I bought an 86 Iroc. Was told the radio was working by previous owner. I had it shipped to me. When I got it the clock displayed 6:30 bbut no buttons worked and no radio. I pulled fuses and none were bad. Clock didnt display anymore. Then clock displayed an new time after turning off and back on. Now now clock or anything again. Fuses are good. When I hit power button on and off I hear through the speakers a sound like its turning on and off. Is the radio shot or is it something else possibly?

 

Sounds like the constant battery feed to it is absent.

Do the car's dome light & cigarette lighter work?

 

Strangely it started to work again. I suspect a loose wire or ground issue with the radio?

 

Loose wire issue more likely than a ground one. Specifically, the constant battery one. (orange if memory serves)

 

Orange (hot) wire feeds clock/memory,...... but the yellow wire is the 'switched power' wire that turns the radio on.

When you first plug in a Delco - even if it is not turned on - it will default to 12:00 and start keeping time. When turned on the radio should be playing AM channel 1400,... and when switched to FM the channel will be 98.1.


The weird problems that you describe are similar to those of a radio that's failing internally. It's really easy to quickly probe ORANGE ( +hot ), YELLOW (+switched: RUN and ACC) and BLACK (-) at the radio plugs to quickly determine if the wiring is OK leading to the radio.