Does the ignition switch have anything to do with my radio not working?

Answer 1

Possibly yes, but probably NO. In the "olden days," the "hot" wire to automotive radios were run directly from the battery or positive buss on a terminal block. The fuse was in that line, thus called an inline fuse. As the years went by and technology, and lots of people complaining of dead batteries due to leaving the radio on overnight, the industry installed fuse blocks, and some circuits [including the radio] had a "relay" installed so that when the key was turned off, the relay opened, disconnected all circuits and devices fed power off of that relay. In today's vehicles, there are many circuits and devices controlled in this manner, and there are usually a few different relays supplying them. Usually there are more than one circuit powered by a single relay, but few relays feeding only one circuit [power seat circuits being one example]. A relay is a switch that is controlled by a cooil being controlled by another switch which turns power on and off to the coil. The second half of the relay is an actual set of switch contacts that in turn turn on and off, to which is connectedm, via terminals, some device like the radio. If you study your owner's manual regarding what fuse supplies which circuit, you should find that there are other circuits being fed by the same fuse that feeds the radio. IF these devices that share a fuse with the radio, are hot and working, then that tells you that the problem is not with the ignition swith, which controls the relay. It also tells you that the relay is OK and functioning properly. Therefore, the problem causing the radio not to work lies somewhere between the output terminal of the relay, and the radio itself. Troubleshooting techniques will be required to check the connectors, wiring, and grounds to and for the radio. And finally, if all else checks out as OK, that leaves the problem to be within the radio itself.