Radio resets while cranking

[fx4wannabe]

Ok I have kind of an annoying situation. Every time I start the truck cold all my radio presets get erased. After it warms up it's fine. I assume it's because of the large current draw on cold start but the radio shouldn't need that much to keep its presets. Is this common or do you think it's in my radio? It's a factory ford radio by the way.

 

[icanfixall]

My wag is the ignition switch is at fault. Are you having trouble turning the key. Is it loose . Someone you are loosing the power to the radio and thats why the presets are lost. Same thing happens when you lift a battery cable and stop the power to the truck.

 

[riotwarrior]

Current draw...it's quite a spike...when cold...

 

[laserjock]

If it only does it when it's cold, I'd go with riot. You could probably fix the problem with a diode and a capacitor in line to the power for the radio. I would guess that if the voltage drops low enough long enough, it would kill the radio essentially like pulling the battery cable. The radio in my truck didn't work right from the time I got it so its on the list of things to deal with.

 

[david85]

Check your under hood wiring connections near the passenger side battery. Pull apart the main engine wiring harness connector (near the dipstick) and check/clean/grease the pins there. Then work your way back to the battery and inspect all the quick connects along the way, and fusible links. My 1986 will be a little different, but I was able to find a partially melted quick connect that was corroded internally, causing the plastic casing to melt (was warm to the touch when I found it). it was located near the starter relay on the inner passenger side fender.

In my case, I wasn't loosing the clock settings. Instead the truck's power would flicker when performing a lane change and using the blinker. I ended up cutting the quick connect out completely and soldering the wires under water tight heat shrink. Never had a problem in the years since.

Having said that, the radio should have its own internal smoothing capacitors, which are most likely electrolytic style...they also don't like work in the cold...

 

[laserjock]

Having said that, the radio should have its own internal smoothing capacitors, which are most likely electrolytic style...they also don't like work in the cold...

And they are how old if the radio is stock... Might be leaking out. I had to replace them on the power board for my Samsung TV. That was an adventure for me considering I'd never done anything like that before.

 

[BDCarrillo]

Check your constant hot radio wire.

Unhook your starter solenoid to isolate the ignition switch without the starter draw.

 

[whitehorse]

I'm not the brightest bulb in the pack but my truck did this hot and cold and the cable running to the starter was full of corrosion...positive cable that is...

 

[fx4wannabe]

Well my ignition switch is brand new so i know its not that. I never thought about the radio having diodes in it that could be bad. I think I may have another one laying around I could try out. Once I get my glow plugs fixed and it's not so hard to start, i'm curious to see what happens.

 

[riotwarrior]

Well my ignition switch is brand new so i know its not that. I never thought about the radio having diodes in it that could be bad. I think I may have another one laying around I could try out. Once I get my glow plugs fixed and it's not so hard to start, i'm curious to see what happens.

Ha....are you talking the IGN key portion which is only a mechanical actuator...or the actual electrical switch...which is operated by a rod from the key actuator and is down low on the column?

Cause if it's just the key/tumbler actuator you ain't got a new ignition switch!

JM2CW

 

[Shadetreemechanic]

How old is your starter? If it is about siezed up it will increase the amperage draw at startup and can get you to a low enough voltage to do this.

 

[USNENFTS]

Ok I have kind of an annoying situation. Every time I start the truck cold all my radio presets get erased. After it warms up it's fine. I assume it's because of the large current draw on cold start but the radio shouldn't need that much to keep its presets. Is this common or do you think it's in my radio? It's a factory ford radio by the way.

My truck did this for a while, only if the glow plugs were on for a longer amount of time due to the cold. My batteries were getting weak and time for replacement. I got nice new Interstate Mega-tron batteries 1000CA, 850 CCA each haven't had the problem since, even when it's down in the teens or single digits.

 

[fx4wannabe]

Starter is brand new, batteries are brand new, and I did the ignition switch a couple years ago but the truck has been driven maybe 500 miles since then. Gonna look at my glow plugs tomorrow and see how many of them are out. Once I get them working again I hope the problem fixes itself. Then I got to work on the high idle and cold advance.

 

[79jasper]

Maybe under dash ground problem.

Sent from my SM-T537R4 using Tapatalk

 

[fx4wannabe]

Checked my glow plugs today and I have 3 that are bad so I ordered a set. Be curious to see if it still does it once the truck starts normal.