sandiegof150

My radio and CD changer turned off after starting the truck in the morning yesterday. Noticed a slight idle change/surge at the same time the radio controls turned off.

Found fuse box and what a stupid location. I could not even see the #7 fuse to remove it. Not very impressed with the choice of location at all. Are they frigin stupid? Maybe special tools are required like a mirror, high intensity light and a high roller cart with a back board so a person can lay down to stick their head up into the foot well in a crazy position?

Anyway, removed #31, looked at it and put it back in. The CD changer started turning with no key in the ignition. Noticed some arcing while putting the fuse back in. Probably should have removed the battery terminal but I have done this for 30 years on many cars and never ever have I seen arching while changing a fuse.

Anyone have this experience? Suggestions on root cause or how to approach this to the dealer. I have a 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty "as they call it" and I am at 53,000.

I have only put 3000 miles on this truck since purchasing used. The electronics are not giving me a good feeling at all.

mbct

I don't have a solution to your problem, but experienced a similar thing driving in a heavy downpour. Radio off, but I noticed the clock was gone, then found that radio/CD was dead. I assumed the fuse was blown, but after checking that an hour or so down the road (no more rain), it was not the case. No spare to make sure the fuse wasn't damaged anyway, so I plugged it back in and kept going. An hour later, I noticed the clock is back, so is the radio and CD. It has worked fine for the last two weeks. I see no obvious loose connections, but haven't had time to go over things in detail. So I will watch your thread for any suggestions.

Mod (Ret.)

Tough to give advice when a person has a bumper to bumper warranty up to 100K. If it were me, I'd take advantage of it and have it fixed. You stand the chance of breaking something that can be proven by a dealer/shop, and void that warranty.

There are many folks that wish they had this kind of warranty. Use it to your advantage. Take the truck to a dealer, drink a coffee, eat a donut, and think of us poor folks that don't have this luxury!

I do agree however with the poor location of the fuse box on our F150's. I'll agree that having it in the cab is nice, but at a footwell? Behind the glovebox would do better, or at the dash end (where it "meets" the door panel) would be better. I guess they saved a few pennies on each unit by keeping the wiring shorter by a foot and a half.

sandiegof150

Thanks for the advice. I did pay for the extra warranty but my thinking was so manny electronic goodies, better spend the money since the regular 100k warranty was only for the main items. Maybe a wise decision - maybe waste of money. Only time will tell.

I will be stopping by the dealer and see what they say. You are wise. I have a problem with dealers which goes back 30 years so I was putting that off as a last effort when I should be hounding them and being a pain in the ****?

Save a penny - make mucho dollars later perhaps?

I will report back on progress......and I do like this truck so far except for these little issues.

sandiegof150

Exactly my issue, thanks for the feedback. Just rained and high humidity for the first time. Also, my dash lights and radio lights keep dimming automatically and at times flash from low to high. More weird stuff...