ok, so, i have a 95 ram 1500. when i bought it, the radio did not work. then, randomly it started working. so, figuring i had a bad ground somewhere, i added another ground wire and it worked fine for about 3 weeks. 2 days ago my radio went out...then a couple hours later when i started the truck again it worked. yesterday, my radio went out. has not started working.
pulled out my trusty DVOM and checked the 2 power wires with the key in acc and in run(according to the book i have they are a red/white wire and a pink wire) got 12.5v on both. i am thinking i have a bad head unit, but i am wondering if there is something else i should check first to make sure.

 

Does ANYTHING on it work? Clock? Etc?

 

no, no clock, no lights, no anything. this is including right after i checked for voltage on the 2 wires

 

so its only when u turn the truck on sometimes that it works? if its only when u turn it on, and not just randomly going down the road, then it aint ur ground wire.

 

yes, only works when i turn my key to run/acc sometimes.
figured an extra ground doesnt hurt anything

 

so have you checked all the fuses and relays? i doubt its at the connector on the back of the radio, i think its before that. try checkin the fuses under the hood and in the side of the dash. plug and play with them.

 

radio fuse is good, checked with voltmeter, also switched with known good 15A fuse (normal 10A) no change. also, i get voltage to the connector. seeing as its fused, if the fuse was blown i would not get voltage at the connector

 

is there a built in fuse in the stock radio? i cant remember. sounds like you checked everything, so nows its just a internal thing. the connector slots on the radio look good?

 

i couldnt tell you if there was a built in fuse, havent tried to disassemble the radio unit and i have not found anything about a built in fuse in the book i have. as far as the connectors go, nice and shiny

 

dude this is crazy... gonna make me mad. only thing i can tell you to try is maybe goin to a junk yard and pull the radio from one of those. i have my stock 2001 radio but im in iraq right now so you would have to wait.or of course buy an aftermarket radio and get the harness for it so its super easy, wire it up and it should fire right up, since your sayin the connector has the 12v needed. that old radio, it could be bad coil internally or something, those stock radios suck anyway, id say just get a new one, but the cheaper route is the junk yard.