# Wierd Radio Problem



## erdons (Jan 13, 2005)

Dont know if this shoud go here, but here goes anyways. I have a pretty good condition '88 nissan sentra, has about 60,000 miles. Recently i hooked up an aftermarket cd player, small 250 watt amp and i was running two 10 inch subs on it, it all worked fine for about 6 months, but recently my alternator went bad and my dad replaced it, i thought maybe the amp and the subs were the culprit so i uninstalled the amp. Recently i had noticed that when im driving and i hit the brakes the radio would shut off and then turn back on, whats wierd is that it will not shut off everytime i hit the brakes, only sometimes. Any ideas on what the problem might be, i have alot of time to fix this since im not driving my sentra right now, its kinda messed up. It heats up in seconds and the car will shut off pretty quickly, i think my dads friend said it was one of the head gaskets. But thats a whole other problem that my dad will take care of soon enough.


----------



## Boostedvenge (Jan 11, 2005)

Check the routing of the wiring. Sounds like something's shorting out. Now, do just the subs kick off, or does the radio itself shut off and then come back, or do the speakers just cut out and then back on? Recheck all your wiring and verify that nothing's grounded that shouldn't be or bare wires touching.


----------



## erdons (Jan 13, 2005)

I unhooked the subs and the amp already so theres nothing wrong with them, the only thing that does turn off is the radio, it just goes off and then turns of sometimes when i brake, there most likely is a short somewhere because sometimes when i take a turn to quickly it also shuts off and then turns back on. I will check for shorts later on today.


----------



## ahardb0dy (Nov 9, 2003)

I would check the ground, there is no ground wire in the factory radio harness, when I bought my 90 sentra the radio would only work with the headlights on I discovered from a car audio forum that there is no ground in the factory harness and that's where the previous owner had the ground hooked to, I moved the ground wire and problem was solved.


----------



## Gsolo (Sep 11, 2003)

the radio is grounded through the frame in the dash...so check radio to frame, and try to wire radio ground to good body ground.


----------



## zimmer_kole (Jan 15, 2005)

you said the alternator went bad... check ALL of the wires coming off the alternator: no loose ends, no frayed wires, and most importantly, no bare wire from the positive wire off of the alternator is touching the frame, or anything else that is grounded. Maybe the reason that it happens sometimes when you hit the breaks is because the force of your stop lets a dangling wire short with another one: maybe a positive from your stereo touching the frame? or two wires crossing... is the stereo the only thing that turns off? does anything else lose power? do your headlights dim, or dash lights, or anything? this is important to know so you can isolate where the problem is.


----------



## Exalta (Jan 21, 2003)

Check your battery, the battery terminals and grounds and the alternator. Sounds like your batt is low on juice


----------

