Radio will not save presets after igniton off

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

Okay be ready for a longish post and please bare with me its all relevant to the issue.

To start we are working on a 1988 Chevy Astro Van Cargo, only has 2 front dash speakers.

When I first purchased the vehicle their was an aftermarket stereo from the 80s installed. Very basic with a cassette deck. There were also other wires hanging about from an old cell phone that had been hooked up, various fuses were the wrong amperage etc. I removed all loose wires that went to nothing and changed back all the fuses to stock amp.

Now recently i removed the speakers and 80s aftermarket radio and installed a new sony with 2 dash speakers. Initally i could not get power to the radio for whatever reason so i thought i had the wiring wrong. I asked my brother and he said for whatever reason the main wire was not getting power. This must be why i had a mysterious extra wire tied into the old unit with an inline 3amp fuse. I dont remember where in the fuse box they had it plugged but it was not in a space that had anything else going to it. Anyway, I had to end up tying that wire into the power and dimmer wire and have it in with the radio fuse which is 10 amp. I know that probably sounds sketchy but it was my brothers idea and now the radio at least has power and also works.

Heres the issue, now that radio has power, my dash lights are also always on when i have the ignition on. Also the radio works as it should but when i turn the ignition off every thing goes back to factory settings. It does not hold memory. I have read this could be a wiring issue. (duh ahaha) or there not being sufficent power going to the radio to save the settings. Luckily the radio has a battery voltage option and its getting plenty of power.

I suck at electrical but i have done radios myself on 90s vehicles with no issues. Please give me your best advise. I have included photos as well and can send more upon request. I dont have the money to get it professionally installed or i would have already done that. Thanks for your info

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2

You asked for our “best advice”, so here it is, but you won’t like it. Your work is sloppy, and nether you or your brother has any idea what you are doing. Instead of doing your best to set your car on fire, take it to a vehicle audio shop and ask them to correct your work.

3

The radio memory won’t hold the stations because it needs one lead to be connected to the battery full time with a small wire and a small fuse… 3Amp likely… and one needs to be conntected after the ignition switch.

A test light or a voltmeter helps find this.

Disconnect the wire to the dimmer. Run it to the fuse box and install an add a tap fuse holder. It is an easy way to add a fused circuit.

4

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that work. It may not be worth of the space shuttle however I see no issues as long as its all tight and well taped. Make sure the Radio power wire is fused, everything is going to be ok. Just double check your connections, do you have more butt connectors?

As far as your question another helpful poster here is right, you just need the constantly hot wire hooked up to the memory lead on the radio.

5

The yellow wire should be connected to a non switched fused source. Aka a circuit that always has power even with the key off.

MAKE SURE ITS FUSED!

6

The Yellow wire has to be connected to B+ source as it is your memory wire, the red wire is the power on wire and must be connected to a key on (switched) source…

If you have both the red and yellow together, then you will either have a radio that works all the time, even with the keys in the house, or you will have to reset your stations every time you turn the key on…

YELLOW= memory (B+)

RED= key on power source

I did custom installs way back in the day…