setting the clock on a 1993 plymouth car radio

After installing a new battery, I needed to update the car clock in my 1993 Plymouth. The owners manual proved to be useless:

Electronic Digital Clock – The procedure for setting the clock varies slightly with each radio. The correct procedure is in the Chrysler Sound Systems Manual.

The Sound Systems Manual was not in the glovebox. I don’t think I’ve ever owned one. amazon.com had one for sale for about $20, but for $20, I’d just buy a wristwatch.

So I decided to provide an illustrated guide, because, after several mornings of fiddling around, I finally figured out the procedure. The images below were taken during rush hour, with one hand on the radio knob, the other on the camera, and my legs on the steering wheel. That evening, I was trying to set my clock to 4:30.

Chrysler Clock 1
The wrong time on the Chrysler Clock. Note my cassette adapter, which effectively makes the stereo a high-tech MP3 player (via the wire hanging out the front).

Step 1: Turn the radio on. The Chrysler engineers were clever to make this a feature. I would suggest tuning into a station that plays soothing music, because you are going to need it. This is perhaps the biggest secret held in the Chrysler Sound Systems Manual.

Chrysler Clock 2
Turning the Radio on. 92.7 is a local smooth jazz station.

Step 2: Press the SET button. This enters program mode. You should see a “P”. Since the radio is on, you could choose to set one of the 5 radio presets. Pressing one of the 5 buttons will set the current station to that button, but that is not our mission.

Chrysler Clock 3
Press the SET button. You will see the “P” which means you are now ready to program this high-tech device.

Step 3: Press the SEL button. This will allow you to change the hour. If you want to change the minutes, press the SEL again. From here on out, the process seems a little less like a cruel joke, and more like a normal stereo.

Chrysler Clock 3b
switching from hours to minutes is easy as pie with another press of the SEL button.

Step 4: Use the TUNE knob to change the time In this example, I need to turn 7 back to 4. Or forward to 4, depending on which way I turn the knob. Brilliant! If you need to change the minutes, press the SEL button again as described in Step 3, and then turn the TUNE knob.

Chrysler Clock 4
Turning the knob. The most fun part of this process.

Step 4: Press the SEL Button again to end your programming session

Chrysler Clock 5
If you do not see the correct time, listen to some nice music and try again after you settle down.

Step 5: Enjoy the clock’s digital goodness.

random

October 23rd, 2007

25 responses

25 responses


Do you want to comment?

Comments RSS and TrackBack Identifier URI ?

ed

that is a really spiffy looking clock/radio. i wish i had one that awesome ;).

October 24, 2007 8:37 am

dave

this was very helpful!

March 8, 2008 10:26 pm

Lew

This is truly the 21st Century when you can find something like this on the internet! Thanks, your efforts are appreciated. God bless.

March 15, 2008 7:23 am

Mike

Yeah, awesome. You have no idea how much this helped.

One piece of advice, next time do this in your driveway, not during rush hour!

May 24, 2008 1:08 pm

Bob

excellent info and very concise..Thank You vety much

August 30, 2008 1:09 pm

Orlando Airport Car Rental

I don’t have a problem w/ the picture quality at all. I have a 1997 Dodge Grand Caravan and I’ve had a problem with this radio before. Unfortunately, I caved in after not being able to figure it out for myself and had the dealer do it for me when I went in to service it. When I received my car back, I asked for instructions on how to re-set the clock if it were to happen again, but for some strange reason they were reluctant to do this (Hmmm!). I then went home, called up corporate headquarters and complained about the dealership and their lack of helping out someone who meticulously had my car serviced by them for 2 years without fail. Within 2 business days, I received a package from Chrysler with a detailed instruction manual for the radio. The portion on how to re-set the clock was highlighted by one of the people in the office. I also received a call from the dealership telling me that my next servicing is free of charge including oil change and checking fluids. I was satisfied, but it’s a sad case of events when I have to go out of my way to complain to corporate on something that they should have taken 5 minutes out of their day to aid me with. Thank you for posting this. I hope it helps a lot of people who suffer from looking at the wrong time for months or years (in some cases) at a time. Take care.

October 29, 2008 1:55 pm

Véro

God! Finally found it! Why does this thing is not in the owner’s book??
Thanks!

November 5, 2008 9:22 pm

chal

wow u r the man. thank you sooo much buddy. i figured out how to set the clock but couldnt figure out how to program the radio stations. this was a huge help. thank you
love
ck

November 22, 2008 5:05 pm

Mike Vitaioli

I own a 1993 Dodge Dakota with the same radio.
You’ve been a GREAT help!
Thank you very much!

March 8, 2009 8:35 pm

raven

anyone knows how to set a 1989 chrysler caravelle clock ????

March 19, 2009 3:47 pm

Denver1

WOW..That’s my clock for my 1992 Dodge 250 Pickup (minus the cassette player)…You probably saved me HOURS…I was starting to go the Owners Manual route…I don’t know if I ever would have gotten to setting the clock without your help…lol

THANKS!!!

April 13, 2009 11:40 pm

Denver1

Does anyone else who is familiar with this clock/radio know what the mysterious fourth button marked “NR” is used for??? I haven’t figured it out yet (just bought this vehicle used…with no manuals, etc)

April 13, 2009 11:48 pm

rickt

I have a 93 dodge 250 this was the same as mine thanks so much i was going nuts trying to set it to right time had waited till 12 noon to pull battery end of but this was a mess any way thanks so much

August 10, 2009 1:19 pm

Gerry

In response to the person who wanted to know
what the button “NR” was…… that stands
for noise reduction. It was intended to reduce tape noise or “hiss”. For the automobile with all the other ambient noises,
this feature is just about useless.

August 18, 2009 6:56 pm

Jay

I have a 1997 Dodge Caravan and this doesn’t work. Help?

August 21, 2009 9:36 am

Nelly

I finally find what I was looking for. Thanks for not giving up and then posting it on the web, They must have put the manuel together on a Friday night or a Monday morning. I can’t see this happening on any other working day of the week where they literly mist to add in the sound system page in the manuel. So you can see it is trough what they say on making things at these times of those days in question. So thank you once again for posting it. You saved me and my wallet.

January 24, 2011 9:31 pm

Ellen

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. I would have NEVER figured out this process on my own. We’ve just been remembering that the clock was 1 hour and 20 minutes slow — not very handy. My owner’s manual says exactly the same thing yours does, and I just threw up my hands, googled, and found your article. From your instructions, it was a breeze.

April 6, 2011 5:25 pm

lin

Thanks for sharing. I don’t suppose there’s a ‘troubleshooting’ section in that manual….? My clock and radio don’t work after I got it back from a repair, but they swear it wasn’t them. (right.) Instead of the time, or a station, I see one dash (“-“) on the dial. That means it’s getting power, but nothing actually works.

November 3, 2011 6:36 pm

Carl

I’ve had that happen to my car, the first time I had replace the radio(1995 intrepid), and this more recent time I can get it to work by turning the car off and then on again(replaced the 95 radio with a 93).

April 12, 2012 2:32 pm

Jessica

You are an amazing human. I would have never figured this out and my manual, like yours, is useless.
Thank you so much 🙂

November 8, 2013 6:13 pm

Bill

thanks…after many hours trying to figure it out i just about gave up !!!

March 15, 2014 10:46 pm

Jim

Thank you so much. I was at a total loss on how to change the clock. 😀

April 2, 2016 8:54 am

Tom M A

Thanks – been looking for some time now

June 14, 2016 2:42 pm

Cathy McCra

You are a God send. Had to borrow my mom’s car and the wrong time drove me crazy. I pushed and held every button. Lol. Thank you, thank you!!!

July 26, 2017 7:50 am

Kevin

Thank you very much for this helpful information!

November 7, 2018 7:34 pm

Comment now!
















Trackbacks