20 minutes into an hour long drive, our radio turns off. The screen goes blank like when the car is off, but the red security light on the radio flashes and if i hit display the clock comes on for a few seconds and you can get into the settings menu, but i cant get the radio to turn back on. So i pull over, leave the car running, pull the fuse, and find its good, so i put the fuse back and the radio immediatly comes back on. So we continue on.

20 min later itdoes it again. We were almost to where we were going so when we get there i turn the car off and the radio pops back on.

Whats goin on with it? has anyone else had this problem? Is it a problem internally in the radio? I can rule out a wireing issue since the clock and settings still work, unless there on a seperate circuit, but it just seems on, any suggestions cause im sure it will happen again. Thank u for any input

 

It happened again on the way home last night and when I got home and turned the car off it turned back on. If its the radio I'll go and get one tonight but I don't want to get a radio if these have know wiring issues and it will do the same thing. I have a test light but with it not doing it all the time its going to be hard to test

 

Wow. That's a good one. It's acting exactly like the ignition is off. If you're able to, check the connector that plugs into the stereo. Look to see if one of the wires is pulled out of the connector. Even if it's not out completely, it can still be a problem. Make sure all the wires are pushed all the way into the connector. You may also want to look for any wires that may have inadvertently got sliced somehow. Check the connections on the amp in the trunk too.

Basically, as you already know, the stereo thinks your ignition is off. The battery run-down protection is turning the stereo off. A good thing to ask yourself is, "what did I do just before this problem started?" Even if you personally didn't do anything, something happened (or was done) shortly before your problem popped up.

 

Im going to take it apart tonight or tomorrow and check the connections. It only seems to do it after driving 20 minutes or so and always turns back on the second the key is switched off and the car enters retained accessory power, and when I turn the car back on it continues to work for another 20 minutes. Short trips around town it doesn't act up at all.

The only thing I've added recently is the aeroforce scan gauge and that shouldn't interfere with the radio since it only plugs into the obd2 port.

Hopefully its not the radio because we love how the factory system sounds. I don't suspect wiring because its like clock work when it does it, almost like the radio is heating up internally and shutting down. Its going to be tough to find since it takes so long to act up. I guess I'll have to drive around with a test light and the dash panel off so I can pull over and start testing wires when it does act up

 

Sorry if this is stating the obvious. But here goes just in case. You are aware that 6th gen Montes have a battery run-down protection? The car will turn off the radio 20 minutes after the engine is shut off, to save the battery. Turning the key on/off again will give you another 20 minutes.

I'm wondering if maybe the scan tool somehow caused a screwup in the car's program. It shouldn't, I know. But if your wiring looks good, you may want to go in that direction. Hopefully someone else here has a better answer for you.

 

i see what your saying now, i knew it had the feature but kind of spaced it. Ill unplug the scan gauge next time it happens, and im going to look at the battery saver circuit in the meantime. I think the power windows are on the battery saver circuit as well because they work after the ignition is switched off until the door is opened or 20 minutes, and i know for a fact they were working when the radio wasnt because i put them down as i was pulling into the gas station.

today I was installing the scan gauge in the dash (i cut a hole above the hazard switch, it looks pretty good too, almost factory) and left the radio and scan gauge on the whole time just to see if it would act up, and it didnt and i know i had the radio on for at least half an hour or more. While i had the panel was off i also unbolted the radio with it on and wiggled the wires and moved them around and couldnt get it to act up either. Its frustrating because it does it intermitantly.

I'm going on another hour trip tomorrow afternoon so when it turns off again i will unplug the scan gauge and see if it turns back on. If it does then i can live with it and just unplug and plug the gauge back in every time it cuts out, but if it doesnt fix it then ill have to dig further.

If it comes down to it ill just run new power and grounds to the radio, then ill know for sure if its the radio or a wiring problem. Thank u for your help taz and ill give you an update tomorrow

 

scan gauge is the culprit. 20 minutes into the trip the radio turned off, so I unplugged the scan gauge and made it all the way home with no problems. Any idea as to why the scan gauge would do this?