Audio goes into “Audio Off” mode after 2-3 hours of use (1 Viewer)

[TimCFJ40]

Hey all-
I’m having an issue with the Audio on my 2008. This happened once last summer, and has happened the last two days of our road trip.
If I drive for 2-3 hours, the radio (or aux or whatever we’re listening to) cuts out and the head unit shows “Audio Off” on the screen. Climate works fine. GPS shows “The External System is disconnected”. If I leave the vehicle overnight, everything works like normal for a few hours, then cuts off.
My initial thought is the amp is overheating and shutting down. I am thinking I should pull the front seat and clean the amp and its connections.
Anyone else had and resolved this issue?

 

[TXMeatball]

Probably amp, but the nav getting disconnected concerns me. When I sent my LX's amp off to be rebuilt everything was completely normal sans speaker audio. If the LCs are the similar then the nav is independent from the audio. With the amp pulled it'll just display "Audio off".

 

[TimCFJ40]

@TXMeatball where’d you send off your amp and how much did it cost?

 

[TXMeatball]

@TXMeatball where’d you send off your amp and how much did it cost?

OEM auto audio inc. They have a page on ebay for the services.
Was like $300. Depends on the amp, my LX wasn't equipped with mark levinson so that was a bit cheaper.

 

[TimCFJ40]

UPDATE: Audio dead completely this morning in Hays, KS. Map, Dest, and Menu show “The external system is not connected”.

Since we’re 2 days into a 20 day trip I bought this fix at Walmart. As a bonus we added Weather functionality. Adventure on!

 

[TimCFJ40]

Updating for future searchers… before this year’s pilgrimage to Colorado, I pulled the amp under the driver’s seat and cleaned out the cooling fan and all connections with contact cleaner, as well as 15 years of accumulated junk under the seat/carpet around the amp. On this year’s drive, we had no interruptions at all. It’s a bit cooler this year, but we still did 4+ hours at a clip at 90 degrees. Hopefully this fixed it!

 

[TimCFJ40]

Additional (and hopefully final) update for the searchers or anyone else that may have this issue in the future. On the way home through Texas, after 4+ hours at 100 degrees, the radio once again switched off. I replaced 30A fuse #51 for the AMP, and the problem resolved again, and made it through an 8 hour day of 90+ degree temps. The original fuse wasn't visibly blown, but had fairly significant fretting and wear on the terminals. I've actually had a similar issue with the EFI fuse on my former high mileage (327k Miles) 100 series, so maybe worn fuse terminals is something to look for in older well used trucks. Most cars and trucks don't make 300k, so fuse wear isn't a normal thing. We're taking another long road trip next month, and I will update if the problem presents again.