Hello, my '01 4Runner developed a strange electrical problem. My radio stopped working last night, no power at all. Today when I was driving, my antenna went up and down three times in about 45 minutes and the display came on the radio but no sound. I tried turning the radio on and off and nothing, when I turned the truck off it wouldn't even lower the power antenna. I started pulling fuses (couldn't tell which one was for the radio, even after looking at my FSM), all fuses were fine. I started my truck up and my check engine light, VSC, and another light (next to the VSC) came on and I still had the same symptoms with the radio. After making a few stops my radio came on upon starting, and my check engine light, VSC, etc. didn't come on. Everything seems fine now but I must have a short somewhere, right?
The light on my factory radio has been going on and off for the last year, I just figured there was a short in the radio light that just needed soldered, that wouldn't cause my other issues, would it?

 

You probably don't have a short, you probably have a poor connection. Could be light corrosion on the fuses. When you removed & reseated them, you cleaned them some. I would also check your grounds.

 

I would tend to agree with SoCal on this but the issue may in fact be with grounding. toyota wires things differently and GROUND is big in our trucks. If you do not have a proper flow path with solid grounding for the trons things just don't want to work well. Having intermittent indications are the toughest to troubleshoot as its here then its gone. Problems like you discribed seems to lead me in the direction of connections espcially ground attachment points. You said you have an FSM, I would check your wiring diagrams for grounding paths and location of ground connection points associated with the radio, antenna and gauge cluster. I hate electrical issues, chasing trons is not a fun thing but when you do find the problem and fix it, you really feel like you accomplished something! Very good Luck!

 

im with the other two, bad connection, corrosion, bad gound ect.... gotta love electrical problems, they always seem to put ya in a wonderful cheerfull mood lol

 

Definitely sounds like a loose connection issue... do you have a factory radio or aftermarket? The PO on my truck had very little clue about how to make good permanent connections when he messed around under the dash... If its a factory system then it might stem from a ground problem more likely then a + side issue.
Unless you have a Katrina truck then you probably have all sorts of issues with corrosion and so forth. I'd check all the connections and harness plugs, spray them with a good dose of contact cleaner and see if that helps.
good luck aviator