Puzzler: 98 Outback Legacy radio stopped working

Hi Folks--

I've got a 98 Outback Legacy. About 2 weeks ago the radio stopped working. Just like that--one day it was working fine, the next moring I turned the car on and the radio console was blank; it did not play tapes, CDs, or radios. The time was no longer displayed either, but the backlighting still workinged properly.

Then about 3 days ago I was sitting at a stop-light and the radio came back. It begin playing the CD right where it left off. The clock was back too, but it was incorrect by quite a bit. Shortly thereafter I parked and turned the ignition off. When I turned the car back on the radio was dead again.

I've checked the radio fuse and it seems intact. I've been told that there is another circuit that gives the radio power when the car is off (eg, for the clock). This seems like a good bet, but I don't know how to check that.

One more piece of info: the car was broken into about 3 1/2 weeks ago. I noticed that the ashtray had been removed, providing access to the bottom of the radio. I didn't think much of it since the radio was not stolen and continued to work properly for the next week and a half.

Does anyone have any ideas before I take it in to the shop?

Many thanks, David david_zipkin at yahoo dot com

Just after I made that post I remembered that someone tried to steal the stock stereo out of my old Sable at least once. My best friend lived in an apartment that was literally overrun with shady characters, I mean one day I showed up and the forensics van was parked in the spot I usually took, they had found a body nearby. Anyway, my car had a dome light that would stay on for like 2-3 minutes after you pulled the handle to try and open it when it was locked, and about once a week I'd come out and the dome light would be on. So one day I'm carring some tools out to the car and see some short dude, prolly a kid, crouched near my door and holding a screwdriver. Of course I become enraged, dropping everything but the utility knife and this kid sees me and starts to run like hell. In retrospect, it was pretty damn funny since he looked up and sees this great big Scandinavian guy screaming like a madman and running at him with a knife. 8) I actually don't know what I would have done had I caught him, but I'm hoping he at least had to change his underwear after that incident.

-Matt