I'm trying to finish up my friend's car after doing a bunch of maintenance work on it to bring it back to life/sustain life. One thing I noticed was that the radio in it didn't work. It would power on, lights and all, i could scan for stations but couldn't hear anything. If I tried turning the volume up i'd hear like a popping noise. I figured it was a dirty potentiometer from the age. I pulled the knob but there is a clear plastic shield blocking direct access to the bottom of the pot or anything in there for that matter.

Here is the weird part. If I tuned the radio to a station with poor reception, it would come through and I could hear it. Static, but music or voices, i could hear. However, it would only come through at one volume level. I could crank the volume and see the volume indicator go all the way up, but it would remain at the same volume. As soon as i'd tune it to a clear station - nothing. It would be silent. Same thing with a CD, I popped one in and it would read and I could tell it was playing but couldn't hear anything.

So i'm curious to if anyone has ever experienced this. Seems like if the radio needs to really pump out some signal, something in the system isn't up for the task anymore and it all fails. Radio bad? Maybe the bose amp? I'm open for suggestions.

The really messed up part is that I got in this morning to drive to work, and the radio is working fine, even on clear stations. It was also 33 degrees outside, so maybe the cold helps with whatever is wrong?