HI ALL!, I have an issue with my 1986 c4 corvette with the factory ac delco bose radio system. The issue is currently happening, but is intermittent. When it is cold outside, or it is high humidity, the radio is inoperative. When this happens, the clock is "frozen", and if you turn the radio on, the antenna comes up, but the radio does not turn on. None of the buttons are responsive, I can't set the clock, any other functions. The head unit is "frozen" completely. Now, on a hot day, after a few dry days, it works fine. Any thoughts on what to look for inside the head unit, wiring, amp, or speaker amps that would cause this?

 

Hey,

Your radio unit (and amps) are full of electrolytic capacitors. These components properties including conductivity, effective capacitance values, leakage current and others have strong dependencies with temperature. As the temperature gets lower, the capacity (value) of a defined capacitor decreases, the conductivity (capability of the current to exit the component) decreases as well, which it not desirable to operate sensitive circuits.

Add the fact that they are almost 40 years old (if the radio was never rebuilt), that's the perfect outcome for radio issues. They could also start leaking on the circuit board, not easy to clean up such mess.

You could also have humidity building up within the radio (depends how your car is stored).

If I were you, I would pull the radio out. Open it and change all the capacitors and inspect for corrosion. That requires knowledge about how to properly work on circuit board.

A forum member made a very good tutorial about how to do that + a way to add AUX input to it while you're at it :

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...aux-input.html

Note : your post is in the "General Discussion", you'll get higher chances to get support if you post in the "Technical Discussion" one.