How do I disable radio stays on after car is turned off?

[danford1]

I have an 08 SEL and like a lot of cars these days the radio will continue to play for 10 minutes or until a door is opened after you turn the car off.

I just had a remote start added to the car. Works great...

But. If I remote start the car then remote turn it off, the radio is still playing.

I want to disable the radio remains on feature. How do I do it?

 

Yes I know I can turn the radio off before I get out of the car but that doesn't always happen...

Thanks

Danford1

[akirby]

I have an 08 SEL and like a lot of cars these days the radio will continue to play for 10 minutes or until a door is opened after you turn the car off.

I just had a remote start added to the car. Works great...

But. If I remote start the car then remote turn it off, the radio is still playing.

I want to disable the radio remains on feature. How do I do it?

 

Yes I know I can turn the radio off before I get out of the car but that doesn't always happen...

Thanks

Danford1

 

I don't think you can. But if you're not in the car then why do you care if the radio stays on?

[FFHdriver]

I don't think you can. But if you're not in the car then why do you care if the radio stays on?

I think he wants to keep from running down the battery.

[drolds1]

I think he wants to keep from running down the battery.

 

 

The radio playing for 10 minutes is not going to run down the battery. I often do that while sitting in the car and waiting for my wife to come out of a store, etc. It's never affected the battery.

 

If that's his concern, he can just shut the radio off manually before exiting the car.

[Waldo]

My 2002 Focus allows you to push the radio button and turn on the radio when the car is not running. it's programmed to run for an hour before it shuts off automatically. If the Ford engineers know my Focus can go for an hour, I'm sure the Fusion can last for 10 minutes, especially considering the engine has just been running, so the battery should be well charged.

[danford1]

More explanation is in order.

First I have an amp and subwoofer etc. They can pull 30 amps... in winter I want all the battery capacity I have to start the car without worrying about it.

Next. If I know I'll be starting the car when I get out, I'll turn off the radio first.

That doesn't always happen...

Hypothetical story. Let's say I'm at a family gathering for Christmas. There are 10 cars crowed around my sister's house.

I arrived during Chaos unloading Christmas presents saying "Hi" to everyone etc. I fail to turn off the radio.

Now hours later when time to leave I hit the remote start to warm up the car. 5 minutes later my brother says "wait, I still need to show you the blah, blah. So I hit the remote start to turn off the car. The radio is still playing... My uncle goes to leave, hears the radio, comes back to the house to say someone left their radio on. He leaves. A minute later my other sister goes to leave, hears radio, comes back in. Hey idiot, you left your radio on ...You get the idea. I want to avoid ALL of the times Something like that can happen.

I want to simply turn off the feature that leaves the radio playing 10 minutes when the car is turned off. No matter how hard you try, you just won't turn the radio off 100% of the time you get out of the car. Not when you went your entire life leaving it on. I'm 59 and have been driving since I was 16. I'm not conditioned to turn the radio off before I exit the car.

 

How can I turn this feature off?

 

Danford1

[akirby]

That happens a lot? Remote starting the car then turning it offf remotely? I could see it happening once in a blue moon but enough to worry about - for a 10 minute period?

 

You could have the dealer check the modules to see if they can turn off the accessory delay feature but I'm not sure.

 

Here's a simpler solution - don't use the remote to turn off the car unless you know you turned off the radio.

[danford1]

I think I'll ask the dealer. I'll also search the internet. I can't be the only guy that wants to turn off this feature...

Someone must know how to do it.

 

Thanks for the replies so far.

Danford1

[drolds1]

That's quite a scenario you've painted there. Even with your additional audio equipment, 10 minutes isn't going to kill your battery, but try this company and see if they have anything that will work for you.

[Waldo]

I think I'll ask the dealer. I'll also search the internet. I can't be the only guy that wants to turn off this feature...

Someone must know how to do it.

 

Thanks for the replies so far.

Danford1

 

There is no way to turn off the feature unless you know how to hack software. Only thing I can think of is trying to fool the car into thinking a door is open, but then it's going to give you the door open warning all the time.

[Grey]

A service advisor is not going to know if you can disable the feature. You need to ask a tech that is familiar with the accessory delay "computer" to determine - if they cannot disable it, if they can adjust the time delay to one minute or so. It may be part of a diagnostic/trouble shooting procedure.

[akirby]

A service advisor is not going to know if you can disable the feature. You need to ask a tech that is familiar with the accessory delay "computer" to determine - if they cannot disable it, if they can adjust the time delay to one minute or so. It may be part of a diagnostic/trouble shooting procedure.

 

I seem to remember that the accessory delay is built into the radio itself and therefore may not be configurable.

 

I honestly can't see this happening more than once in a blue moon and even then it's only 10 minutes. Seems like overkill to me.

[rpreuss]

I seem to remember that the accessory delay is built into the radio itself and therefore may not be configurable.

 

I honestly can't see this happening more than once in a blue moon and even then it's only 10 minutes. Seems like overkill to me.

 

If the 08 is the same as the 10's, (I am sure it is because my 2004 Freestar is the same way), the "delayed off" accessory line is a circuit from a relay in the SJB. The actual delay is controlled by the SJB.

 

I do not know how the power for your sub and amp is controlled, but I doubt if it is directly from the delayed accessory line. Probably controlled by the radio itself so they are only on when your radio is on.

 

If this was installed by an installer, all you should have to do is have them switch your radio's power from the delayed accessory line to the regular accessory line. And if the sub and amp are not controlled by the radio, then they too, need to be moved from the delayed line to the regular line.

 

For example, the heater/ac fan is on the regular line, so that it cannot run after the ignition is shut off. You want your radio on the same circuit. And note, there is more than one fuse on each of these lines, for different accessory circuits.

[akirby]

If the 08 is the same as the 10's, (I am sure it is because my 2004 Freestar is the same way), the "delayed off" accessory line is a circuit from a relay in the SJB. The actual delay is controlled by the SJB.

 

I do not know how the power for your sub and amp is controlled, but I doubt if it is directly from the delayed accessory line. Probably controlled by the radio itself so they are only on when your radio is on.

 

If this was installed by an installer, all you should have to do is have them switch your radio's power from the delayed accessory line to the regular accessory line. And if the sub and amp are not controlled by the radio, then they too, need to be moved from the delayed line to the regular line.

 

For example, the heater/ac fan is on the regular line, so that it cannot run after the ignition is shut off. You want your radio on the same circuit. And note, there is more than one fuse on each of these lines, for different accessory circuits.

I could be wrong about this but for some reason I thought the accessory delay feed to the radio was just a signal wire not power and the logic to leave the radio on was in the radio itself not the SJB although it could still be controlled by the SJB through the input wire. But it would make sense for the SJB to use a relay to control all of the other lights and other devices directly.

 

If you could find out what signal the accessory delay wire was sending you could probably rig it so that it no longer works, I saw an article where a problem with a wiring harness in between the SJB feed and the head unit caused it not to stay on in accessory delay mode so maybe just cutting it would work but I'd get that confirmed by someone else first.

[rpreuss]

I could be wrong about this but for some reason I thought the accessory delay feed to the radio was just a signal wire not power and the logic to leave the radio on was in the radio itself not the SJB although it could still be controlled by the SJB through the input wire. But it would make sense for the SJB to use a relay to control all of the other lights and other devices directly.

 

If you could find out what signal the accessory delay wire was sending you could probably rig it so that it no longer works, I saw an article where a problem with a wiring harness in between the SJB feed and the head unit caused it not to stay on in accessory delay mode so maybe just cutting it would work but I'd get that confirmed by someone else first.

 

Here is the diagram for the SJB. Note the "Accessory Delay Relay". This is used to power all the wonderful things that work after you shut off the motor. Power windows, radio, mood lights, etc. They all stop when you open the door or after 10 minutes (or so).

SJB.pdf

[akirby]

Here is the diagram for the SJB. Note the "Accessory Delay Relay". This is used to power all the wonderful things that work after you shut off the motor. Power windows, radio, mood lights, etc. They all stop when you open the door or after 10 minutes (or so).

 

I know that is needed for door locks, windows, lights, etc. because those don't have any logic to control them otherwise. I just remember a problem with a radio where it sounded like the accessory delay logic was actually done in the radio itself but that may not be correct.

 

It would be easy enough to test - just put a voltmeter on both power feeds and see which ones are hot when.

[hoopdaddy6]

Try running your amp remote wire through the firewall to the fuse box under the hood to #36.

 

It won't turn the stereo off, but at least it won't be running your subs when you shut the engine off.

[hoopdaddy6]

At least that's how it works on my 2010

[danford1]

All great info guys. Now we are getting somewhere :-) Pretty soon I'll be reading about what color wire to cut and where the easiest place is to get to said wire. That is the kind of info I need.

 

The problem with the added audio amp is it gets its turn on signal from the input, not the normal blue wire remote turn on.

When the radio is one, the amp is on.

 

Keep the info flowing. This is great!

 

Danford1

[hoopdaddy6]

All great info guys. Now we are getting somewhere :-) Pretty soon I'll be reading about what color wire to cut and where the easiest place is to get to said wire. That is the kind of info I need.

 

The problem with the added audio amp is it gets its turn on signal from the input, not the normal blue wire remote turn on.

When the radio is one, the amp is on.

 

Keep the info flowing. This is great!

 

Danford1

 

Is that a factory amp or something? I've never heard of one that works like that.

 

Here's another thought too.. The SJB utilizes a highly programable firmware.

 

The dealership has a very expensive computer that can plug into the SJB and change certain settings. For example, change accessory delay times, enable/disable daytime running lights, etc. I just had the dealership plug into mine and enable DRLs. It cost me 1/2 hour labor charge @ about 55 bucks. It only took about ten minutes to sift through the menus to find the right setting. I can't guarantee the setting you seek is programable, but it might be worth asking experts at your dealership if they can completely disable the accessory delay for the stereo. Heads-up- this is very new and high tech stuff that most dealership techs know nothing or little about. I had to meet with four different dealerships here before finding one who actually knew how to enable DRLs. Be persistent. Most will tell you it can't be done. They're idiots.

 

Good luck!

[akirby]

All great info guys. Now we are getting somewhere :-) Pretty soon I'll be reading about what color wire to cut and where the easiest place is to get to said wire. That is the kind of info I need.

 

The problem with the added audio amp is it gets its turn on signal from the input, not the normal blue wire remote turn on.

When the radio is one, the amp is on.

 

Keep the info flowing. This is great!

 

Danford1

 

Easiest way is to unplug the head unit and test the wires in normal Run mode and in accessory delay mode. That should tell you which wires are which. You might be able to simply cut the accessory delay wire to the radio or just take it out of the connector. Whatever you do make sure it can be put back together easily.

[Waldo]

I could be wrong about this but for some reason I thought the accessory delay feed to the radio was just a signal wire not power and the logic to leave the radio on was in the radio itself not the SJB although it could still be controlled by the SJB through the input wire. But it would make sense for the SJB to use a relay to control all of the other lights and other devices directly.

 

 

Yep, looks like you are wrong on that one. The wiring diagram shows just three wires between the SJB and radio, one ground, one hot at all times (keeps the clock going) and once switched. The switched wire runs through the accessory delay relay in the SJB, but that relay is also controlled by the key position. So cut that wire and the radio will never turn on.

[akirby]

Yep, looks like you are wrong on that one. The wiring diagram shows just three wires between the SJB and radio, one ground, one hot at all times (keeps the clock going) and once switched. The switched wire runs through the accessory delay relay in the SJB, but that relay is also controlled by the key position. So cut that wire and the radio will never turn on.

 

So you could replace the accessory delay power feed with a regular switched power feed and that would do the trick. Although I still don't think it's worth the effort.

[danford1]

So you could replace the accessory delay power feed with a regular switched power feed and that would do the trick. Although I still don't think it's worth the effort.

 

Sorry it took so long to respond...

 

I still DO think it is worth the effort.

Does anyone know which colored wire feeds the accessory delay relay? I would like to unhook that and give it a switched circuit operated by the key like akirby suggested.

Thanks

Danford1

[akirby]

Sorry it took so long to respond...

 

I still DO think it is worth the effort.

Does anyone know which colored wire feeds the accessory delay relay? I would like to unhook that and give it a switched circuit operated by the key like akirby suggested.

Thanks

Danford1

 

You should get a voltmeter and check the different wires to be sure with or without a wiring diagram. Turn off the ignition and find a wire with 12V. Open the door and it should drop to 0V.