Why does my car radio turn on by itself? [Find out the exact reason -2023]

There is no doubt that car radio is important for music enthusiasts, right? A car driver needs to drive the car with entertainment because it assists the driver to keep focused on driving.

All car lovers know the capability of car radio but sometimes disagree that the car stereo is an important part of a car radio.

Don’t be afraid if your car radio turns on by itself. Although it is a matter of afraid when suddenly it turns on by itself even while the car is off. Sometimes this type of incident may happen but you don’t need to be afraid.

Because this article will thoroughly discuss why does car radio turn on by itself and what will be the absolute solution. To get over the car audio problem, keep reading and hopefully, you won’t be frustrated.

Car radio?

The car radio is a part of car equipment to serve the information for customers and in-car entertainment. It consisted of just a simple AM radio until the 1950s.

After that, it includes cassette players, tape players (8 track), CD players, and record players. It also includes Blu-ray, Car Play, DVD player, Navigation System, and android auto. The CD player includes in 1984 and the FM radio in 1952.

Once the included parts (CD player, DVD, etc.) are managed from the dashboard by a few buttons but at nowadays it is controllable by voice commands or steering wheel.

Car audio system primarily implemented for listening to radio and music only. Now, the car audio system is part of car interior security, telecommunication, navigation, car telematics, and hands-free calling.

The active noise control of loudspeakers reduces the road and engine noise.

Why does my car radio turn on by itself?

The primary reason for this problem shorting out power wires. Due to the link of the AAC of the ignition switch with the power source of the radio, there is a chance of not turning off the radio while you turn off the ignition.

The wires which are used for causing shorts also be the cause of radio turn on itself. The other possible reason can be the switch position inside the car.

Although there are many causes to turn on, the main two causes are shorts in wiring and loose wires.

The contact between the ground wire and the ignition wire transmits energy to the car’s stereo and that’s why the radio may turn on itself.

Sometimes the road bumpers are responsible for loose wiring. The newly installed car radio can be the reason for the car radio turn itself.

The good thing is you can be fixed this kind of wiring issue as a DIY project until you are fine with handling wiring.

Make sure that all radio wires are connected safely and securely. After all, you need to take care of your car to avoid the drain of the car battery.

So, what have you needed to do?

Suddenly the car radio turn on itself is a sign of the electrical problem of your vehicle. And you need to solve this kind of electrical problem shortly because it can damage your battery overnight.

Why does my car radio turn on by itself

1. Start with figure out the problem yourself:

When the problem arises maybe you try to fix this problem by checking the wiring. It’s very good to try because if the problem is minor you may be able to solve this problem without spending any dollars.

A little bit of try can solve it. So, what will be your procedure of little try?

First, you need to fix the car stereo and if needed remove the car stereo from the dashboard and turn off the ignition power. Disconnect the wiring connection that is connected with the radio stereo.

After that, examine every little wire attached to the wiring plug. If there is any unused wire you can cut it off and make sure there is no piece of copper left.

It is recommended to use heat shrink to cover the wires properly and decrease the chance of shorts. The shorts and uncover wiring can be a reason for the radio turn on.

So, when there is no chance of shorts because of wires covered then there is no chance of itself radio turn on problem.

2. Take the car to a professional:

To overcome this problem you need to check the wires to make them safe and secure. If you don’t want to do this you can take the car to a professional.

And it is necessary to check the wires if you really want to save your car battery from damage.

3. Replace the newly installed radio if it’s the reason for the problem:

If you install a new radio on your car then it can arise this kind of radio turn on problem because of improper radio installed.

And when you see that every wire connects properly without any loose connection, then may the problem be on your radio or speaker. So, you need to return the radio as soon as possible and replace it with the new one.

Recommended Radio

Single Din – Podofo Car Stereo as the name suggests manufactured by Podofo is a standard single din radio that comes with an AHD backup camera, flip-out touchscreen(7 inches) which is suited for android auto and apple car play.

It supports USB, key backlit, SD card, reversing camera, and so on that, you are searching for.

Double Din – Hieha Car Stereo as the name suggests is made by Hieha the most popular brand in the world for car audio.

It is compatible with android auto and apple car play, you need to just attach the smartphone with the stereo, which is enough to navigate your phone maps and other functionality.

The features of this stereo are an HD touch screen, rearview camera, USB port, video player, and audio player that will make your journey enjoyable.

4. Swapped the faceplate:

The spring breaking and wearing out of the volume knob can induce the problem. So, you need to just swap the faceplate from the new radio to the old one.

This will be a good solution to get rid of the radio turn-on itself problem.

If the car is still turned on itself then it may be the ghost that wants to listen to music by turning on the radio. It’s a joke only! So, what do you need to do?

You have to take your car to the electrician and check the wiring and also check the voltage.

YouTube Videos: What car radio plays YouTube videos?

While you driving, watching YouTube videos makes your journey enjoyable. That means there is an option to watch the videos.

But everybody doesn’t know how to use a car stereo for watching videos on YouTube while they are traveling. For watching, you need to just a click and for this opportunity, you must-have thanks to technology.

First of all, I would like to say that you must have a double din head unit if you want to watch YouTube videos. And you can watch anything you like, it can be funny, horror, adventure and so on.

Now, I think there is a question in your head that, how can you watch YouTube videos with your double din car stereo.

Methods of playing YouTube videos:

Before going to the brief discussion about playing YouTube videos you need to ensure that you have an Android Phone, Aux Cable, Android Car Stereo, and internet availability. I think you have those things. So, the methods are:

  1. Connect the phone with the car stereo.
  2. And Connect with the Internet.

Connect the phone with car stereo:  

You need to connect your phone with a car stereo with the help of an Aux Cable. After setup, all connect your mobile phone and car stereo are now connected with each other.

So, you can handle the mobile phone from the car stereo and enjoy the YouTube videos streaming on the car screen.

Connect with the Internet:

At first, make sure that you have Internet availability because without the Internet you are unable to play videos. After that, you need to install Android Auto App from the play store.

If you are using an Apple device like iPhone then you have to install Apple Carplay. Don’t need to worry about this app’s installing because it is very much easy to install.

Now it’s time to connect this app with the Internet and wait until you don’t get the car stream app on your phone.

Because the app (car stream app) is the only way to get connected the mobile phone and car stereo with each other.

Does Car radio will work without a ground wire?

The dashboard of your car can’t work properly if do not ground the car stereo. Without any malfunctioning problem, the ground wire will allow your car stereo to work perfectly.

The signal noise may arise a problem when you are listening to music or anything else if there is no wire is grounded. 

It is not even better to power on if there is no grounded wire connected to the car radio because the current need to make a loop from the positive terminal to the sub and after that back to the battery via car chassis and ground cable of your car.

The grounded wire is something to avoid unused cables running. So, there is no major problem will occur without any ground wire but for using the car radio smoothly then it (Grounded wire) is very much needed.

Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs:

Q: Is reception improved by grounding antenna?

Ans: The grounding antenna doesn’t improve reception most of the time but in some rare cases, it may improve reception.

Grounding also reduces the chance of being struck by lightning in the TV antenna. In a words, it is very important to ground the antenna.

Q: Is there any problem if the ground wire touches the metal box?
Ans: There is no problem if the ground wire touches the metal box when the metal is grounded. And making the wire is cheaper.

Q: Is it possible to ground multiple wires together?

Ans: It is not a problem if multiple wires are ground together. You have to just make sure that the grounded wire has enough current capacity.

Q: What happens if anyone touches ground wire?

Ans: No problem happens if anyone touches the ground wire because only a single wire can’t make a circuit.

To make a circuit minimum of two-wire is required. It is applicable for both AC and DC. Nothing will occur if the wire is the same and single.

In Conclusion:

Radio turn on by itself is an indication of wiring problem behind the scene. You have to fix it to listen to music smoothly and without any interruption.

You can fix it by checking the wires that they are all ok. If you can’t find any wiring issue then maybe the problem is something else. So, this time you have to take it any trustable vehicle mechanic.