Radio playing all by itself

[Naderchaser]

My radio will come on by itself long after i am away from car. This happened a few years back and i cant remember how i fixed it. It will drain battery. Could it be a fuse? I randomly hear cd and get a msg cd malfunctioning also.

 

[Handy Andy]

If you leave a CD in the player - don't!

Reason is this, on hot days the plastic will warp, and you won't be able to eject it, so you'll be stuck playing that Celine Dion and the Titanics' Greatest Hits Soundtrack for the rest of your life, or the vehicles - whichever comes first.

It could be worse; you could have lost that Carpenters Christmas CD only to find the kids put it in there along with a credit card you lost a long time ago.

But all kidding aside, try a good cleaning of the keyboard console and a battery pull-the-cable reset together might help.

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

If you push on the power knob, the radio will play for 1 hour. However if the knob or circuit is faulty, it may be activating on its own.
Pulling the radio fuses or disconnecting the battery is a good suggestion and one the dealer would probably attempt...then charge for.

 

[Handy Andy]

Although cleaning the keyboard would possibly be the "end of the line" of many that would think...

"well, if it keeps playing - I'll just pull the fuse and find another"

I guess I also should mention that the "fitment" of the audio head might need to have some trim removed and reseated to see if the CD slot to plastic fascia was binding or forcing the player to activate even when there was no CD in there - just the slot and it's alignment to the head unit just underneath that section of trim.

I have seen this bind even on mine which then made me take apart the dash. Which is not an easy thing to do nor is it a 5minute job, so I don't recommend that someone take apart their dashboard - especially on an older car that has some cycles of seasons - where the heat of summer sun, and the cold of winters snow - have fixated the plastic that the trim pieces are. For if you start to take it apart - that time in those conditions will make reassembly more difficult if not impossible - especially if the plastic breaks off at the tab that seats the trim - then you have even more issues.

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

If you pull a fiesta radio out of the dash do you need to enter a code to unlock it? Hondas are bad for that.
I dont even know why OEMs do that...who steals a factory radio, haha

 

[scotman]

Operational “issues” with the original factory audio equipment is an increasingly common problem.
The easiest way to eliminate most of the problems is to replace the head unit.
I’ve had my audio head unit out on several occasions to route wire and never had an issue with it powering up when I reinstalled it.
There are two audio options that were factory installed on the 2011 to 2013 fiesta. Basic level and premium sound with Sirius XM.
It looks like the premium sound version is the one to get if you are looking to buy a used Fiesta and you know that you will be trying to upgrade it to more current levels of technology.
Next summer I will be installing a new multi media touchscreen audio system in my 2011 Fiesta. I have never been fond of the Microsoft Sync system. I’m also not impressed with the Ford utilities menu /HMI in the little screen either. So I am going to chuck it in favor of one of the seventeen choices for multi media that Crutchfield audio offers on their website. They have the install kit and the cables needed to have everything that the latest Sync has, including a provision for a reverse camera.