rivercom9

Hi guys. My friend's car is having a lot of electrical issues. It's a 1999 Nissan Sentra 200SX I believe the GXE trim.

ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS
1) Intermittently when they step on the brakes, the radio turns off, then once they step off, the radio comes back on
2) When they turn the headlights on, the radio seems to lose power and comes back on
3) Turning the temperature control knobs makes the radio flicker on and off
4) Turning the ignition to just the electrical power (not starting) makes the radio flicker on and off
5) The passenger power locks no longer function

I haven't physically seen the car yet, but I'm just trying to get an idea of what to look for when I take a look at it later this week. Thanks in advance.

redser

Sounds like a ground issue. There are several grounds on the interior of the car that could cause this if one or more is disconected. To make this easier for you just run a new wire from the chassis of the radio to the chassis of the car. If the problem goes away or noticably gets better then you know where to look. Also check the battery to see how low the voltage is dipping when you turn the lights on. have a voltmeter on the radio constant of the radio and turn the lights on with the car not running. The voltage should not drop below 11V or so, the lights are not that big of a draw. When your radio is turning off it says that the voltage is dropping below 10v or even 9v. Try this again with the car running, and then do both tests on the switched wire. I would bet if you just give the radio a new ground this will all go away. Now that i think about it, i am not sure that the factory harness has ground in it. i think it just grounds through the metal mounting bracket. So add ground to the negative of the radio and even better another one to the chassis.

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