1999 Ford Taurus Radio and brakes and turn signal

BILL_FICKES

MEMBER
1999 FORD TAURUS

Electrical problem
1999 Ford Taurus Front Wheel Drive Automatic 145000 miles

The problem I have with my car is that I will be driving down the road listening to my music at any volume and i'll hit the brake or turn signal and the radio will shut off then turn back on. It does it more when the radio is louder but it has happened when nothing is even playing at all. The dome lights and dash lights also flicker quite a bit. I have all stock speakers with nothing special except the head unit itself is an aftermarket Kenwood. Its not the head unit because I have had 2 of the same model head units in there already and it did the same thing on both of them. I checked the voltage I got when I turned on the radio and hit the brake or turn signal and it seemed to drop very low before coming back up to normal voltage. So to put it simply it seems like the battery isnt recharging fast enough but I havn't tried a new battery yet. I have checked the ground and tje alternator and they were fine. Is it more likley a short or the battery and how can I tell?

4 Replies

JDL

MECHANIC
16,098 POSTS

Hi, thanks for the donation. Is that a factory wiring set-up? Did you talk to kenwood about the problem? They have their own website and a support link. The stereo owners manual has troubleshooting info, may not help anything? I'd have to double check everything you already have, especially the charging system. Maybe some of the others would have a better idea. I know you expected more for your money, sorry, that'a all I got.

Also there are stereo sites that have forums, one is the the12volt. Com, I haven't been there in years. Hey, just trying to help.

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Sunday, March 28th, 2010 AT 1:43 PM

BILL_FICKES

MEMBER
4 POSTS

Ok well how bout this question. My heater stays on sometimes when I turn the car off. Well I should say the fans. Sometimes ill turn my car off and take the key out and the fans will keep going. I have full control over the dials. If I turn it to defrost, it goes there. If I change it from high to low, it does it. The only difference is that if I change the dial to off, it blows out the floor vents. No idea on this one

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Monday, March 29th, 2010 AT 2:00 PM

JDL

MECHANIC
16,098 POSTS

Hi, did you ever talk to Kenwood about your radio, if not, why not? Just curious?

If the blower motor relay isn't energized, the blower motor shouldn't work. Voltage feed to coil side of relay, comes from ignition switch.

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Monday, March 29th, 2010 AT 2:24 PM

BILL_FICKES

MEMBER
4 POSTS

Ive called Kenwood before about this problem and they told me they didnt know what to do. The heater problem probably is the wiring.

Now back to our original problem. Something wierd happened. I was checking for shorts in the wiring but the wires are so tightly packed and wrapped so heavy in electrical tape that I didn't find much because I couldnt go very far. I finally said screw it and put the radio back in. When I started, the radio was shutting off at volume 29 out of 35. After I put the radio back in, it was shutting off between 20-24. I was pissed but I still said screw it. I went to close the hood and all of a sudden, everything was fine. I cranked the radio all the way up, hit the brake, turn signal, and horn and nothing happened. But now my dash lights and headlights are blinking and studdering and flicker all of the time. I believe it is a short. If it is, where would I look to find an area where my lights and radio cross paths?

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Friday, April 2nd, 2010 AT 1:16 PM