I was at work, went to lunch truck started perfect, about hours later on my way to the next job, it was raining heavily and about 35 mph the speakers stopped working, I needed gas so I stopped at the next station, I noticed once I shifted to park the sound returned. I gassed up but the needle didn't move, sound worked in park, as soon as I shifted to drive it went silent. The gas gauge needle began to very slowly began to climb, took 10-15 minutes to reach full

I've seen a thread on another ranger forum PERFECTLY describing my issue

It seems one guy replaced the head unit, one guy did nothin and the problem went away, one guy replaced a fuse and it never came back, mostly they suggested it was a bad ground.

Doesn't seem like an unheard of problem but what I'm asking is what anyone knows about this issue, a cause or fix.

My particular truck is an 04 ranger xlt 4.0l 4x4 Auto

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So just like every other post/thread I've read on Google (I've read about 15-20 of them) the following morning my truck operates completely normal, even my fuel gauge is normal (must have been a fluke symptom unrelated, no other thread mentions a fuel gauge issue in junction with the radio/speaker issue)

I don't want to let my thread die like all the others so I will continue to research and keep this thread updated as I learn more

Most threads seem to point towards these possible causes/solutions

-bad ground to head unit
-Bad head unit
-Fault feed to speakers
-transmission nuetral safety switch


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Is it too hard to include the year of your truck in your post?

Seems to be a trend with threads that go unanswered.

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2002 Ford Ranger 2 Dr Standard cab 2.3 5 SPD 7.5 373 gears

It's in my bio, and an issue that seems to affect all years... But I'll edit it now, thanks

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The information should be in your signature, this way no one ever has to ask.

We also shouldn't have to research this information in your bio.

Make it easy for people to help you and they just might.

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2002 Ford Ranger 2 Dr Standard cab 2.3 5 SPD 7.5 373 gears

All set

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Your Information still does not show up in your signature.

However I looked and found your vehicle is a 04

Your radio has a self diagnostic test mode I do not remember how to gain access to it perhaps a search of this forum will show you.

With the diagnostic mode you may get lucky and find a code that perhaps will point you in the right direction.

This is where I would start if I had to fix this problem. Yes I would also look over anything obvious especially if you have had any recent major work done.

Like cylinder heads, engine, transmission etc. anything from a pinched harness to a improperly routed harness could have led to burnt or pinched wires, a bad ground as mentioned etc.

The only vehicle I have serviced that had a similar problem was a new at the time Mitsubishi Montero sport.

The customer insisted this was a factory problem and threatened to sue us to get us to diagnose it and fix it for free. ( the truck was still under factory warranty )

We agreed to perform free diagnostics to keep the customer happy.

We always had to cover our ass and inform the customer we would diagnose the problem, but there would be a charge for diagnosis and repairs if the problem was not covered under the warranty.

Turned out his child had the habit of feeding the radio pennies and dimes through the cd slot.

One of those coins made its way to the vehicle speed sensor circuit on the main board causing a intermittent short.

Once the coins were removed the radio, speedometer and lights, gauges etc all functioned normally.

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2002 Ford Ranger 2 Dr Standard cab 2.3 5 SPD 7.5 373 gears

Thanks, tapatalk doesn't give me access to signature and haven't gotten to the colour yet this week, I have everything to factory with no recent work, and most mentions of this happen to be when it rains, this has been happening to trucks as early as 04 and how old or mileage of the truck or even what receiver or options it has doesn't seem to affect it's chances or probability of developing this issue.

I may have down time today so I can take shit apart and rule out electrical issues/bad ground, and begin my search elsewhere

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X937. Other people also have busy lives too, not just OP's, they aren't going to go looking around for basic info, and smart people don't go out on a limb and give good, sound answers based on guessing what's being worked on. The other people that beg to be ignored are posters that are too lazy to put forth the effort to communicate effectively, starting with decent grammar and using periods (<< common problem). Make it a PITA to read, people won't bother trying to decipher the mess.

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2004 Ranger FX4 Level II, 5R55E, Sonic Blue Pearl

Proudly JAP/RICE free since March 2000

Ok, this is helpful.. But it was already said in this post, this is a problem ranger owners have been turning to forums for the last 14 years to.. I don't want this thread flooded with "constructive criticism" that's already been pointed out and irrelevant to the posts intent

Thanks for the extra reinforcement to this erro4 in communication on my point but there's like 10 replay and 9 of them because I didn't put my truck info in my sig..

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I dealt with this problem for a while. My fix, I cut the red/black wire at the back of the connector at the radio. Read somewhere that it is a circuit that mutes the speakers while cranking to avoid a popping noise coming through them. I can double check over the weekend to make sure but ever since I cut the wire the problem has never come back.

Attached Files

2005_Ranger_Radio_Wiring_WithoutAudiophile.pdf (48.8 KB, 3 views)

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2005 XLT 4.0 4x4 Automatic 5R55E 4 door
Avg. mpg: 18.2 Best mpg: 19.76

Looked just now and yes, it is the red/black (red w/ black stripe at position 3 in C209A)) wire that I cut. Removed the terminal from the connector on the back of the radio and put a wirenut on the wire in the harness. That was over a year ago if memory serves.

Attached Images

	Ranger Speakers Not Working In Drive (1).jpg (87.2 KB, 4 views)
	Ranger Speakers Not Working In Drive (2).jpg (80.6 KB, 6 views)

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2005 XLT 4.0 4x4 Automatic 5R55E 4 door
Avg. mpg: 18.2 Best mpg: 19.76

Thank You! I have not had this issue since that one episode, but if it happens again I know where to go to with it. I'm happy that there's a thread on here for others to have an answer to this issue, I have yet to provide results searching the internet with my symptoms

Greatly appreciated

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Hell, I found folks talking about this problem a few years ago in a AR-15 forum. But no real answers did I ever find. I just asked myself while studying the electrical drawing, "why the hell does the radio need to know when the ignition switch is in the start position?". So I cut it and viola! I had sound again.
Mine always cut out when it rained or was particularly humid out.

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2005 XLT 4.0 4x4 Automatic 5R55E 4 door
Avg. mpg: 18.2 Best mpg: 19.76

It had just rained too, I was driving it in the wet aftermath, beginning of drive everything worked fine, halfway through driving the speakers cut out, I needed gas so when I pulled up to the gas statiom, put it in park speakers came on!

I began a search on this and another forum, no results a couple mentions bu5 that was it, googled it and saw threads of this exact issue from 13 years ago!! But no answers

So I'm very glad an appreciative that I can have a real good definitive solution from another victim to resolve this issue

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