How To Fix Kenwood Car Stereo Keeps Going into Protect Mode
If you have a Kenwood car radio in your vehicle’s din slot that is stuck in protect mode, no sound will come out of the speakers. This can happen because the chip’s software is corrupted and needs to be factory reset, or because the speaker cables are shorting out. We’ve lately had a few Kenwood CD Players returned to the shop that are having this problem. Before returning these to the manufacturer, one of our technicians looked at them and discovered that they could be readily rectified with a fast factory reset.
This is the quickest way to fix a Kenwood headunit that has become stuck in protect mode:
1) Put the CD player on.
2) Take the front panel off.
3) Locate the reset button and press it for five seconds.
4) It should reboot after releasing itself from the protect mode.
If it doesn’t work, you’ll need to double-check all four speaker wire connections on the wiring harness’s rear. This will require you to remove it from the dashboard of the vehicle and inspect each individual connection. This is critical because any of the audio wires could come into contact with one another, causing the radio to go into protect mode. If it doesn’t work, try removing each speaker from the vehicle and inspecting the wiring on the rear to see if they are shorting out. This is possible because, over time, the vibrations from the bass might knock the terminals loose.