No radio for 30 seconds on cold start

Thank you! I still haven't taken the time to check the codes -- perhaps it is because it is clearer that the radio is becoming a big problem. Today it took more than 3 minutes before the radio came on after I started the car. Even after a relatively short time being off (two hours), I still had a 10-second delay before the radio turned on.

 

OK! I have a final resolution of this after just a few months.

The early diagnosis by the dealer was: Bad radio. This made sense, of course, because it didn't work. Actually, the radio appeared to work, it just didn't produce any sound until the car was warmed up. Some days this took 10 minutes, some only 5 minutes, others more than two hours (some days it gets REALLY cold here).

The dealer quickly ordered a radio, called me in, and then installed it (all under warranty). It worked just fine when I left, because the car had been inside the garage. The next day: Same problem.

I took it back, and they thought the real problem was the amplifier. In the end, I believe this was the correct diagnosis. It took some time, but the dealer received a replacement amp, and they installed it. After more than one week (with some pretty cold temps), I believe they got it right.

The screens always had worked, and the MFD reported what was going on, but there was no sound until the car warmed up. It appears there was a bad connector on the back of the amp. When everything warmed up, there was just enough expansion to allow a connection.


The two odd things to me in this whole saga are:

1. Toyota had not experienced this before (or at least hadn't reported it to their mechanics; and
2. It didn't show up until the second winter of the car's life.

I hope this thread serves useful or helpful to someone who encounters a similar problem!