Click and Clack, You're My Only Hope!

[lydamorehouse]

Do you ever listen to Click & Clack the car guys on NPR? I'm not what you'd call a regular listener, but I've tuned in ocassionally. I think I need to call them. My Ford Taurus has the weirdest damn problem. Let me explain it to you, like I would to them:

I like to listen to the radio. In fact, I tend to turn it on the moment I start up my car. That's how I noticed this problem. When I shift (my car is an automatic) into reverse, the radio cuts off. It pops back on in drive. If I go from park to drive, it will go off, but only for about five seconds. It will stay off the entire time my car is in reverse. Why does my car radio hate reverse in particular?

I would think it was just a wiring problem, except that my radio works perfectly, no matter how bumpy the road. To be a completist, I should say that my dashboard has any number of odd quirks. My spedometer is about five miles per hour off (at least if radar guns are to be believed), but all of my other gauges are fine.

So, what is it? Gremlins? A personality quirk?

Before I call them, what do you think? Anyone else have a problem like this?