Car radio loses its station settings

[MoneyGuy]

Must be due to the cold, but my wife's car radio is losing its settings these days. I know that this happens when a battery loses power but that's not the problem. Most mornings these days (may be all mornings, I dunno, as it is the wife's car and I don't drive it all the time) you press a preset button and the settings are gone. The car's been starting flawlessly (Toyota Camry so it always starts). Any ideas why the radio is losing its settings?

[MaDMaN_26]

Does it remember the time and the last station it was on?

[MoneyGuy]

Not sure. As I said, it's the wife's car. I can check tomorrow morning to see. I'm pretty sure it remembers the time, but as for the last station, I can't say. If that's critical info for problem solving, I'll check tomorrow and post it here.

[ken0042]

I know a buddy of mine says his Honda loses radio settings when it gets very cold out. Not sure why- maybe some "feature" of the radio to conserve power when the battery gets to a certain level.

[You Need a Thneed]

Perhaps the radio itself has an internal battery for it's clock and preset settings - and that battery is dying.

Just my brainstorming thought.

[MaDMaN_26]

Well, keeping time and last station are sort of the same thing if the answer is "no it forgets them" to both then I'd say your losing connection to your battery at some point... probably a short or possibly bad wiring of a car starter or alarm that you had put in. Maybe a corroded battery cable... something electricle... you'd think if thats the case you'd have the odd time where you go to start it and get nothing... just a click, and then try it again and it works... but depends on where the short is.

If the answer is yes to either, as in it does keep the time or last radio station but it forgets programed stations I'd say its a short or defect within the stereo its self. Not as significant of an problem unless its slowly bleeding power from your battery... then it could cost you down the road... by needing a boost one day and your (dead) battery possibly freezing and needing replacement.

[Barnes]

GM Delco radios used to do this all the time.

[WindomURL]

Usually, there are two power leads from your car stereo. One is for main power, and the other is for clock/memory presets. Check for loose or disconnected wiring.
Or it could be a battery conserving "feature" as others have said.