2001 Ford Taurus radio not working...

Hi all, my mother-in-law just gave us her 2001 Ford Taurus - mint condition on Saturday. After she left I sat in the car to find everything and when I tried to turn the radio on it would not turn on. I turned on the car and it still would not turn on. I decided to leave the car for a few minutes and came back and turned the car back on but the radio still would not work. I noticed that the fan was on and I turned it off. The system made a sound like a vent was closing and all of a sudden the time displayed on the radio and I was able to turn the radio on - this was yesterday. Today, I registered the car and when I came back from the DMV the radio would not turn on again. I notice the fan comes on even though I turn the blowers off - are these items related? I looked in the book for a fuse for the radio but I cannot find one. I just decided to take the car for a test drive and when I put the car into drive the radio came on but I was not able to change the channel or do anything - I also noticed that the heat is on even though I have the temperature all the way down - I also noticed that the digital readout is not working. Any ideas? Any help would be appreciated. By the way, the only thing I did differently than my mother-in-law was use the keypad to open the door lock.

- Bryan

Pull off the actual radio unit and check for any loose connectors. I've had the vacum hose connector on my '99 Taurus pop right out of the the actual unit. Good luck!

Does anything else go off at the same time as the radio? I have a 2001 that I also got from the in laws and the radio will shut off sporadically just about every morning. At the same thime the wipers are also off and the power door locks will unlock and lock. Yesterday I discovered that the turn signal would cause the wipers and radio to come back on???