Stereo cutting out

[danworth]

Im not normally interested in stereos and so on. My car came from japan with no stereo, and as i use my car as a daily driver doing 40miles a day i wanted something to listen to.

I'm using standard speakers and only have fronts.

I converted the stock harness to ISO (soldered)

The stereo works fine but randomly will cut out and then constantly reboots until i turn the engine off and back on again.

If i use the stereo stationary its fine, i turned on all accessories and off again and repeated and it didn't cut out. But if i drive off 2mins in the journey it will start to happen.

I've grounded the stereo housing to chassis also.

and it still occurs if the volume is turned right down.

I think it may be my battery as i bought one about 6months ago but bought a low power/amperage one as the one in the car wasn't holding charge. but dont want to waste money on buying another battery if its just something simple...

also the stereo feels cold so not over heating...

any one got any ideas???

thanks.

[Ivan141]

You sure the stereo is in good working order? Even on a poor battery the stereo will not just cut out while driving. Either the wiring is bad and will cut power when vibrations increase, or something inside the stereo has gone bad and responds poorly to vibration.

[danworth]

its a brand new stereo...

so it isn't battery then?

[danworth]

Okay ive try another stereo and it does the same thing

I checked the voltage with a multimeter. it gets 11.3v. when braking for a bend it gets as low as 10.2v. after braking and then accerating again the stereo cuts out and the voltage jumps from 11v~ to 3-5v~ constantly up to 11v down to 3-5v again. if i turn off the ignition and back on again the voltage is fine but it then occur again 1min later...

no lights dim when this occurs...

[Ivan141]

First problem:
Your alternator is probably dead. Voltage should be around 14-15 volts while driving, does the battery light light-up on your dash? 10 volts is pretty low for a healthy battery so it's either draining from lack of charge or you indeed have a bad battery. First things first though: check your alternator. about 14~15 volts charge voltage at the battery terminals is normal at idle.

If the voltage at the radio is going from 11 to 3,5 I would start worrying about an intermittant short circuit. But try measuring again with the radio out.

[saqibAE86]

mine had the same prob turned out to be the live wire thats always on was crap and my aletenator was fine and battery was new so just fed a amp power lead to the stereo from the battery and solved the problem but thats just a sugestion from what happend to my trueno...

saq

[danworth]

the alternator is 8months old. It was replaced when i bought the car. and the battery is new also.

I've not checked the charge at the battery though.


I've read that i may need to run a ground to the chassis... at the moment i'm using the grounds in the loom for the stereo...

At the moment i've left it unplugged and will have to have another look at the weekend...

[Ivan141]

Measure charge voltage at the battery.. Since your alternator is almost new it's not likely to be broken. An additional ground wire to the chassis is never a bad thing.

[danworth]

well ground to the chassis didn't work.

voltage from battery is 14.8v as it is at the fuse box. i had the dash out trying to find where the wires went but gave up in the end as day light was going. used the power for the cigar lighter and the stereo works fine.

weird that the wires for the stereo are 10-11v but everything else is 12v with ignition off and 14.8v with it on... japanese stereos aren't lower voltage are they???

[Ivan141]

No they are not... You probably have a rotten wire in there somewhere.. it happens on these old cars sometimes.