Aftermarket HU Randomly reboots

[Satan]

Replaced the JVC head unit with a Sony recently.

Every once in awhile, the JVC would just appear to turn off and then back on. Then just stopped doing it for a long time. I installed the Sony a few weeks back and just today, it rebooted 3x on my way into work.

By reboot I mean it appears to lose power and then come back on. I tried to see if I could notice anything else going on, but no other events/symptoms to report. With the JVC, I almost thought it was when I pressed on the brake pedal, but that wasn't the case.

I have a jumper harness from the HU to the factory connections. The speakers are wired with aftermarket wires all the way to the HU. The only other thing is that when I installed the Sony, I removed the ground wire from the harness and attached directly to the chassis/ground. I had an alternator whine (both HUs) that this helped reduce.

Just weird.

Anyone else had ghosts in their machine?

 

[rayall01]

Guaranteed it's a loose connection. Either in the car wiring, or in the unit itself, maybe a cold solder joint. A broken fuse, (not a burnt one), can cause problems too.

 

[Satan]

That's what I'm thinking.... where I will have to just trace it all back and make sure that a connection's not loose somewhere, or that the power wire is not coming into contact with ground somehow.

 

[rayall01]

That's what I'm thinking.... where I will have to just trace it all back and make sure that a connection's not loose somewhere, or that the power wire is not coming into contact with ground somehow.

That wire harness goes behind the dash, so from the radio, behind the dash, and out to the engine bay/fuse box, and down the left kick panel too.

 

[Satan]

I just installed the DEI 530T (one touch window up/down module) over the weekend and was messing in the kickpanel area. So I am almost sure I did something there, since I hadn't had the issue in a loooong time. Going to mess with it tonight and see what I find.

Thanks for the tips/ideas!

 

[lewis15498]

could be that the faceplate terminals aren't making good contact. Clean them and make sure they line up properly.

 

[rayall01]

could be that the faceplate terminals aren't making good contact. Clean them and make sure they line up properly.

Correctamundo! I shoulda remembered that, cause it happened to me.

 

[Satan]

I played around with the faceplate to make sure. I also relooked at the wiring for the alarm/window module and made double-sure that the connections are good and protected. Seems like everything's fine now.

I have the alarm, window module, and wiring still on the driver's side floor. Will be permanently installing this weekend, after I'm sure everything's good.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[rayall01]

Take a small brass wire brush to the faceplate contacts, and lightly clean them. That was what solve my faceplate issue, when it happened to me.