Weird electrical issue. Stereo goes off when I hit the brakes. Options

[KaptKaos]

Weird issue seems to be cropping up. Stereo has been in the car for at least 7 years.

When driving, and I hit the brakes, the stereo goes off, then comes back on.

It's gotten to the point where I can make it happen consistently.

I suck at electrical. Where should I start looking first?

TIA

[dlee6204]

Two things:

Check/clean grounds

Make sure your alternator is fully charging. 13.5V+ when running.

[Jeffs9146]

Weird issue seems to be cropping up. Stereo has been in the car for at least 7 years.

When driving, and I hit the brakes, the stereo goes off, then comes back on.

It's gotten to the point where I can make it happen consistently.

I suck at electrical. Where should I start looking first?

TIA

LOL when I worked for a cellular company we used to wire up a pezio to the brake light with a relay so when the sales reps would pick up thier cars they would freak out as they drove away!!

Sorry your story brought back memories!

[Mike Bellis]

Make sure your brake power wire under the foot board is not coming loose and touching ground.

[Jeffs9146]

Weird issue seems to be cropping up. Stereo has been in the car for at least 7 years.

When driving, and I hit the brakes, the stereo goes off, then comes back on.

It's gotten to the point where I can make it happen consistently.

I suck at electrical. Where should I start looking first?

TIA

Where in LA are you? I am in Hollywood until 2:30 tomorrow, if you are close I can take a look for you!

[timothy_nd28]

There is a bundle of wires under the pedal board. I suspect the brake pedal is chafing against some wires as you stomp on the pedal.

[mrbubblehead]

could be as simple as a loose connection joe. im not sure but i dont think the stereo wire run in the loom behind the pedal board. start at the back of the stereo and follow the wires and wiggle them as you follow them to their connections. is it a later aftermarket stereo?

[Dave_Darling]

Also check the fuses. Weird stuff can happen when one pops, or even when the contacts (the "fingers" that hold the fuses) get dirty or corroded.

--DD

[mrbubblehead]

Also check the fuses. Weird stuff can happen when one pops, or even when the contacts (the "fingers" that hold the fuses) get dirty or corroded.

--DD

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) dave, do you recall what else is on that circuit?

[KaptKaos]

Also is doing it when I hit my directionals, but not a consistently.

Shouldn't the brake signal switch be on the master cylinder? I'd get to that under the car, no?

[ThePaintedMan]

Also is doing it when I hit my directionals, but not a consistently.

Shouldn't the brake signal switch be on the master cylinder? I'd get to that under the car, no?

That's just the low fluid switch. They're talking about the brake light switch, which is down by the base of the pedal cluster. There is also a bundle of wires down there that runs through that area which you should check for chafing.

[wildman]

This may sound odd but those are the exact symptoms my car had when i forgot to reconnect the alternator after having the motor out (i was really rushed to get it back together) my battery voltage slowly dropped and first it was the brakes causing the radio to turn off, then the turn signals, finally it got so that the brakes would cause the ignition and the radio to shut off....i ended up on the side of the road and had to get a jump (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

[KaptKaos]

Funnily enough, I threw the alt belt about a month ago. I better check everything out under there.

[Mike Bellis]

Shouldn't the brake signal switch be on the master cylinder? I'd get to that under the car, no?

No. It is on the pedal cluster.

[worn]

Weird issue seems to be cropping up. Stereo has been in the car for at least 7 years.

When driving, and I hit the brakes, the stereo goes off, then comes back on.

It's gotten to the point where I can make it happen consistently.

I suck at electrical. Where should I start looking first?

TIA

This doesn't help, but it sounds like you have actually acquired a new feature. I am not sure how one would pitch it, but it would allow conversation at stop lights and also your booming base would not distract the cars within two blocks. Good luck, sounds like you have some help already.

[Dave_Darling]

There are two switches. One, which controls the brake lights at the back of the car, is on the pedal cluster.

The other, which controls the brake warning light in the combo gauge, is on the master cylinder itself.

I believe the former is the one you'd be interested in for this problem, not the latter--as was stated already. But it's not hard to get them confused when you're just talking about them.

--DD

Shouldn't the brake signal switch be on the master cylinder? I'd get to that under the car, no?

No. It is on the pedal cluster.

[KaptKaos]

I got my noggin down in there this morning, and pulled the switch. I believe it works, but I think there may be a grounding issue.

When I removed the switch from the cluster, radio doesn't shut off when I hit the brakes, so it is related to this switch.

There is a post on the switch. I've looked online, but there doesn't seem to be a use for that post. Is it for a ground? Should I run a separate ground to that post?

I will clean up the wires and stuff under there, and make sure it's all clean.

Any other ideas/suggestions?

TIA

[KaptKaos]

Cleaner everything up. All of the connections. Nothing impinging or otherwise inferring.

What next?

[442nd914s]

To help narrow down if it's a ground or a hot wire problem, follow these steps:

I would run 2 sets of TEMPORARY jumper wires (1 positive/1 ground) from your stereo to your battery elliminating/disconnecting what is feeding your stereo. THis is to bypass the car wiring.

From there, I would connect an idiot light to each source;
First from the original stereo ground source to a positive source. Turn on radio, press on the brake pedal see if idiot light goes away. If it does, then you definetly have a bad ground. If NOT, then possibility it's the possitive side, proceed to next step.
Same step as before, however connect the idiot light to the original stereo positive source then to a ground. Turn on radio, press on the brake pedal see if idiot light goes away. If it does, then you definetly have a bad POSITIVE source to the stereo.
If NOT, then alternator or bad car ground issues.

That will let you know whether you have a ground issue, or a possitive issue.

Hope this makes sense.

[nolift914]

I had the same issue with my first 914, the PO had the aftermarket radio wired to the voltage gauge on the center console so every time the brake lights were engaged the radio would cut out.