Rear Seat Audio - Always OFF

This is what the owner's manual says. Does it help?

Document ID# 876327

2003 Chevrolet Chevy Suburban - 2WD

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rear Seat Audio (RSA) This feature allows rear seat passengers to listen to any of the audio sources: radio, cassette tapes, CDs, DVDs, or XMT (48 contiguous US states, if equipped) depending on your vehicles options. In the event that the front seat passengers are listening to any of these remote sources the rear seat passengers can only listen to the remote source being used by the front seat passengers or FM, AM, or the radios internal CD. For example, rear seat passengers may listen to cassette tape, CDs, or DVDs through the headphones while the driver listens to the radio through the front speakers. The rear seat passengers have control of the volume for each set of headphones. The front seat audio controls always override the RSA controls.

Rear Seat Audio Controls FIGURE RSA with HVAC Shown, RSA without HVAC Similar(c)

The following functions are controlled by the RSA system buttons:

(Power) Press this button to turn the rear seat audio system on or off. The rear speakers will be muted when the power is turned on unless your vehicle is equipped with the Bose® audio system. You may operate the rear seat audio functions even when the primary radio power is off.

(Volume) Turn the knob to increase or to decrease volume. The left knob controls the left headphone and the right knob controls the right headphone.

SRC (Source) Press this button to select an audio source: radio, cassette tapes, CDs, DVDs, or XMT (48 contiguous US states, if equipped), depending on your vehicles options.

SEEK While listening to FM1, FM2, or AM, or XM1 or XM2, press the up or the down arrow to tune to the next or to the previous station and stay there. If the front radio is in use, you cannot seek through different stations.

While listening to a cassette tape, press the up or the down arrow to hear the next or the previous selection. If the cassette tape on the front radio is in use, you cannot seek through different selections on a tape.

While listening to a CD, press the up arrow to hear the next track on the CD. Press the down arrow to go back to the start of the current track if more than eight seconds have played. If the CD player on the front radio is in use, you cannot seek through different tracks.

PROG (Program) The front passengers must be listening to something different for each of these functions to work:

Press this button to go to the preset radio stations set on the pushbuttons on the main radio. When a cassette tape is playing, press this button to go to the other side of the tape. When a CD is playing in the radio, press this button to go back to the beginning of the CD. When a CD is playing in the CD changer, press this button to select a disc.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Document ID# 876327

2003 Chevrolet Chevy Suburban - 2WD

Thanks for the info, but I don't see anything that identifies this specific problem. I just don't understand why powering on the RSA tells me that it's off, then shuts itself down. I located the manual so I'll do a little more troubleshooting.

Thanks again for the information. James