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Aftermarket radio shutting off constantly (please help!)

7K views 31 replies 11 participants last post by  A Guy 
#1 · (Edited)
Greetings fellow gearheads!

I have a problem with my '09 Challenger SE's radio.

I purchased the car in Sept. 2017. Immediately I replaced the oem deck with a Pioneer. At first everything was golden, then about a year ago it began turning off for no reason. At first it was very sporadic (once a week, once every few months, etc.). As of two weeks ago its shutting off and on every damn day.

Here's what I can tell you so far:
-Mechanic checked wiring, connections, etc. Nothing out of the ordinary.
-Replaced the Pioneer with a Kenwood deck last week, problem remained.
-Replaced the module for aftermarket radios which my mechanic said was gone with a new one. Problem remained.
-Went to dealer and had stock amp re-flashed. No change.
-Disconnected negative terminal of my battery for 20 minutes and reconnected. Still nothing. Checked voltage and battery runs at a solid 14 and change.
-Wiring harness and adaptor installed is the correct one (PAC RP4-CH11).

The radio shutting off seems to be random (regardless of whether I'm over bumps, solid roads, inclines or even just parked). Sometimes it stays off for 30 seconds, sometimes for 10 minutes at a time. Sometimes opening the driver door and shutting it will cause it to blip on temporarily then shut off again. Another thing to note is whenever it does shut off, the turn signals in the dash begin freezing and flashing at irregular intervals (even though outside the car they appear normal) and occasionally this is accompanied with an airbag warning light coming on briefly as well.

I'm definitely at my wit's end at this point. Only other idea my mechanic had was that the stock amp would have to be replaced (not a cheap part at the moment) or the central computer under the hood which seems to link these things together.

I'd be eternally grateful for any advice I can get. Going for drives and listening to my tunes are one of the few pleasures I still have during these uncertain times we live in 😢

-Paul
 
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#2 ·
The dash light/airbag light/inside blinker behavior is a good indication the stereo isn’t the culprit I think. The key to figuring this out will be to be able to cause the fault at will. Until you can do that, this could be a real bear to diagnose.

The dash bezel isn’t that difficult to pull, maybe try pulling that off and searching for any loose or corroded cables. Start wiggling plugs and wires to see if you can induce the problem.

Until you can cause it to happen and then start checking wires, you’ll just have to get lucky I think.

One other thing: what if you leave the radio off? Will it still exhibit the odd behavior eventually?
 
#3 ·
The dash bezel isn’t that difficult to pull, maybe try pulling that off and searching for any loose or corroded cables. Start wiggling plugs and wires to see if you can induce the problem.
The dash light/airbag light/inside blinker behavior is a good indication the stereo isn’t the culprit I think. The key to figuring this out will be to be able to cause the fault at will. Until you can do that, this could be a real bear to diagnose.

The dash bezel isn’t that difficult to pull, maybe try pulling that off and searching for any loose or corroded cables. Start wiggling plugs and wires to see if you can induce the problem.

Until you can cause it to happen and then start checking wires, you’ll just have to get lucky I think.

One other thing: what if you leave the radio off? Will it still exhibit the odd behavior eventually?
My guy checked all the wiring multiple times.

With regard to turning it off and trying the turn signals for a bit, I think it might be worth a try.
 
#5 ·
Sure sounds like a voltage issue. The radio sounds like a symptom, not the problem. Anyway to log system voltage?
 
#8 ·
It could be, but not likely. Although that battery, if original, cant be long for this World. Pull it off and have it tested at a local automotive shop. It’s certainly possible it’s causing problems, but I just don’t think it’s very likely. Can’t hurt to check it though.
 
#9 · (Edited)
A couple of things to consider. One, if the radio goes dark during the outage, then you need to examine the power feeds for both battery and ignition with a wiring diagram to assist. Connector terminals can be a source of issues, as well as relays. Second, if the radio stays illuminated but no sound, you would need to look past the radio towards any other devices in the output chain like amps, it's power feed, and any associated wiring.

While this may sound like a pain, (and it is) if it were mine, and the radio went dark, I would run two leads as close to the radio as possible probing the batter feed (B+) and switched power (acc) and when an outage occurred carry a DVOM with me so I can actually see if power is lost. This would assist me in knowing which circuit is effected. If during an outage and the radio went dark, and both feeds had power, I would need to suspect radio. If the radio doesn't go dark, then you need to suspect other devices and perform the same examination of power to those devices.
 
#11 ·
So a bit of a follow up....

I did a test and drove around with my cigarette lighter voltage reader plug-in accessory.....it was registering on the high side. When driving, voltage was between 14.8-15.1. Further to that, it appears as though my battery is the original chrysler dodge battery (car has only has 50k miles on it but still, an 11 year old battery?).

I noticed that when I shut the radio off myself with the power button it then won't come back on if I try to turn it back on myself (only doing so on its own at some point later). Furthermore I noticed that if I'm idling and the radio is off and I open my door, it comes back on....but often times turns off again if I shut it. And yeah loose wiring is not a culprit as the radio can shut off regardless of whether I'm driving or sitting and idling.

Any ideas?
 
#13 ·
That voltage output seems high. And not the good kind of high either.
 
#15 ·
Turns out this whole time its been something with the driver's window. Not sure how I missed it before but regardless of where i'm driving, how, or if I'm even moving at all, when I open the driver's window, the radio then shuts off. As soon as I close it, it turns back on and stays on. Every single time. Tested this under all sorts of conditions and the behaviour is consistent. But my mechanic checked the door and found no issue with the speaker wiring, the window, or anything else. In fact he couldn't even replicate the same consistent behaviour even though as soon as I picked it up there it was again.

Only thing he could possibly think of at this point is the ECU. Beyond that says he's never seen anything like this.

Any thoughts? I've completely given up at this point.
 
#16 ·
Do you mean the drivers side door or the window in the drivers side door?

If window, does it matter if the window is down when you start the car, the radio won’t come on until the window is all the way up?
 
#18 ·
No just the window.

As for the second suggestion Ive sat in parking lots with the car shut off and its exactly the same situation. The radio doesn't come on until window is closed regardless of the car being on or not. If its down and I turn the car on it briefly blinks on then immediately shuts off again.
 
#17 ·
Maybe the driver window motor is failing, causing voltage issues? Any other goofy stuff happening, lights dimming, etc. when you use it?
 
#19 ·
Nothing dims but when the radio shuts off the turn signals on the dash star to freeze up and work at irregular intervals if i'm turning (even though externally the actually lamps are working at the normal pace) and occasionally the airbag warning light comes on.

This all started about a year ago and a half ago and only happened a few times until about two months ago it became an everyday thing.
 
#20 ·
Hmmm maybe a weird CAN bus issue. If you have a PAC Audio adapter or something that interprets signals maybe that is goofed up. PAC had an issue with earlier Dodge adapters. They had to update the one I used for my 2012 because of something like that. That or something in the PCM/computer. Frustrating, I bet. I wonder if you can get it tested out without having to by a unit..
 
#21 ·
Congratulations, you win the prize for most puzzling electrical gremlin.

I used to hold the record with my f-ed up electronics in this Charger. But at least I have someone to blame to blame it on - the slack-jawed troglodytes that decopified it.

Yours is unique, unheard of, and has no prior effort on which to lay the blame. Unfortunately that’s a trifecta of stuff you don’t want to apply when chasing electrical problems.😟
 
#22 ·
Congratulations, you win the prize for most puzzling electrical gremlin.

I used to hold the record with my f-ed up electronics in this Charger. But at least I have someone to blame to blame it on - the slack-jawed troglodytes that decopified it.

Yours is unique, unheard of, and has no prior effort on which to lay the blame. Unfortunately that’s a trifecta of stuff you don’t want to apply when chasing electrical problems.😟
Ain't that the truth brother :ROFLMAO: can't say I could've predicted some of the issues I've had (e.g. this, water pump, control arm, etc.) on a car that still only has 49k miles.



And yet another development....

I've noticed its not the window per se, but the switch itself. Even if the driver window is open, I just have to nudge the switch upward a bit and the radio comes on and stays on. Further to that, the right turn signal now flashes rapidly. Bulbs weren't out but went ahead and replaced them anyway and it's still doing this. I can live with it as it stands now but it would still be nice to get to the bottom of this horsesh*t at some point. All other options exhausted, my money's on the ECU...
 
#26 ·
I have been having the same issue with my 2013 SRT and I have the stock radio head unit. Just this morning I was having a nice drive listening to music and the sound cut out. I had to stop the car, turn off the ignition, and open the driver door then the radio turned back on when I started the car. I had to do this 3 times in about 15 mins. I also get the traction control light often no matter if I’m sitting still, hit a small bump, or drive on smooth roads.
 
#27 ·
Dude, this exact same thing is happening to me now! Aftermarket Pioneer stereo keeps cutting out and staying on after the car is off and the door is open, airbag light comes on whenever it wants too, and my signals are all wonky inside but flash normal on the outside. Did you ever resolve this issue?
 
#28 ·
Hello, I made an account just to chase down this gremlin on my 2014 SXT PLUS. I know I had a wet fuse box due to a bad water leak, so I dried it out and cleaned all the corrosion and replaced every fuse, I also checked all of my grounds. I don’t seem to have any sort of luck with any switches and I can’t seem to cause a shutdown on demand. My radio flickers on and off every couple seconds intermittently, has the seatbelt light flash occasionally, sometimes has the airbag light flash, and has the same aforementioned turn signal freeze in the dash. I have the stock touch screen head unit. And this began about a month ago and has gotten worse since. I have a newer battery from this year that I got load tested and came back with a clean bill of health as well as getting my alternator replaced 9 months ago. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
 
#29 ·
You should really create a new thread for your issue(s) and the discussion around trying to diagnose/resolve them. That will make it more visible for other members to see and contribute on, and it will consolidate all the posts and info into a single thread as opposed to being mixed up with this one.

I bet one of the mods can help take your post and create a new thread in the appropriate section to make it easier.

Hey @A Guy, what’s the best approach for this sort of thing?
 
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