The radio on my '98 4Runner is driving me crazy. Every time I shut off the engine, the presets on my radio are erased. My memory is too weak to remember 88.9 FM–WCVE. I don’t dare start (or, turn off) the engine for fear of not hearing your show.
Why won’t my presets stay preset?
There is normally one wire to a radio that maintains a continuous source of power to keep the radio’s memory. You’ll likely need to pull the radio to check its wiring & the plug.
It might also be a fault in the head unit itself - in which case you replace it as repair would not likely be worth the $$ or trouble.
Check fuses first.
It was just a fuse on my 99 Galant.
I had the same problem on my 1990 Ford Aerostar. I would lose the presets and the clock would reset to 12:00 a.m. In my case, it was a weak battery. Apparently, the voltage would drop low enough that the memory for the presets would go and the clock wouldn’t keep time. I think the drop in voltage would happen when I cranked the engine to start it. When the battery finally completely died and I replaced it, the clock problem disappeared and the radio would maintain the presets.
Check your fuses. The memory for the radio is powered by a circuit that doesn’t shut off with the key. Did you plug something into the cigar lighter that blew the fuse? Often that’s the problem.