I bought the truck knowing the radio in it had the famous battery draining memory/display light problem... three fuses for the unit... former owner removed the 10 amp fuse responsible for memory... so each time you want to listen you have to tune it to the station you want; not a big deal but annoying... I want to replace the stereo and will with an OEM from a junk yard, but would like to ask if anyone has a direct fit, direct plug and play compatible radio that they installed in a Chevy truck of this era? I am not looking for anything more than a bonehead stereo with AM FM..... that I don't have to tune each time.... ideas appreciated... Otherwise I am headed down to the local junkyard for a $26 OEM replacement ....

 

I realize this is a old thread but could somebody elaborate on the 'famous batterydrainingmemory/displaylightproblem' .. I have had my 1992 C1500 for about 5 years.. when I got it radio worked as did everything except the AC (heater does/did work) after a few months the radio stopped working.. No big deal.... In the last 2 years or so I have had a intermittent battery drain problem I have chased it.. the best local shop chased it and never found it.. I at one time convinced myself it was the alternator and changed it but no fix.. .. My Taurus needed a new battery so I bought one and in thinking I put the truck battery in the Taurus and the new battery in the truck.. been over 2 years and the taurus still runs on that battery and I still have draining issues in the truck.. I put a disconnect om the negative lead to the battery.. That helps in that the battery does not drain.. BUT once in awhile me or my wife will forget to urn the disconnect off.. and that adds to the maddening part.. Sometimes it will be a week and go out to use the truck and it starts right up.. other times it might be a few hours and go to start it and will be drained. Any ideas very much appreciated.

 

This is late but I hope it gets to you or you found out the problem. I bought my 1995 Chevy for a restoration project because the box was like new and all it needed was cab corners and rockers.... a little work but not bad.... The day after I got home the seller called me and told me about the radio and I thought, "here we go...." but as I researched the problem, it was not a deal killer or something that I would regret..... He said that over the years he had a battery drain and if he parked the truck for a week at a time the battery would be dead. If he drove it daily there were no issues..... so it was something draining the battery that was "on" all the time. I suspect he then went through the fuses in the fuse panel checked each with the ignition off to see which fuse would light up, meaning it was draining the battery when not in use. The culprit was the radio.... Apparently, and I have no doubt this is right but have not confirmed it, there are TWO fuses for the radio. One is the main power supply and the other is a dedicated fuse/wire that runs to the "memory" of the radio. This is hot ALL the time and I think there is a gimmick that prevents it from draining your battery when the vehicle is not in use. This gimmick fails and the battery drains over a couple days time. The solution is to remove that second radio fuse that controls the station memory.... but.... that means when you turn on the radio it is not tuned to anyone station and defaults to whatever static you would love to hear.... you then turn to the station you want to listen to while heading down to the fishing lake, fish, load up your boat, and again, you lost the memory so tune to your favorite station again....

I thought about replacing the radio with no guarantees that a used one from a salvage yard would be any better.... Thought about aftermarket..... and still might do that... but watched a few videos on how to replace my radio and the 1995 truck they used had a tilt steering wheel... mine doesn't.... and there is not enough clearance to get all the trim mouldings removed to get the radio out.... I could probably figure it out, but it is not worth it.... Good luck...

 

Thank You.. I will recheck the fuses but myself and the local shop have checked those before (I think).. Keep looking in spare time.. battery shut off is working ok no more than we use the truck.. Hope that project is going well (or went well)

 

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couple years ag.. looks bout the same but neds a bath.

 

Wish mine had the extended cab but at the time, I just needed a cheap truck to pull my fishing boat trailer. It needed work... spent a lot of hours on it over a few winters and got it more than respectable... only 85,000 miles on it and right now the only thing that doesn't work right is the radio..... and I can live with that.... For th past two winters I have over 300 hours of work, mechanical and body, into a 2004 Ford Ranger..... We vacationed twice near you... Neskowin.... and simply loved it.... littke country golf course across the road... long beach in front.... thanks for the picture!!! Dennis