I have a strange issue with the inbuilt radio in my Focus, it's been working fine for many years until last week when all the buttons stopped working except power, volume and the emergency lights.

I disconnected the battery for about 5 mins (read online somewhere) and it sprang into life again for the next trip I did however, come to start the car again and it's all gone wrong again. I can't keep disconnecting the battery each time I need to change radio stations. The fact that disconnecting the battery fixes it should (in theory) prove all the connectors are fine.

 

Any ideas?

Disconnecting battery resets the unit, have a google or manual and find the master reset for it.

The radio has an internal battery (or capacitor) that keeps it's memory alive. They generally last the lifetime of the car but every now and then you get a unit which dies before it's time. In theory they can be repaired but the cost is so high you may as well get a replacement from a scrapyard for £50 

Thanks for the replys.

I don't think it can be the internal battery as disconnecting the main battery and reconnecting fixes it, albeit temporarily, and the issue isn't memory related but a functional failure. In PC speak, the BIOS settings are fine but the keyboard isn't working, disconnecting the power supply fixes the keyboard but the problem with the keyboard returns on reboot. So i'm not sure how the CMOS battery would affect the keyboard.

I'll try the master reset as this seems more logical i.e, the software running behind the unit has picked up a "qwerk" and needs to reset. I'll check to see if there are any firmware updates while I'm at it, may as well throw everything at it.