Twice now I've caught my car switching the tuning on the radio without my permission. I think I've been in the middle of a turn (to the right?) both times, and the radio will switch tuning by one click (101.5 -> 101.3). Now, I don't have 101.3 programmed in anywhere, so I don't think I'm hitting the up/down channel button (or any other steering wheel button for that matter).

There is a chance something bigger electrical is going on (momentary loss of power to the electronics?), but it all recovers immediately so it's hard to notice except that the radio is now mistuned.

Could I be causing this or is it time for the first trip into the shop? Also, what are the odds they be able to find anything since this happens so rarely?

rossc

 

Hmmm... It looks like it went one step down, instead of the next preset. These steering wheel controls will sometimes have undocumented functions. Try pushing AND holding one of the tuning buttons on the steering wheel, and see if it starts stepping, or seeking, or something like that.

---jps

 

Yes, holding the up/down buttons scans to the next active frequency - and this is documented in the manual. Maybe you have a pinched wire or something?

 

I doubt it's a pinched wire (never say never), or other functions would also happen on their own. The way steering wheel controls are setup, all of the buttons for the stereo control are on a single wire. So the odds of a pinch only activating one button are extremely high. Not impossible, but high.

On another car I owned with steering wheel controls, I actually found an undocumented feature of one of the buttons because I inadvertantly held the steering wheel in such a way that I pushed it (when the CD changer was playing, the "preset" button advanced to the next CD). I would occasionally bump these buttons, but it was pretty rare.

I'm not saying that there can't be a problem with the wire or the button itself sticking or something, but I'd look into the possibility that you are bumping it.

---jps

 

I've tried the scanning function and I'm pretty sure that this is different since scanning always seem to find a strong signal while this is dropping down to a frequency with no station.

Could be a pinched wire. Time to take it in...

rossc

 

Well, that brings me back to my first question: Can you normally perform that function with a button on the wheel?

If you can't, then it is neither you bumping the button, nor would it be a pinched wire. And it would be time to take it in, or mention it at the first service (depending on how often and how annoying it is).

---jps

 

No, the only way to tune up or down one frequency increment to a freq that has no signal, is by the manual tuning **** on the console. The up/down buttons on the wheel move between presets with a simple tap, or seek to the next station with a press-and-hold.

This sounds like some sort of logic error which needs to be looked at by the dealer.

 

The high cornering G-force during the right turn will cause the analog movement behind the digital stereo facade to jump slightly (I assume it's a BOSE?), thus tuning you to a different station. Either that or your car has a poltergeist. BTW I am joking.

 

I have this problem too except I don't need to be turning.On it's own, the radio changes by .2 Mhz downward 95.9 to 95.7.Found your thread in a search to see if I was not the only one with this weird problem.

 

There is one *possible* explanation for this, but your posts suggest otherwise.

The documentation we have found shows us that each of the functions performed at the wheel are changes in resistance. Each button matches a certain amount of resistance and the head unit interperates that into a command. Here are the documented ones:

Application Resistance
Mode 1k Ohms
Vol+ 150 Ohms
Vol- 60 Ohms
Track 300 Ohms
Mute 2k Ohms


Now it *could* be possible that there is an undocumented value that causes a frequency change and that your wires are not fully shorted but that some resistance exists. However, this seems unlikely, especially since Murray is experiencing it even when not turning.

I agree with the others, I think it's time to take it in for a replacement.