A car fuse powers the car stereo. Sometimes, a bad fuse causes the stereo to keep resetting. Moreover, a bad fuse interrupts the power that supplies the radio, causing the radio to reset continuously.
However, many more problems can keep your car stereo from resetting. A malfunctioning memory wire, a very weak wire connection, or a problem with the head unit circuit might also cause your vehicle stereo to auto-reset.
Moreover, resetting the car stereo continuously might be a huge problem. You cannot listen to your favorite music or watch videos if your stereo keeps resetting continuously. Therefore, it might hamper your relaxing or even a romantic long drive with a soft romantic song.
The stereo bug is not fixed for any specific manufacturer or model, nor for any old cars—a car with a stereo, whether an aftermarket or stock stereo, might face this problem.
Therefore, we will dive into why my car stereo keeps resetting without further delay.
Why does your car stereo keep on shutting down and starting on again?
Now, we will discuss the reasons that cause your vehicle stereo to shut down and start again repeatedly.
Malfunction of the head unit wire
Your car stereo might be okay with all the fine working accessories. However, only the head unit wires might become the problem, which leads to it continuously resetting. Therefore, you should start troubleshooting the problem to prevent further bugs in your car stereo.
At first, look after all the stereo wires coming out of the head unit. Check if the cables are correctly taped. There might become loose butt connectors which might cause this bug. Therefore, you need to replace those butt connectors to keep your stereo working just fine again. You should know this is one of the solutions for why my car stereo keeps resetting.
Faulty Fuse
We have come out for another troubleshooting about why my car stereo keeps resetting. The fuse maintains a consistent voltage to your car stereo. Moreover, the fuse protects the stereo circuit from getting high voltage. Whenever the fuse detects high voltage, the fuse melts and breaks the circuit so that no current passes through the circuit to the stereo. However, a blown-out or faulty fuse will keep your stereo reset continuously. This hampers your music listening experience; you must listen to something other than your favorite music.
Moreover, a faulty fuse might hamper other electronic components of the vehicle. For example, a defective fuse might cause the car headlight or the indicator light not to work. If the stereo is paired with a headlight or indicator light and is not working, the faulty fuse is likely causing this problem. You need to replace the fuse for this kind of scenario.
The location of the fuse depends on your vehicle. Further, a fuse might be located near the dash around the instrumental panel. It might even be located under your vehicle’s hood or rear seat. Moreover, the vehicle’s electric manual will guide you to your vehicle’s fuse.
A Faulty Memory Wire
A faulty memory wire might be responsible for any malfunction of the car stereo. Your car stereo might keep resetting due to the defective memory wire, which shows when you start your engine. How do you find the memory wire?
The memory wire is a yellow wire connected to the car stereo’s wire harness. However, it is different from other head unit wires because it always carries electricity and power, even when the vehicle is switched off and standing stationary.
The memory wire gives power to the head unit clock and the radio frequency setter. But why is this called the memory wire? This is because the memory wire can remember and deliver the same radio frequency you kept the last time you played your vehicle stereo. So whenever you play the radio again, it will provide the same frequency as you played last time.
However, you must replace the memory wire if the stereo keeps resetting whenever you start your vehicle. You can check for visible damage to the memory wire. Moreover, if you cannot find any visible faults, you can head over to check the voltage reading through a multimeter on the memory wire. Further, the memory wire should have around 12V voltage when your vehicle is switched off. Undoubtedly, this is the reason why my car stereo keeps resetting.
A faulty head unit
Your vehicle stereo might suffer from auto-resetting even if all the components, such as the memory wire, the connectors, and the fuse, are working just fine. But why will the stereo keep on resetting?
This brings us to our last explanation and troubleshooting for why my car stereo keeps resetting. Whenever nothing is at fault, the head unit is blamed. Yes, the head unit might have developed some internal circuit problem, for which the stereo is continuously resetting. However, you can only solve the head unit problem as an audio expert. Moreover, you need to show the problem to any audio expert to solve the following problem.
However, the ahead-of-unit problem might be a major one. Therefore, in such cases, you may need to replace the whole head unit, which is expensive.
Moreover, be sure that the head unit needs replacement. Otherwise, do not replace it, as this will be costly and require extensive work. Inspect the head unit and check if it is repairable and not replaceable. This was all about why my car stereo kept resetting.
Now, let’s head up to the conclusion.
Conclusion
Hopefully, we have answered your question on why my car stereo keeps resetting. There are several problems related to car stereo resetting. A faulty head unit, a problematic memory wire, a blown-out fuse, or even a malfunctioned head unit wire might be the reason.
A vehicle stereo is integral to your vehicle as it provides ultimate entertainment. Therefore, we suggest you properly inspect the problems and not ignore any sign of malfunction.
Bruce William is a professional content writer and vehicle engineer with extensive car maintenance and repair knowledge. His expertise spans all vehicle parts, offering practical solutions for various automotive issues. Bruce provides valuable insights through his website articles to help readers maintain their cars for optimal performance and longevity.