Radio Trouble

[69dodgesuperbee]

I have a 1969 Super Bee that is all stock with the exception of an aftermarket Alpine radio. No amp or anything, just 4 regular speakers.

When I do something as simple as step on the brakes or open the door (dome light), put it in reverse (back-up lights come on), honk the horn (you get the idea), the radio cuts out for just an instant and has to re-boot. It happens about 80% of the time now. It went about 3 years working as it should. About 6-8 months it started doing it like once a month, but has increased in frequency over time to about 80% of the time. I need ideas, this is driving me crazy. Has anyone else had this issue and how did you correct it?

I'll be the first to say "check the grounds". (I have cleaned every ground I can find. No change.) If you know of any hidden grounds to check, I'm open to their locations.

Thanks for your help.

Ken

 

[Ski 61701]

Is the radio wired into the wrong circuit and whenever you activate the lights etc its drawing just enough juice that the radio is beneath minimum power levels hence reboot. Have you tried a different circuit to temporarily tap into to see if that solves your problem?

 

[69dodgesuperbee]

The radio is wired into the correct circuit.

I will try to isolate the problem by running a wire straight from the battery and trying different circuits. Good idea. Thanks.

 

[Yatzee]

I have a 1969 Super Bee that is all stock with the exception of an aftermarket Alpine radio. No amp or anything, just 4 regular speakers.

When I do something as simple as step on the brakes or open the door (dome light), put it in reverse (back-up lights come on), honk the horn (you get the idea), the radio cuts out for just an instant and has to re-boot. It happens about 80% of the time now. It went about 3 years working as it should. About 6-8 months it started doing it like once a month, but has increased in frequency over time to about 80% of the time. I need ideas, this is driving me crazy. Has anyone else had this issue and how did you correct it?

I'll be the first to say "check the grounds". (I have cleaned every ground I can find. No change.) If you know of any hidden grounds to check, I'm open to their locations.

Thanks for your help.

Ken

The power for the radio should be run through a relay (activated by key position), have it's own inline fuse, and draw power directly from a battery circuit. Those radios are very sensitive to voltage drops and spikes and need a clean, consistent power source to operate. It's a built in feature to prevent blowing the internal "caps" prematurely.

 

[oldbee]

Recheck ur ground connections and every splice you did for radio. I once had to fix a radio someone else did(he forgot the ground)and it was trying to get a ground thru radio body&antenna. Didn't work too good. Electrical WILL drive ya crazy.

 

[69dodgesuperbee]

All good ideas, thanks.

 

[69dodgesuperbee]

Thought I'd give you an update on this issue. About a month ago I really dug into this issue and discovered the whole problem turned out to be an issue with the battery. The car started fine, it tested good (just barely), but I installed a new battery and it's been good ever since.

 

[Nacho-RT74]

just was to post about that saying it could be an alt/batt related stuff LOL... never read this thread before.