# Ignition causes radio reset **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** toyota, camry\ **Created:** [October 20, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ignition-causes-radio-reset/38393 "2009-10-20T21:48:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![virginia11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c57346/32.png) [@virginia11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/virginia11)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ignition-causes-radio-reset/38393/1 "2009-10-20T21:48:31Z")
Recently I’ve started having problems with my radio when I turn the key in the ignition. The radio turns off, stays off until I hit the on/off button, and loses all the preset stations. This doesn’t happen every time, but it’s done this four-six times in the last six days. Is this a harbinger of electrical problems to come? What might be causing this problem? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![bennyandthejets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@bennyandthejets](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bennyandthejets)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ignition-causes-radio-reset/38393/2 "2009-10-20T21:56:35Z")
What year/kind of car? Aftermarket radio? Or factory installed? More info please. ---
**Author:** ![tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@tardis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tardis)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ignition-causes-radio-reset/38393/3 "2009-10-20T22:10:15Z")
It could be a symptom of a failing battery. Most auto stores will load test your battery for free. ---
**Author:** ![Cougar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/cougar/32/21348_2.png) [@Cougar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Cougar)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 10:49pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ignition-causes-radio-reset/38393/4 "2009-10-20T22:49:50Z")
The problem is with the power circuit for the memory of the radio. There is a bad connection on that wire somewhere. The memory requires power at all times to keep it alive so a power wire is run from the battery to the memory wire of the radio. Through a fuse for protection of course. Somehow the power is being interupted. Possibly at a terminal connector. ---
**Author:** ![Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joseph_e_meehan/32/21_2.png) [@Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joseph_E_Meehan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ignition-causes-radio-reset/38393/5 "2009-10-20T23:12:21Z")
Or maybe the radio has an internal battery that holds the memory and it is going bad. ---
**Author:** ![virginia11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c57346/32.png) [@virginia11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/virginia11)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ignition-causes-radio-reset/38393/6 "2009-10-21T00:32:34Z")
I didn’t include vital information; the radio was factory-installed; the car is a 1998 Toyota Camry. ---
**Author:** ![vtcodger2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e68b1a/32.png) [@vtcodger2](https://community.cartalk.com/u/vtcodger2)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 4:21am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ignition-causes-radio-reset/38393/7 "2009-10-21T04:21:26Z")
**_Is this a harbinger of electrical problems to come? What might be causing this problem?_** You betcha, it’s probably a symptom of electrical problems to come. There’s a small chance that it is a loose or corroded connection in the “keep alive” 12 volt power to the radio that maintains presets when the ignition is off. But it’s a lot more likely that it is a symptom of battery or alternator problems and that the next thing that will happen is that you will get in the car, turn to key and hear a click but the engine won’t turn over. I wouldn’t have believed that an older car could still start when the battery voltage was so low that it couldn’t maintain radio presets … until it happened to me a few years ago in an elderly Mazda 626. As tardis suggests, get your battery and charging system checked. The good news is that fixing battery/alternator problems is rarely outrageously expensive. A few hundred dollars if it is the alternator. Less if it is the battery.