Radio turns itself on when car is off

I have a 2012 Golf TDI whose radio sometimes comes on by itself when it's cold. It occurs several different ways. This morning (6 degrees Fahrenheit) I walked outside and heard music. I realized when I got to the car that it was coming from the car. For what it's worth, any time this happens the source is the iPod.

My wife, who is religious about shutting everything off before turning the car off, had something slightly different happen yesterday. When she started the car to leave work yesterday, the radio was blaring (with the iPod as the source). She had driven to work and said she didn't even use the radio yesterday.

One other time when it was below 0, I kept turning the radio off only to have it come on again immediately.

I'd be happy to take it to the dealer, but because this happens randomly, i don't want to be without a car only to learn "we couldn't reproduce the problem." Has anyone else noticed this problem? Thanks.

I don't know but I think I would investigate the on/off push button. Ever spill a liquid on it?

With my 2002 golf I would resolve this by pulling the fuse by drivers door. The car is long gone; destroyed in a crash. It happened infrequently, but I had the fuze position memorized at the time. However, my wife still has a 2002 golf and it happened for the first time last night. Once in 14 years is OK.
BTW, I asked about this at VW service at the time; they had never heard of such a thing.

I would start by unplugging the I-pod.

Donald

My vehicles with this issue were both MK4's. (No iPod; not even a CD). It seems evident that this has plague VW radios for over a decade; despite the service writer saying he's never heard of it. I have not had this happen in my sportwagen, but apparently Brianth has.

It just so happens that an older thread on VWVortex just got bumped that might have a solution to this issue. It is a software update for the radio and it seems that it applies to some 2012 and early 2013 RCD-510s.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...A-Bluetooth-fixes-–-before-and-after-pictures

04Passat said:

...It seems evident that this has plague VW radios for over a decade; despite the service writer saying he's never heard of it. I have not had this happen in my sportwagen, but apparently Brianth has.

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I would say 'plague' is a bit of an exaggeration. Since your SportWagen has not had this problem, it is evident that there is no plague.

In the family we've had 2000, 2001, 2002 single DIN, 2002 double DIN, and 2003 Jettas and have had only one problem with the radios. The 2002 D-DIN went dead once. a common problem with the 2002's. The quick fix was to pull the fuse and then reinstall it to reset the radio. The permanent fix would have been to replace the radio, but since the car was out of warranty, I just let it go.

Some mk5's have had issues with the S-contact in the ignition switch sticking. When this happens the radio stays on even after the key is removed from the ignition. The fix is to replace the ignition switch.

With the newer radios, they turn off when the ignition is turned off, even if the key is still in the ignition. At first I thought this was a defect, but it turns out that this is the way they were designed.

vr6chris said:

I would say 'plague' is a bit of an exaggeration. Since your SportWagen has not had this problem, it is evident that there is no plague.

In the family we've had 2000, 2001, 2002 single DIN, 2002 double DIN, and 2003 Jettas and have had only one problem with the radios. The 2002 D-DIN went dead once. a common problem with the 2002's. The quick fix was to pull the fuse and then reinstall it to reset the radio. The permanent fix would have been to replace the radio, but since the car was out of warranty, I just let it go.

Some mk5's have had issues with the S-contact in the ignition switch sticking. When this happens the radio stays on even after the key is removed from the ignition. The fix is to replace the ignition switch.

With the newer radios, they turn off when the ignition is turned off, even if the key is still in the ignition. At first I thought this was a defect, but it turns out that this is the way they were designed.

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True... Though I think you can do some VCDS trickery to get the radio to stay on when the key remains in the ignition after turning the car off.

The event Thursday was the first time in 14 years. Unfortunatly it has happened twice since. Odd that I've had only two mk4's and they both exhibited this behavour with the radio. Took 14 years to affect my wife's car, though. If it continues to happen as frequently as this, maybe I can figure out what's happening.

I'll scan ecm next week and investigate the SW patch & check out VW vortex thread. Bizarre behavour.

Ghost..... of Ferdinand Porsche.

It should go off in 30 minutes.

automatic shutdown

gmcjetpilot said:

Ghost..... of Ferdinand Porsche.

It should go off in 30 minutes.

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Good point. Perhaps the auto off cycle will defeat this glitch. Just wait!!

You can turn the volume down while it is operating, before you shut down. Maybe don't even bother to shut it off. It should turn off for you.

Been away for two weeks. While I was gone, I pulled fuse on radio; wife thinks car will burn while we are gone if radio turns itself on. When I got back, I put fuse in, turned on key and turned on radio. Shut off key. One minute later radio turns itself on. Can't turn off from head end. Tried several times to turn it off. Cycled key to run; not start. Radio turns off and stays off; at least as far as I know it hasn't turned back on in the last eight hours. Radio may turn off after time elapsed to conserve battery; unsure.

gmcjetpilot said:

Ghost..... of Ferdinand Porsche.

It should go off in 30 minutes.

Click to expand...

It does, but it is just as apt to turn on again.

Only cycling key will shut it off; but not always, and not permanently. I'd expect there might cut one of several power leads to the radio although it's now turning off while driving and I can't turn it back on without cycling the key. i will scan with vag-com later, but I think it might be best to just buy an aftermarket radio.