The Sony radio in my 2014 C-Max cuts out within 2-3 minutes of switching off the ignition. Is there any way to over-ride this so that it stays on longer?

my guess is, its meant to do that to save power.

i believe you can override it by connecting it to the live wire somehow but by leaving the radio on, it is not just the radio that is using the battery, there are other modules that will use it too.

Does it come back on if you push the "ON" button again ?

Any info in the hand book ?

On 4/10/2026 at 10:44 PM, Paulkp said:

Does it come back on if you push the "ON" button again ?

Any info in the hand book ?

It doesn't come on again until the ignition is switched on. I don't have the radio handbook unfortunately.

The radio on this era of Fords stays on until you open the driver's door.

If you don't open the door it will switch off after a short period to save power.

You can switch it back on by using the on/off switch on the radio. It is tiny and top left so easy to miss. This will allow the radio to play for up to one hour. However that is based on battery state of charge. It will almost certainly not stay on for a full hour on a 10 year old car.

I would also not recommend using the radio for extended periods with the engine off as it will drain the battery more than it used to on older cars.

Thanks Tom. I seem to remember that it used to stay on longer but the car still has the original battery so that would seem to explain it.

It stays longer when battery is in good condition