I have a 1998 Toyota Camry-has about 179,000 miles on it. Recently when I start the car the radio will have lost its station presets. The car starts fine and everything else works fine. I’m not sure exactly how old the battery is but I think it’s only 2-3 years old. Thanks.
If you suspect the batter you can have it, and the charging system, tested. Most auto parts stores will do this testing free.
If the battery fails a “load test” you need a new one.
If the car is starting without difficulty the battery may not be the problem, but it won’t hurt to have it tested and find out for sure.
Check and clean the battery connections
It certainly won’t hurt to have the battery and charging system tested, but if lost radio station presets are your only symptom, you will need to take a look at the radio and wiring for it to solve that problem. Check for a blown fuse or broken wire for the memory lead. On aftermarket radios, this would be the red wire. It should have 12v at all times. If it does, it’s probably the radio itself.
My 1990 Ford Aerostar used to lose the radio presets and the clock would reset to 12:00, yet the minivan would start just fine. It did turn out to be the battery. Apparently, starting the car dropped the voltage below a threshold voltage that maintains the presets and operates the clock.
Check the voltage across the posts, 11.9V is fully discharged, 12.6V or better is 100% charged. If the battery voltage is 12.1V or less, my 2000 Blazer starts up but has driveability problems.
This is a WAG, but perhaps the voltage in your battery drops low enough during startup to reset the radio’s presets. I’ve had batteries fail in less than a year. If your driving is mainly short trips the battery won’t charge properly. I use a trickle charger to keep the battery in my seldom driven Caprice topped off.
Ed B.
P.S. To keep your post near the head of the queue, just respond to the original post instead of submitting a duplicate.
Radio pe-set loss that is not accompanied by any other sympton points to the radio itself or a interuption of the constant power to the radio.
I agree with Oldschool. Check the fuse under the hood for that circuit. Memory power has a seperate power lead to the radio.