Sounder wrote:
The verdict is in. I went to the boat today to figure this out. I started by checking power at the yellow and red lines to the radio. At the radio harness end, yellow should always have power (as long as the battery switch is on), and red should have power when the key is on. In this way, yellow powers radio memory, saving time, presets, and theoretically turning the radio back on to the same channel you were listening to when the key went off. Red is main power, only powered up when the key is on.
The wires work exactly this way. So, the boat is wired correctly.
Bottom line, the Sony radio, (I think CDX-HS70MW is the model number) is a Piece of Sh*t. If you check out this radio on Sony.com, you'll see a similar comment about it having memory problems (no, that's not my comment).
Also, this unit has been replaced with a new model, CDX-H910UI, which also has USB input and direct iPod connections. Seems like a better unit, but who knows if it solves this problem. I might get one and give it a shot, just to keep radio power through the key, and to make the sirius connection easy. Switching to another manufacturer may be the way to solve it permanently, but then I have to get a new sirius unit too. Sheesh.
Meanwhile, IndySteve's solution works. I clipped the little wire ties that hold the harness together, and pulled the wire he references over to the fuse box. Then, connected it to an unused fuse connection, and all works fine. Thanks, Steve for the fine solution to the problem! If nothing else, it will give me time to figure out what to do, and a way to stop driving myself crazy with that stupid POS Sony radio.
Wait a minute. I'm hearing that you verified that the OEM wiring has the yellow memory wire receiving constant 12V. If this is true, then changing wiring direct to the fuse panel would result in the same symptoms all else being equal. Clearly that's not the case, I'm thinking that the OEM wiring of the yellow memory wire must have a momentary interrupt (probably during engine start) that the fuse panel connection does not, and this interrupt is enough to cause loss of sirius memory settings. At any rate, glad a fix was found this would be annoying.