I have a 2012 G37 journey with the Bose speakers, every time I fill up my gas tank my radio freezes, when you spin the volume wheel the volume does not move and when you pull up the list of radio stations it appears empty. The radio also does this at random. But ALWAYS when I fill up gas. All other features of the screen still work like settings and AC controls. This issue temporarily fixes itself when I shut the car off for about 15 minutes and then the radio works perfect again. I’ve been reading threads and I think replacing the head unit might fix this ? Thanks for the help.

Side note, if I do replace the head unit would you recommend a new OEM unit or go aftermarket ?

 

I'm dying to understand the connection between the head unit and the fill nozzle? What did the other threads you read suggest?

 

Other people had issues of the radio freezing but no one has mentioned when they fill up their gas tank, in the end they got a new head unit. Today I got gas and I unplugged my Bluetooth radio transmitter before I filled up and to my surprise my radio didn’t freeze. What’s weird is that this issue is fairly new and I’ve had the the transmitter ever since I had the car. I’m going to get a new Bluetooth transmitter and see if I run into the same problem. So weird lol

 

I have a feeling the issue is in the timing moreso than fueling event itself. The only information the headunit receives after a refueling event is the "Distance to Empty" and "Avg. Miles per Gal." data from the Unified Meter AC Amp via CANBUS. This data is only polled after boot. The headunit does not know the antenna from the fuel nozzle. Something is "interfering" with the boot process- likely the BT dongle you mention.

Now, what happens when you make a quick run into the 7/11? Or the bank? Other periods of time where the shutoff interval is less than 15min.? In other words, does the radio "issue" present itself under other, similarly quick conditions or only at the gas station? And is it the same gas station every time?

After ≈15-30min. the car goes into deep sleep which cuts power to just about everything. This would allow for everything to quietly "reset" including your BT dongle.

As for why the dongle would present a problem now... things do wear out. If the problem recurs with the new dongle then you can suspect the headunit.