if a friend has another radio you could try in your truck, or if you have your old factory radio, you could install one of those as a test, see if it has the same problem.

Jimmy

 

I'm in agreement with Jimmy. Not theft related, radio issue internally.

 

Ok so I tried putting the stereo in my wifes van and its fine not a single problem

 

Then you may have a bad ground. Especially if the deck was installed and grounded with the factory braided ground strap for the original factory radio. The straps tend to become contaminated over time and are not a very good ground point for a higher-powered aftermarket deck. Use a length of about 10 gauge wire, put a ring terminal on one end and ground it under an existing bolt or nut in one of the kick panels. Be sure the grounding point is clean, bare shiny metal. The kick panel is the best ground location in the cab, besides a seat belt bolt. Keep the new ground wire as short as possible and connect it to the ground wire of your aftermarket deck. If that does not work then you may have an intermittent problem with either your accessory or constant 12 volt wire behind the radio. Or it could be the ignition switch is going bad. Hard to tell without further testing. Try the new ground first, it is the next best simple solution.

Jimmy

 

Been busy with work so didnt get back to yall...ty for all the advice so far...after a much needed car wash (due to kids school parking lot being grass and VERY muddy, but fun) I found out that it appears to definetly be an antenna issue...how difficult is it to replace the antenna?

 

When you say the radio turns off do you mean the power to the radio turns off and the entire radio is off completely, or is the radio still lit up, just has no FM sound coming from it? It is not hard to replace the antenna. You can get the exact replacement at the Dodge dealer, or you can buy an aftermarket antenna cheaper at most any good car audio store. You will need to remove the passenger's fender liner to remove the original antenna, then bolt the new one in place on the fender. Be sure to clean the bottom of the fender where the antenna mounts. Then just route the new antenna coax cable in to the cab by following the old antenna coax cable, and plug it in to the radio. There is also a junction in the passenger's kick panel to disconnect the factory antenna when the fender is removed. You might check there first to be sure there are no problems there, and you may even want to check with the Dodge dealer and see how much it might cost to replace the antenna cable from the radio down to the kick panel. It might be that the cable from the kick panel out to the antenna itself is still OK.

Jimmy