Smart Radio 9 System

George Leonard · 08-01-2009, 05:12 PM

Hi All, I just picked up my new Smartie this week and Im still getting used to it since it is a bit different in some respects to other cars I have owned. Being on a budget, I bought my car with no radio and consequently received no instructions for a radio with my ownership materials. But I was able to find a guy who upgrades radios for a living and he happened to have a brand new Smart radio 9 system which he let me have. Only problem is no instructions and this radio seems weird.

For starters, it can be turned on whether the car is running or not (a feature I rather like so long as I remember to turn it off when I park the car). Also, even when I leave the radio off when I leave the car, the radio turns itself back on as soon as I start it up again. Is this the way it is supposed to work?

Does anyone have a set of radio 9 system instructions or know where I could locate one on the web? Any help would be sincerely appreciated. Thanks

fpage77 · 08-01-2009, 05:23 PM

Congratulations on the new smart. I guess you must have a pure.

Page 143 of manual at http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/for..._owners_manual

George Leonard · 08-01-2009, 05:54 PM

Hi Again, I just did a search through the technical section (which I should have done before posting) and found that my radio problems are quite common among other Smart Car owners. So I feel better even though the "problems" still exist. Apparently Smart cars are supposed to have smart radios. Mine must be brain dead. I guess thats why I got it free.

fpage77 · 08-01-2009, 06:16 PM

I have a 2009 and had to test it because of you.

If I have radio on when turn off the car it's on when I turn it on next. If I have the radio off and turn off radio when I turn it on next it's off still. I can turn my radio on and off when there is no key in ignition. I think you got one of the buggy radios that dealers were swapping out.

George Leonard · 08-01-2009, 07:25 PM

When you say buggy radio, do you mean one that came from a horse and buggy?

Because thats what this one feels like. I cant believe Im having trouble with my radio of all things. This isnt rocket science anymore, folks. Making reliable radios is something that we should be able to take for granted-especially the base radio without the fancy bells and whistles of the better radios.

But actually, it cant be the radio at all. It has to be the electric feed to the radio that is responsible. Afterall, the radio cant operate without electricity coming to it from some source or other. Even if I changed it out to an aftermarket radio, I would still be able to operate it without having the key in the ignition. But Im being led to believe that this is actually the way the system was designed and that it should shut itself off after an hour. But dont tell that to those of our number who have found their Smart Cars with dead batteries after coming home from vacations.

I couldnt even drive my new car home without having to turn around and bring it back to have the computer software wiped clean off the ecu and replaced with an updated version. Now dont ask me why they didnt do that before I picked it up! I think that this is going to be an interesting ride- one full of surprises with many highs and lows. Only time will tell, I guess.

NCC1701 · 08-01-2009, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by George Leonard

Even if I changed it out to an aftermarket radio, I would still be able to operate it without having the key in the ignition.

Not necessarily. My Kenwood cannot be turned on without the key. I've read elsewhere that this is true for other units as well.

Quote:

I think that this is going to be an interesting ride- one full of surprises with many highs and lows. Only time will tell, I guess.

Hopefully, most of the surprises will be pleasant ones.

John_H · 08-01-2009, 08:19 PM

I only have an online manual for the Radio 10.

jimvw57 · 08-02-2009, 05:20 AM

The newer radios have 12v running to them, all the time to keep the memory alive. Smart radios can be used with the key removed for about an hour. Just push the power button and the radio works. After about an hour, it shuts off.

The radio being on when you start the car was on the earlier radios and the later ones didn't do that. Not really a big deal, just turn it off if you don't want it on.

We tried it on my 08 and it lasted just short of 1 hour before it shut off. Since the radio is always on in my car, I never tried to see if it stayed off when restarting the car.

74AMX304V8 · 08-20-2009, 10:02 PM

was at my dealer today to get the 2.0 update (after 5 months of procrastination) and I asked to have the radio 9 replaced due to it coming on when starting (since day 1). I was told this was normal and new swap would not fix the problem. What ???? I tried searching for posts about this as I thought I read a year ago, they were swapping these early units out.