Auto Electronics: radio, Tech 2

Question
hi i have a 2004 caddy srx v6 and sometime when i trun the key on the radio comes on by itself not all the time can you tell what making this happen thanks tim

Answer
Tim, first of all, do you shut off the radio every time you turn off the ignition. If not, check in your owners manual and make sure this is not a feature of the system, where the radio will come back on automatically when the key is switched on. If this is not a system feature, then you do have a problem and most likely an internal radio fault. The other possibility would be a network communication breakdown and would need to be diagnosed using the factory scan tool. All newer vehicles have computer networks on board that are made up of individual modules that control a particular system. The radio in your Caddie is such a module and is part of the Class 2 network used to send data between systems. There is a possibility that your radio is receiving information from another module telling it to turn on. The best and possibly the only way to diagnose this type of problem is by having the system scanned, using a GM factory (Tech 2) scan tool. Once plugged into the system, the Tech 2 scan tool becomes part of the network and is able to communicate directly with all modules on the network. Any communication problems can quickly be seen, the scan tool can also talk directly with the radio to see if there are any internal faults that need to be dealt with. I hope this helps you. Don.