This morning my 05 OB had an electrical failure of the middle console. The Fan/AC radio and instrument cluster (mpg/outside temp) had no power. Upon restart, it seems to be working again.

Any thoughts appreciated.

I think I recall that there was a tsb involving this issue and a connector buried somewhere behind the console??

Just checked my service records and the entire unit was replaced under warranty 2 years ago. I understand that there may be a problem within the radio unit that affects power to the rest of the console electronics. Anyone else experiencing similar problem?

The problem may be with a connector that is possibly under the dash and supplies connections to various areas. Some of the things you mentioned. Fuse # 8 in the main panel under the hood supplies power to a lot of things and also those areas you mentioned. It is a 20 amp fuse. The circuit also runs through the fuse panel in the dash just as a wire connection and then fans out to various places. The wire color is blu/red.

Thanks Cougar. As I suspected, I am told by a tech that this is one of those items that SOA is quietly ignoring while replacing many units under warranty if necessary but as in my case after 2 years of use, the unit is acting up again, it's on the customer's bill.

Unfortunately the HVAC/radio unit is all-in-one and while I could do without a radio, having a reliable defroster/heater seems more of a safety concern.:-\

I have to wonder about what the real cause of this problem is. I don't see how a problem with the radio will cause trouble with the HVAC system though I have not studied the newer systems much after the '04 models.

 

If you would like to pursue this trouble I would be happy to look at the bad module and see if I can find out what the problem is with it, if you replace it. I would think that SOA would do a modification if there was a cronic design problem with the module.