This is a small problem, but a curious one. Recently, the radio in my wife's 2001 has started losing the presets for FM stations. I thought that she may have been setting them incorrectly, but after I set them (holding the FM button in for a couple of seconds), they still change after the car has been sitting unused after a few hours. She gets in her car after work, for instance, and the radio is on another station. Someone at Toyota suggested that we check the small battery because a weak battery may be the cause of the radio memory loss, but we just had a new battery installed just last year. It's a newer battery than what I have in my '02 and the radio memory is just fine in my car. So I'm wondering if any of you have any ideas about what may be the cause. Thanks, Rod
The 12V auxilary battery can cause a host of problems when it gets low or weak, among those being the loss of radio presets. You need to check the 12V battery or have someone check it for you. Have you had any issues lately where you left a light on or anything else that would have caused the battery to discharge? The battery on the Prius is about 1/2 the size of a normal car battery and it does not take much to discharge the battery.
How about the fuel gauge, clock and trip odometer? Does your wife find that those items also lose their settings? If so, that would be pretty good evidence that the 12V battery is weak. Although the battery may be relatively new, if the car is not driven frequently and for long durations, the battery will lose its charge. Another item to check is to ensure that the overhead cabin lights work. They receive power from the DOME fuse. That fuse also provides 12V power to the radio at all times, to preserve station presets.
Thanks for your help. Dome lights work fine and there seems to be no other problems with gauges, clocks, etc. I'll check the fuse tomorrow morning. If I need to, I'll have the 12v checked too. She does put low mileage on it (ca. 3500/yr) because work is a relatively short distance away, so that may be a contributing factor. Thanks again for your help. Rod
