Radio Gremlins, stuck in 1 hour mode, does not sense ignition being on.

[Bungz]

Hello All

I look after my old mans 09 plate 1.8 TDCI and he has a issue lately where the radio is not seeing that the cars ignition position.

Only tends to say 1 hour when the radio is pressed, as if the car was off. Occasionally the date and display will come on and stay on with ignition but then stay illuminated after the car is switched off....

This manifested itself as a issue where the car ended up with a dead battery a month or so ago, not ideal as my Dad is 80 and the local garages are a nightmare for ripping the old locals off for call outs for silly stuff like that.

I know there is no ignition power as such to the radio and that it is all done by the BCM, any ideas how I start to get to the bottom of it?

Oh and I have already swapped the radio for a spare I have, no difference. battery is also brand new Bosch jobby.

Finally the right hand menu button on the dash is doing nothing, I cant change the dash mode. All other buttons seem fine.

Also mentions a occasional management light, not seen this myself and comes and goes, could be unrelated....

Could these symptoms be a faulty cluster?

Will read codes next time I am up but any ideas in the mean time?

Thanks
 

[unofix]

Hello Nev, there are a few posible reasons for the problem. If you have replaced the radio and that made no difference then it is safe to rule that out.

You say the car has a new battery, was that fitted before or after these problems started ?

You're right to say that the radio is not directly controlled from the ignition circuit but via the BCM. It is however worth checking the fuses for the radio as on many Fords there are more than one supply. There is the constant 12V, but also the switched 12V plus often a supply from the lighting circuit. It maybe that the fuse for the ignition accessory has blown.

It is as you say also posibly an instrument cluster fault which is common on these cars, but I would expect that you would start to see other issues occuring if that was the case. The other problem that seems to often come up is that water has found its way in to the BCM connectors and the pin contacts have corroded. Take the plugs out and check for signs of green corrosion of the contacts.

 

[Bungz]

Long time after the fact but last year I went through the cluster and resoldered the main connector, cured the problem 100%.