Car stereo can't keep time!
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 513
Likes: 2
From: Virginia Beach Va
Car stereo can't keep time!
I have a 2000 Coupe. About once a week, when I start the car in the morning, the clock in the factory Bose stereo has changed time. It is never the same. One morning it might read 3:15 and the next time it might read 11:00?
Today, it did the same thing and all of my radio station presets were gone. No big deal as I just reset the closk and put back my favs on the presets.
Anyone know why this is happening and if there is a fix? It's a little frustrating.
Today, it did the same thing and all of my radio station presets were gone. No big deal as I just reset the closk and put back my favs on the presets.
Anyone know why this is happening and if there is a fix? It's a little frustrating.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 10,924
Likes: 77
From: Forney Texas
There are 2 power supplies for the radio. One constant and one switched. You need to check the constant one. Most cars have a fuse not labeled for the radio that supplies the constant hot ( memory) wire. It will also supply other things such as the cigarette lighter, dome light etc. You could also have a grounding or battery hot issue that when starting the vehicle, it loads the electrical system enough to drop the voltage below the threshold for the stereo to keep memory. If the stereo has a good constant hot ( should be orange wire), you need to watch a volt meter while starting and see how low it goes. Use the stereo's ground for reference and then try the battery's ground for reference. If there is a huge difference between the stereo's ground and the battery's ground or stereo's hot and battery's hot, you are losing voltage through a high resistance connection.
How old is your battery?
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 32,910
Likes: 2,402
From: Anthony TX
CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
Your battery voltage is most likely dropping down to below 9 VDC when you cold start the car. Have the battery checked and I BET YA, it will show you that it going bad!
Another thing that you will see is the FOBs will need to be RE-Synced a lot.
BC
