I have an after market radio. It has always worked. Yesterday it didn’t work at all. Today it didn’t work when I started the car but it came on by itself after about 10 minutes. Worked as normal for about 10 minutes then “froze”. Couldn’t change volume or change the channel. When I turned the Jeep off the radio didn’t turn off. Pulled the fuse and it still didn’t turn off! Had to disconnect the battery. Any ideas?
If the internal functions are locking up it sounds to be internal radio. You could pull the head unit. Most aftermarket radios have a fuse positioned in the back side. Check for that and other wire connections, but it really sounds to be the head unit internals are failing.
Sorry. Didn’t get to finish reply. That’s what I thought but why was it still going after key in off position and fuse removed? That’s what perplexes me.
Most radios these days have a 12 V circuit that is not switched, i.e. is always on. This is used to preserve user options, like station memory, cover color, and so on. Sounds like you have suffered an internal failure that has resulted in the always on 12 V being applied where it is not supposed to be. I think it;s time to start shopping for a new radio. I would go to Crutchfield (no affiliation!)
Good luck!
Good luck!
Vidar
TJ Enthusiast
Would be worth checking your grounds as well. Poor/loose grounds have been known to cause many gremlins. My ground wire splice on the back of mine wasn’t wrapped tight enough and would occasionally arc rebooting the head unit like the key got turned off and on. Happened a few times on smooth roads and didn’t happen on bumpy roads. Hasn’t happened again since I re-taped it.
02SteelBlue
TJ Enthusiast
FWIW my Jeep has been topless overnight during pop up showers and the rain has gotten the best of my head unit and amp, causing some odd behavior.