About a week ago I installed a sirius starmate unit in my 2004 8. I used the P.I.E. connector for the AUX IN and I spliced the cigarette lighter for power. Everything was running fine until tonight.

I was listening to the starmate for a good 30 minutes, then the head unit turned off. At first I thought it was the startmate so I played with that then finally figured out it was off. I turned it back, but when I did, (and every time after) it came back on as AM on what ever preset was last on. In two minutes or less it turned back off. I turned it back on. This cycle continued with the head unit turning off every 30-180 seconds.

I tried listening to a CD and the FM radio with and with out the starmate turned on. In every case it stayed on. I then tested on EX and again, in 30-180 seconds it would turn off.

I also turned off the car for about five minutes and say the same behavior. I also tested with the car off, but the power on.

Any Ideas what this could be?

Well I tested it again today and I am still experiencing the same behavoir. Even with the starmate turned off and unplugged, when the head unit is tuned to EX it turns off.

It sounds like there may be two fuses for our radio. One for the main power and one for the acc power. The acc tells the radio when to power on depending on the key and the main power stores all your settings when the car is off. If the main power fuse is blown then if will forget all your settings as soon as you turn it off. I would start by checking every fuse in the car.

I took a look at the main fuse box, nothing looked blown in there. I doubt it is something electrical because I can use the FM modulator fine. I can also listen to a CD or AM/FM with no problems. It only turns off when the head unit is tuned to EX, with and without the starmate powered on.

Have you checked the connector of the PIE box on the back of the radio?
Make sure it is firmly seated.
I had similar issues....

I just started experiencing this problem after having my carputer installed for over a year. Did you come to any conclusion on what is causing this problem? I'm starting to suspect something is wrong with my PIE adapter but I won't know for sure until iit is replaced. Any suggestions?