I have a 2004 XLT super crew and I know exactly what y'all are talking about. As funny as this is going to sound bang on the dash above the cluster and I bet money it will shut off your radio, why you ask? Well if you remove that panel surrounding the cluster you will see two connectors going to the cluster and if you wiggle them the radio will shut off. It has something to do with the wire not making good contact at the connector. Unplug the connectors and fill them with white electrical grease this will improve the contacts of the pins. Hope this helps it worked for me.

 

I finally figured out the problem with my radio and other electrical problems. I took it into the dealer and water had been dripping on my fuse box which caused connectors to become corroded and short out. If you unplug the connectors going into the fuse box you will notice corrosion in some of the terminals. If you catch it in time you can try to clean the terminals and use electric grease and then plug them back in and it might solve your problem. Unfortunately for me it was to late and I had to replace my fuse box. Now all I have to do is figure out where the water is dripping from. It was a very minor drip but overtime it caused alot of headaches! Hope this helps!

 

You mean to tell me the dealer found out that water was dripping on the fuse box, but only repaired/replaced the fuse box and not the water issue???

Remove the battery and check the rubber grommet that a large wiring harness passes through. This is a common area for water to drip through and into the passenger side area. Another is the Air Conditioner drain tube getting clogged and the condensation of the condensor backs up and soaks the passenger side. I doubt though that the AC tude would get to the fuse box; just the carpet and door sill channel.

I'd check the wiring harness grommet behind the battery.

 

Thanks everyone - unfortunately it is now spring and I am not having the issue. Even though a salesman did witness the continued problem on the Saturday that the service department was closed, I received the bill yesterday for the new/refurbished radio (that I didn't need) - $508.60; $180 for labor and $300 for the radio plus tax - now the fight begins.

 

So it is spring - we had alot of rain last week and last Friday (of course a Friday just before the service department closed) the radio didn't want to turn off. I'm taking it back into the dealership next week and they are going to look for a leak as someone mentioned earlier in this thread.

After speaking to the General Manager of the dealership in early April (after I received the March month-end $500+ bill for the radio that didn't fix the problem) he was suppose to look into this and get back with me. Well, I never heard from him and was hoping that he took care of this but he didn't because the April month-end billing was mailed and I received another. If they had just given me my old radio back when I requested it I would only be out the labor.

I will keep you all posted.

 

If you're looking for a leak, you don't need rain. Just pull out a hose.

 

Yes! I had planned on soaking it overnight but they were calling for rain (which it did) so I dropped it at the dealership last night & guess what? They didn't find any water marks, only dust where they thought a leak may be (somewhere under the dash). So still no resolution - I have to pick up the truck tomorrow so I will take a printout of this thread with me.