Radio Mysteriously switches from Aux to FM

General Discussion
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1

Hello CarTalk Community!

I use a 3.5mm Bluetooth receiver in the Aux port of my '06 Impala (previously used a plain old 3.5mm aux cable) to play my iPod.

Occasionally, the stereo will switch from Aux to FM randomly left, I’ll switch it back to Aux, and it continue to do this 3 or 4 times. Usually turning the stereo off will fix this.

Any ideas on what might cause this?

Thanks!

2

Possibly a bad bluetooth receiver having intermittent problems. When this happens your head unit thinks that your IPod has been removed and switched to the last FM station you listened to. Give it a few taps the next time this happens.

3

Thanks! Could be!
Though I forgot to mention it also happened with a normal audio cable.

4

Then all I can think of is a problem with the AUX port receptacle, Might try to wiggle the cable plug and see if that makes a difference.

1 Like
5

If you unplug the aux cable, does the radio automatically switch to FM?

6

I believe it does. I hope the Aux input is not going bad, that does not seem like something easily fixed without replacing the entire unit.

7

I think you answered your own question. The radio has an intermittent and probably has to be replaced.

8

In that case, I’m thinking along the same lines as kurtwm2010. Perhaps you could try a few different 3.5-mm extension cables (or assemble various adapter cables to the same effect) to see if you can find one that fits more tightly. This could be one case where it would be good to try cheap Chinese stuff that doesn’t exactly meet specifications. You could also see if a local stereo shop has a way to reach inside the socket and bend the ring and sleeve contacts to give a better connection.

9

Okay cool! I’ll give it a shot! Thanks for the suggestions!