Radio volume control acting strange?

[gw33gp]

For the past year or so my radio volume control knob has kind of had a mind of its own. If I tried to turn the volume up a little it would go down and then eventually up if I kept turning the knob up. Sometimes it would then go louder than I wanted. The exact opposite would happen when I tried to turn it down. I got used to it and just lived with it.

The other day it came to me that it may have something to do with the position of the knob. I knew the set volume of the radio would not change when turning the knob with the radio off. So I turned the radio off and rotated the knob about 120 degrees. I then turned it back on and it worked perfectly when I turned the volume up and down. It has been operating perfectly for two days now and I hope that continues.

I don't know if anyone else has encountered this problem but this may be an easy fix or I just had a very unusual coincidence occur.

 

[--weezl--]

easy fix for it, you replace it with an after market radio that is of a higher quality

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

My '02 F-150 had a thing in the radio that would increase/decrease the volume with the trucks speed so it wouldn't get drowned out with roadnoise. I wonder if that is messing up.

IIRC it says in the manual how to shut it off, you might see if that works.

The only thing my aftermarket radio does better is have an input jack. OEM has aftermaket beat to heck for ease of use and radio reception. Bigger buttons and all around easier to work than any aftermarket I have been around... especially the uni-knob Pioneer I "upgraded" to.

 

[gw33gp]

It seems to me that rotating a knob is easier and less costly than replacing the radio. I also like my stock radio and I have no desire to blow the doors off with sound. I used to like the volume up but in my older years I have come to like low volume music most of the time. The stock radio works just fine for me.

I am pretty sure my Ranger does not have the speed/volume control. I've had other vehicle with that feature and I like it but I have seen nothing in my Ranger owner's manual about it.

 

[cvar]

For things like that, I use TV tuner cleaner (a spray) that cleans up the contacts. It evaporates quickly & leaves no residue. It must dry throroughly (an hour?) before applying electricity again, though. Good stuff!

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12784986

 

[gw33gp]

If/when the problem comes back I will give that a try.