UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi guys, new to the site love what you're doing here! just got myself a 97 polo and theres a few niggling problems, one of which is the stereo. it has an aftermarket cd player, nothing amazing, but when i take the keys out of the ignition it loses memory, ie radio stations, location on the cd.

can anyone offer advice on what to check, i'm quite competent with engines and bodywork but ICE is foreign to me, thanks very much

Richard

Easy fix, swap the red & yellow wires over on the connector block that plugs into the back of the stereo.

Welcome to the site too!

cheers mate! first day off in ages today so will be spending all afternoon tinkering!

Hi.

I've been having this issue (same model) and read about this wire swap fix, one thing I don't understand is that the stereo only comes on when the key is in the ignition. If the wires were the wrong way around wouldn't that mean that the stereo had a constant connection to the battery through the main supply and thus be able to operate without the key in?

Did you have any luck swapping them over?

If it turns out that the wire to the battery is screwed where would you wire a new one to, just all the way to the battery or is there somewhere around the fuse box that's a bit easier to access?

Thanks, help much appreciated!

The ignition live is only a trigger to make the radio turn on and off with the ignition switch - its designed to have a permanent live from the battery otherwise it will continually lose settings.

aha. All makes sense now. Cheers!

i had this problem and only took about 2 mins to fix, i can now listen to the radio without having to set the channel every time