In case anyone else reads this with the same issue: all the problems were related to the pac audio rp5 gm11. It's a piece of trash. I returned it and bought the metra axxess one which resolved every problem. It had a remote control (blue) wire for the amp which fixed the sometimes no sound on startup issue. Apparently the pac unit is incompatible with a lux Bose amp. The pac unit also didn't allow speaker fading or dash dimming, and had lots of speaker issues in general. Long story short...If you have a lux Bose amp DO NOT BUY PAC AUDIO BUY METRA AXXESS.