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Stereo issue, now alternator: related?

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Myst11

Probationary Member
25
2
Feb 13, 2011
N Massapequa, New_York
The past couple of days i've been having an issue with my stereo turning on and off. Sometimes when I push the clutch in, sometimes when I hit a bump and sometimes just randomly. I've been guessing it's a bad ground but never got around to looking.

Tonight it got progressively worse to the point where it just flashes on and off but doesn't stay one or the other. I turn the car back on and now the battery and brake dash lights are dimly lit. They get brighter under acceleration or deceleration but never reach full brightness. I've learned that this is indicative of an alternator problem.

I am wondering if this stereo problem maybe put extra stress on the alternator, or if these two problems are just coincidental? Any info on either problem is greatly appreciated. Thank you
 
This is strange because I pulled the stereo out and found the faulty ground like I had guessed. After rewiring the ground it started to work perfectly again but the alternator warning lights (battery and brake) would still light up dimly.

Needless to say I got my alternator checked and it was not charging, so it is being replaced now. I still don't know if it's possible that the faulty stereo wiring affected this but if it is then I believe that's what happened.
 
The bad ground on your stereo would not affect the charging system. But Im sure that the intermittent grounding is what was causing your radio problems along with low voltage. Your new alternator should solve your problem
 
Once you get the new alt, I would check your battery tho. Make sure its all the way charged and holds a charge. I changed my alt once, but did nothing with the battery. One day I was doing something under the hood and accidentally touched the alt, and holy hell it was hotter then you could believe. My battery ended up having a dead cell. So the alt was really over working itself trying to charge it, and my battery light would flash or come dim. I then changed battery and boom it was fixed. GL
 
Thanks a lot everyone!
I changed the alternator and haven't had a problem now. Also, the battery is only a few months old so I don't suspect a problem there.

After rewiring the head unit I haven't had a problem with that either.
So over all I guess it was just a coincidence that the alternator went bad around the same time the grounding wire on the stereo came loose.

Thanks again
 
Lucky it was that simple. I changed my alternator because my stereo was acting up aswell and now my radio works but no speakers :confused:
 
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