Question: Yesterday I was driving my car and listening to my favorite podcast episode on my phone when the audio stopped coming from my car speakers and started playing on my phone. I tried unplugging and plugging the USB cord back into my phone but it still doesn’t work. I have to drive to work tomorrow, and I can’t survive my two-hour daily commute without my podcasts! Can I fix the USB port in my car?
Answer: A USB port in the car is a very important tool these days because it allows you to listen to your own music, navigate, access Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and even charge your devices. In contrast, Bluetooth and auxiliary inputs might only allow you to transmit audio, which is why a USB port has become increasingly important. If your USB input is not working properly, there could be a few reasons why.
Bad fuse
Your USB port is protected by a fuse and that fuse can blow if you plug something faulty into your USB port or something that shares the same fuse. For example, in a 2023 Ford F150, the USB smart charger shares a fuse with the auxiliary power point on a 20-amp fuse. Likewise, if your USB port is on an aftermarket stereo, the fuse that might have blown could be the stereo’s fuse. Fixing this is easy because all you’d have to do is pull the blown fuse, verify if it’s blown and replace it. Sometimes, you will also have a few spare fuses in the fuse compartments. Be sure to check your owners manual before changing out a fuse. This will tell you now only where your fuse boxes are located, but what exact fuse powers which component of the car, making for an easy fix. Of course, if your new fuse blows again, then you might have an electrical issue somewhere.
Dirty USB port
A dirty port will cause problems with the USB connection. On YouTube, you’ll find videos of people magically getting their phones fixed once the repair specialist removes all the gunk from their phone’s port.But in this case it might also be your car’s USB port that has all the dirt and debris. You can clean the port using something that’s small and non-metallic such as a floss pick, Q-tip or toothpick.
Maybe it’s not the USB port’s fault
In my experience, a common culprit that leads to a poor connection involves the USB cable itself. Some symptoms include intermittent connection, slow charging and data transfer issues.. Other times, your phone will not charge at all. The solution is to swap out the cable with a new one that you know is working and see if that changes anything.
Other suspects include the phone that you’re using. If your phone has ever seen water damage or has taken a fall, you might have something faulty in the internal hardware of the phone which is leading to this connection problem. The solution is to try connecting with another phone to your car’s USB port and seeing if there’s a difference.
Xuyun Zeng is a content strategist with a wide-ranging content background including tech, journalism, cars and health care. After graduating with highest honors in journalism, Xuyun led a newspaper to win eight awards, helped start an award-winning film industry podcast and has written over a hundred articles about cars repair, state laws and insurance. Prior to joining Jerry, Xuyun worked as a freelance SEO consultant with a mission to create the best content that will help readers and grow organic traffic.
Chris Burkhardt is a writer and editor with over a decade of experience across various storytelling mediums. With Jerry, Chris hopes to help anyone with a question about their vehicle easily find the answers they are looking for. Whether you need to know how much insurance costs for a classic car, how to replace a broken light or tell if you need an oil change, Chris wants to help you find solutions the best he can. Prior to joining Jerry, Chris was a digital content producer and writer for NBC and a freelance editor for NerdWallet. A graduate of the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication, if Chris is not working on content, he’s sure to be found cheering on his Ducks!
