2005 Malibu Radio Died, Fixable?

I have a 2005 Malibu (newer body style, not classic) that the radio has died. Checked fuses and can't get anything to work. Is there something that typically goes wrong with them thats fixable or do I junk and go aftermarket? New refurbed radio from dealer is $350 and they charge $50 to "unlock" it.

The newer 2004-2007 Malibu body style is referred to as the "Epsilon Body" style by the way. This is the first time I hear a radio go out like that... It's not a common problem for this cars.

Now, did it give you any indication or warning (like noise, erratic performance or smell) before it stopped working? That would help on diagnosing the problem further!

Also if you remove the passenger side panel where the fuses go, you can see the connections leading into the back of the radio. Try unpluging and then re-attaching them to see if a connector might have come undone from vibration or bumps.

Keep in mind that if you put an aftermarket radio then you will loose the warning chime feature (door open, key in ignition, lights left on, etc) as this chime is integraded into the OEM Radio. Also if your radio had the diplay screen (Trip A, Trip B, Miles per Galon, Oil Life, Averge Speed, etc.) this would be lost aswell. Oh, and yes, the dealer has to reprogram the new/refurb radion to your car, you might want to ask around if you have more than one dealer in your area as I've heard of some dealer waiving the fee!

They sell aftermarket displays, but I think it would come out more expensive than the OEM radio unit if you want to keep this options.

Thaks for the reply. Yes it was glitchy long before it went out completely. Sometimes you would have to cycle the key a couple times to get it to turn on at all. Sometimes the clock would reset itself. Sometimes it'd randomly switch to metric units and it'd switch back if you cycled the key. A couple months ago it got stuck on, if you shut the car off and removed the key it would stay on and none of the buttons worked (volume, change channel, etc.). I had to pull the fuse and plug it back in to get it shut off and start working again.

There is an aftermarket kit to maintain ICD functionality. Its about $150. Add another $150 for an aftermarket deck and its close to a fatory fix.

Yeah, about all you can do is check the harness to the radio for power and ground....