HELP! Radio doing some wierd stuff

[Cpt. Ray T]

So, last weekend, after my car sat for about a week, got in and cranked her up. Starter was a bit slow, and after I cranked it up, the craziest thing started happening. The radio would go completely off. Like no power off. Clock and everything. Then come back on. Go off for 5 seconds and come back on, and did this for about 3 minutes. Then went on and stayed on.



Been doing some reading that suggested a battery going bad could cause some strange things to happen, and I didn't know how old the battery was, but the guy I bought it from had it a bit over 3 years and never changed it. So, I figured, why not go ahead and replace the battery. So I did.



Fast forward to today. The car has sat since Saturday, it's Wednesday. Got in and cranked up to run an errand. First 3 to 5 minutes the car was cranked, the radio did that same on for 10 seconds off for 3-5 seconds. Then after that 3 to 5 minutes, came on and stayed on...


What the hell is happening? Any ideas. 2010 SS A/T, 57K miles. No mods other than resinator removed as far as I can tell.

[Cpt. Ray T]

Dang, nothing?

[FasNuf]

How cold was it inside the car when this was happening?

[Cpt. Ray T]

Originally Posted by FasNuf

How cold was it inside the car when this was happening?

Not that cold. Yesterday it was probably 70F. The first time I saw it, was probably in the 40's.



I have been searching Youtube, seeing several videos that mention number 18 pin behind the radio (white wire) can be simply clipped and fix the problem. I was experiencing the on and off, but it also talked about the climate control going on and off, which I am not sure of as when this happened I was not running air, but all those controls went dark also, so probably was.



Searching to see what that white wire on pin 18 is now, and wondering why it is there if simply clipping it fixes this, and then wondering what happens next when it is clipped.

[FasNuf]

hmmm. I would definately keep searching before clipping a wire. Seems I remember reading that but dont remember why it did or didnt work.

[Greenhornet2]

Pin 18-19 is not used in the radio connector, nor is that pin used in the radio/hvac control connector.

[Cpt. Ray T]

Here is the link I am referring to. Guess the guy is saying it is some kind of communication line between that radio and the BCM that he says according to GM is not necessary at all..... Still searching, but if this continues I may have to take a swing at this and see what happens.

[Jayjellyfish212]

My radio and HVAC controls once did not respond to any selection or function change once years ago. This happened only once with my car on a hot day out. Everything else was working fine and car drove fine. To this day I still have no idea really what it was. This happened when my car was bone stock.

This could very well help and could be the cause. One thing you can check in the engine bay is on the passenger side in the engine bay ground wires and see if they are really dirty or corroded. There is about 3 sections of ground wires on the frame rail behind the heat shield. Remove the heat shield so you can see the 3 ground wires harnessed together and bolted to the framing. The heat shield hold tons of junk in and causes poor grounding in that area of the cars wiring. when you pull back that heat shield or remove it you will see a bunch of debris and junk in there. Clean it all up good and unbolt the wire bolts so you can clean them and get back good ground connections. Add some electrical grease so they stay protected.

My engine bay is completely all cleaned up and custom wired now so i can put any pictures to help on the visual; however, I do know that area in the engine bay well as I did perform an entire engine bay clean up and relocated a bunch of items in there as well. During my start of the project that area i am referring to when i pulled my heat shield back I was shocked how much dirt and junk was in there and that the ground wires were starting to corrode since my car only was a year old and had less than 10k on the OD.

[1JEWLDSSRS]

Good morning sir, my radio did this about 6 years ago and what we found was that the radio/hvac head unit had gone bad, and also when all this was happening, the AC didn't work correctly either, replaced the heads unit and all was good after that. Have someone check out that, and the BCM.. Good luck !!

[Jayjellyfish212]

Originally Posted by Cpt. Ray T

Here is the link I am referring to. Guess the guy is saying it is some kind of communication line between that radio and the BCM that he says according to GM is not necessary at all..... Still searching, but if this continues I may have to take a swing at this and see what happens.

Could be, but check the ground wires first because it will limit the possibility of ground wire issues first. Plus its easier to check and clean the ground wires than pull the radio and stuff.

[Cpt. Ray T]

Originally Posted by Jayjellyfish212

My radio and HVAC controls once did not respond to any selection or function change once years ago. This happened only once with my car on a hot day out. Everything else was working fine and car drove fine. To this day I still have no idea really what it was. This happened when my car was bone stock.

This could very well help and could be the cause. One thing you can check in the engine bay is on the passenger side in the engine bay ground wires and see if they are really dirty or corroded. There is about 3 sections of ground wires on the frame rail behind the heat shield. Remove the heat shield so you can see the 3 ground wires harnessed together and bolted to the framing. The heat shield hold tons of junk in and causes poor grounding in that area of the cars wiring. when you pull back that heat shield or remove it you will see a bunch of debris and junk in there. Clean it all up good and unbolt the wire bolts so you can clean them and get back good ground connections. Add some electrical grease so they stay protected.

My engine bay is completely all cleaned up and custom wired now so i can put any pictures to help on the visual; however, I do know that area in the engine bay well as I did perform an entire engine bay clean up and relocated a bunch of items in there as well. During my start of the project that area i am referring to when i pulled my heat shield back I was shocked how much dirt and junk was in there and that the ground wires were starting to corrode since my car only was a year old and had less than 10k on the OD.

This will be my weekend project. Thanks a bunch.

[Cpt. Ray T]

Originally Posted by 1JEWLDSSRS

Good morning sir, my radio did this about 6 years ago and what we found was that the radio/hvac head unit had gone bad, and also when all this was happening, the AC didn't work correctly either, replaced the heads unit and all was good after that. Have someone check out that, and the BCM.. Good luck !!

Dare I ask what a new head unit cost? Cause in my world, It is always worst case scenario, I rarely get cut brakes....lol

[Jayjellyfish212]

There are 3 clusters or 3 bolts each harnessing the ground wire clusters to the frame in that area behind the heat shield on passenger side. Make sure you look really good so you get to clean all 3 areas that are bolted down...I think each bolt is bolting down 3-5 wires each with a total of 3 bolts spaced about 3-6" apart from front going to the back towards the fire wall. You'll see them once you pull the heat shield back or remove it.

[Greenhornet2]

There is a white wire on the BCM connector 4 pin 18 for "current sensor signal"