Radio Volume erratic

[Yellow Blaze 72]

NOT an MFT.
Just started having this problem after 18,000 problem-free miles.
The volume randomly goes down like it was muted on any mode, Sirius, radio, phone, CD. It comes back up by itself. Sometimes it's down long enough that I turn the volume up to 18-20 normally way too loud for me. Sometimes it works normally for a whole trip. It does seem to be worse right after I start it up but can occur during a drive.
The dealer is going to put a new radio in but, I thought I'd check here.

[Sponsor]

[symbology]

Your car is haunted. Call your local exorcist.

My first reaction is to say that it's either dirt/sticky volume knob. Does this happen on certain speeds (highway vs. road) or is it random? Maybe it's the compensation for wind noise (I forget what it's called)....

[rcfoolz]

I've just started having the same problem. I am on my 6th ACM. . The radio volume goes up and down all by itself.

[Slo86GT]

Sounds like an amp issue. Had some add-on amps with bad solder joints do the same thing back in my basshead days.

Not sure if the amp in these cars is in the headunit or not. I'd take it to the dealer for a warranty fix.

[JayDeZ]

Do you have the radio set to automaticly turn the volume up with speed? If you have it set to the highest setting (7, i think) the difference it quite noticeable. I keep mine set at 2 or 3.

[misfire]

my radio does it too. i do not have MFT

[dragonpalm]

I've never had the erratic volume problem but one time on a drive, the volume knob suddenly stopped working so I couldn't change the volume. I had to stop the car and restart it and it magically fixed itself.

[feta_mgp]

Check the wind noise compensation thing in the settings if you can. I turn mine off because it sounded "erratic" to me when it was on. Otherwise, record it if you can so you have some solid proof for the dealership, and if it's frequent enough to replicate, bring it in and let them deal with it.

[jamesy628]

Originally Posted by JayDeZ

Do you have the radio set to automaticly turn the volume up with speed? If you have it set to the highest setting (7, i think) the difference it quite noticeable. I keep mine set at 2 or 3.

How do you turn that off? I am convinced mine goes up and down as I go in and out of a HD radio signal.

[dragonpalm]

Originally Posted by jamesy628

How do you turn that off? I am convinced mine goes up and down as I go in and out of a HD radio signal.

From pg 135 of the owner's manual (pg 427 for MyFord Touch):
Audio Settings
Spd. Comp. Vol. - Automatically adjusts the volume to compensate for speed and wind noise. You can set the system between 0 and +7.

0 means off and 7 means highest automatic volume adjustment according to vehicle speed. My salesman set mine to 3 and suggested it's the best setting.

As for the HD radio signal, when mine connects, it only seems a little bit louder because it sounds a little bit clearer. Perhaps it does get a little bit louder too. /shrug