www.iFourWinns.com

Late night, but it worked!!! I'll post details tomorrow, Saturday.

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2008 H210
Volvo 5.0 GXi
"Summer Sled"
Indianapolis

Okay, here's the solution. It works perfectly, keeping presets for Sirius and FM as well as allowing the radio to stay on when the ignition is turned off.

There are 4 wires plugged into the back of the ignition key, find the one that goes to the radio. The colors were different than in the schematic. I was in a hurry and got frustrated trying to trace the wire so I unplugged one at a time. The first two, the engine wouldn't crank so it wasn't those, the third was the radio. It was the bottom-most wire. I just added a foot of wire to this one and attached it to the fuse block. I used the trim tab position and added a 15 amp fuse. That's it!

Just remember to turn the radio all the way off. You need to hold in the off button for a couple of seconds until the display goes dark.

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2008 H210
Volvo 5.0 GXi
"Summer Sled"
Indianapolis

Excellent! THanks for posting the details! I'll try this. I might also try swapping red and yellow to see if that works too. That way I'll know that if the key is off, the radio is off. We've had rainy weather a lot lately, so I haven't been down to the boat, but I'll try to do it this week.

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2008 Four Winns F224
5.0 Volvo Penta
Towing with Audi Q7 4.2 V8

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.

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2008 Four Winns F224
5.0 Volvo Penta
Towing with Audi Q7 4.2 V8

Kind of odd, my boat is an 08' and I have the same Sony CDX-HS70MW stereo, but I don't have any memory issues with mine. It keeps the time, presets, and sound settings just fine. The only problem I have is when I'm listening to it while the boat is running and I turn the key from RUN to ACC... usually there is like a 5 second pause as the power cycles and the stereo comes back on just like I had it, but not always... sometimes I have to hit the source button to power it back on, but its always at the same place/setting it was before. This also happens sometimes when switching from ACC to RUN, i.e. starting the boat up.

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2008 FW F204 - 5.0 VP "Stand On It"
Former Boat: Larson 186 LXI - 4.3 VP

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.

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2007 Horizon 200
4.3L GXi/ SX 225 HP

But is it also keeping Sirius presets? That was the problem with mine.

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2008 H210
Volvo 5.0 GXi
"Summer Sled"
Indianapolis

My thought is that the problem is in the Sony. I think the yellow wire provides memory power to the radio as my clock and FM presets were fine. Internally, I don't think the head-unit provides power to the Sirius module unless the main powern wire is "hot". Thus why no Sirius presets were staying. Most likely a design flaw.

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2008 H210
Volvo 5.0 GXi
"Summer Sled"
Indianapolis

Okay, you have me thinking again. I did not start the boat to test all this, just connected the wires, and turned the key off and on. The radio stayed on. You may be right that when I start the motor, there is a brief interrupt in the power. That could be the root of the problem.

I guess I'll have to go for a cruise tonight and test it. Bummer.

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2008 Four Winns F224
5.0 Volvo Penta
Towing with Audi Q7 4.2 V8

We have a winner! Jim is right! When you turn the key, power to the fuse box is lost. This is what causes the flash to the radio, and must be what resets it. I think that if the radio is on when you turn the key, then the radio retains the station you're on, and the clock keeps time. But, if the radio is off, it's depending on the memory power, and when you turn the key, power is cut and memory lost.

So I guess the only real solution is to run a memory wire directly to the battery. This doesn't mean, though, that the sony radio isn't a POS.

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2008 Four Winns F224
5.0 Volvo Penta
Towing with Audi Q7 4.2 V8

Indy...I just read your solution and was checking to make sure nothing has changed, since I too will be doing what you suggested. So, all i have to do is disconnect the hot from the ignition and run it to a continual hot at the box and fuse her up....right?

This is really a PITA....you finally get a station on Sirius you like and it drops it every time you shut down....then you have to scroll all the way to the station again. Thanks for finding the solution and posting it....i was about to smash this thing with a brick!

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http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/o71 ... wqm355.jpg


08' H210SS
VP 5.7Gi

It's worked on mine for a couple weeks weeks now. Just make sure you manually turn off the radio when you're done for the day by holding in the off button for a couple seconds. The screen should go completely dark, but it will save your presets.

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2008 H210
Volvo 5.0 GXi
"Summer Sled"
Indianapolis

Steve,

Thanks a ton for this post - i rewired mine also and it works....got lucky and my wire was long enough for the reach and already had a spare plug so just unplug and re-plug to the box. Lord that is tons better.

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http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/o71 ... wqm355.jpg


08' H210SS
VP 5.7Gi

Now that I've had my radio set up this way for a while, I notice that if I turn it off completely (holding the button in for a few seconds), next time the clock resets to 100. Anyone else experience this? Otherwise, it does keep the memory settings.

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2008 Four Winns F224
5.0 Volvo Penta
Towing with Audi Q7 4.2 V8

My clock keeps time...but if you're out on the water, does time matter? Too bad it doesn't reset to 5:00 (somewhere).

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2008 H210
Volvo 5.0 GXi
"Summer Sled"
Indianapolis