Does anybody know why on my 1995 Explorer when i have a cd playing and turn off the car, how come the song starts over when i turn it back on, because I know in other Fords it will pick up where left off on the CD, is it just because its a 95 or what, if anybody has any idea if it could be fixed please let me know!! and how!

 

Wow thats weird never heard of that sounds like the radio has a cd problem, other than that its ok?

 

yea i know but it bugs the crap out of me, but does anybody else have this problem, or does anybody know a fix??????

 

I just noticed this on the one in my Mountaineer (97) as well. After some experimentation I have noted the following (and can reproduce the effects at will).

It would seem that if the CD player has been off for less than about 10 minutes then the song resumes where it left off. Longer than that and it begins at the start of the track (not at the start of the CD).

I have no idea why, but after reading this post a while back I started playing with it and those have been my results.

 

well im not sure if the song will resume if it less than 10min. when the cars off but ill check it tomorrow and let you know what it does, but thank, ill let u know

 

Hmm... I will have to try that as well, if I turn the car off between tests and see if there is any time difference.

 

NOPE!, when i turn the car off with a cd playing, and then turn it right back on the song starts over, it remembers what cd it was on what what song but not where it was in the song?!!?, any ideas ANYONE!

 

My 96 does the same thing. I do notice that a recorded cd sometime starts where it left off. Go figure.

 

I do not have first hand knowledge of the Explorer's CD player, but usually the way a CD player starts back up where it left off is based on two things: The position of the lens that reads the CD and the bits left in the memory feeding the Digital to Analog (D/A) converter. When power is put to the CD drive motor, the first bits are read off the CD and if it is equivalent to the bits left in it's memory, it picks up where it left off. If it is not the same, the player will go back until it finds the beginning of the current track or index point (rarely index points on a music CD) and start from there. This prevents destroying your speakers with sudden pulses.

There are two possible problems that would cause this: The memory loses its memory when the power is removed due to a bad chip or capacitor, or the gear that causes the lens to move has some slop and when the power is removed, it moves a little. The later is the most likely occurance since it is caused by wear and tear. If you use the CD player a lot, this a sign that it is starting to wear out.

However, don't rush out and buy a new one yet; it could still last years because the feedback circuitry can compensate once power is applied to the motors.

After further wear, you will notice more skipping and longer times to find the tracks.

 

wow that sucks, do u know if there is anyway to fix it??

 

It can probably be repaired, but I doubt it would be cost effective. Electronic components these days are usually cheaper to replace than fix.

The exception to this is if you found an electronics repair shop that has repaired your brand and model of radio before for that exact problem; then they know exactly the right part to order and how to quickly pull it apart and replace the failing circuit and/or the lens gearing. Otherwise the labor is too expensive.

 

well thanks for the info, but i just found out 2day that the cd player has always done that since it was bought in 1995, thats how it was made, so i was wondering did anybody know if putting in a new disk changer will correct this?

 

First off, with the car off will it display the time when you press the clock button? Now is it an aftermarket stereo? There are 2 power wire, constant +12 and memory +12 (switched), if your memory wire isn't connect or loose then you will lose all memory, clock time, station presets everytime you turn off the car. If it's an aftermarket then I would pull the stereo and check connections.

 

I kinda assumed that the problem was not power based because there were no reports of station presets being lost. However, some radios store station presets in non-volatile memory, so presets might be kept when power is shut down and without the constant wire hot.

Here is another troubleshooting question: with the car still running, can you turn off the CD and turn it back on and have the song start and the same point, or does it go back to the beginning again?

If it does start over, it is not a power problem. If it works fine that way, perhaps you should check to make sure the constant hot wire is always hot.

 

the song doesnt start over when the car is running, it only does it when the car is turned off and the turned back on, does the song restart. so what should i do to check 2 find out about the constant wire is always hot, like which constant wire do i need to check, and where is it and what color is it?