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Radio Losing Memory

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Old Oct 15, 2005 | 12:25 PM
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Radio Losing Memory

The clock-radio-casstte combination in our 1992 E-150 (302) will lose its presets and clock settings.

When it happens the presets are lost, the radio switches back to 6.00 on AM and the clock display is blank. Time then starts from 0:00 when the radio is turned on.

It started out happening occasionally when the vehicle was shut off. Recently while driving down the road it has occured. It does not happen every time the vehicle is shut off nor does it happen everytime the vehicle is driven. Other than this memory loss problem the radio and clock are working fine.

The radio is stock, never has been removed from the vehicle.

Any ideas?
 
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Old Oct 15, 2005 | 09:42 PM
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Well if I were you, and I'm not, I would put my meter on the constant +12v line to the radio and turn on the meter's memory to see if at any time I lose +12 volts. Likely you may not have access to a meter with memory so:

You should reset the connectors on the back of the radio to make sure you don't have a bad connection.

If that doesn't fix it then you could cut the wire (that runs a constant +12v to the radio) and splice one from the cig lighter to the one going to the radio. (tape off the wire you just cut coming from the fuseblock so it doesn't short to ground) If that doesn't fix it it's something in the radio and not worth fixing.

But reset the connectors first.
 

Last edited by goofy173; Oct 15, 2005 at 09:45 PM.
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Old Oct 15, 2005 | 09:44 PM
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The radio has two power sources. One is key on, and the other is a constant hot to hold the radio memory up. You are losing this memory power somewhere, and since it's intermittent, it's going to be very hard to find the problem. The first place I would look is at the radio plug itself. It could even be the radio has a problem.
 
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Old Oct 16, 2005 | 02:41 PM
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I'd first unplug and replug the harness to your radio. It sounds like you have a loose harness which due to bumps, humps or whatever, is losing contact at times. This could have occured to one of the connecting pins for the hot wire loosening in the harness.

if this fails, get a wiring diagram, identify the power leads for the radio and track them from radio back. Because this is an intermittent problem, loose connection or connectors are the indicated problem. However, it could be internal to the radio.
 
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Old Oct 16, 2005 | 05:42 PM
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I was just thinking too, to clean your battery posts and connectors. It's possible you're losing one of the battery connections as its just sitting since it's pulling such a small current. When you start it or when it's running, there is so much current being pulled that it can bypass any small connections problems.
 
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Old Oct 17, 2005 | 09:15 AM
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Terminals

I will check and clean the battery terminal connections.

Wouldnt a bad connection at the battery make for hard starting? Why would the radio act up while the vehicle was running if it was a bad connection at the battery?

It looks like part of the dash has to come off to get the radio out. Has anyone done this before? E-150 and F-150 are probably similar.
 
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Old Oct 17, 2005 | 10:37 AM
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I read the posting so fast I didn't notice the part about it happening while going down the road.

I think I'll say this again in the next message, since I can't find a way to delete this one.
 

Last edited by goofy173; Oct 17, 2005 at 10:44 AM.
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Old Oct 17, 2005 | 10:39 AM
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I read the posting so fast I didn't notice the part about it happening while going down the road.

I think the 92 has a different dash than my 89. On mine, there are several screws holding the plastic cover that surrounds the radio, environmental controls, and a couple of vents. That pops off and you can unscrew 4 screws to pull the radio module out. Probably different on the 92 as I believe that's the year everything changed.
 
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Old Oct 21, 2005 | 08:59 PM
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Removing Radio

The surround pops off...somehow. Pins need to be inserted into the side of the radio to pull it out. Thats what the instructions say.

I just dont want to break anything.
 
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