Radio randomly shuts off and other elect. issues

[nick]

Hello all, recently I have been driving, listening to the radio and all of a sudden the radio turns off then back on. like if the radio resets itself, ejects the CD and the cassette along with resetting the clock. Also very seldom when I go to turn the key, all the power cuts out, mind you all electrical components are turned off radio, climate control etc. What I do to resolve this issue is open the hood and wiggle the negative side of the battery terminal and start the car as normal. The car starts and runs just fine although the radio still resets periodically. I’m thinking a ground issue? I haven’t noticed if the dash lights cut out too but the car runs exactly the same when the radio resets. Also I bought a new battery about 3 months ago, this issue just started within the past week.

2002 mustang v6 10k miles bone stock (including the sound system)

Topic

[Sam]

Would def start by putting a wrench on the negatve cable and making sure it’s clean. If you have it tighht enough you can’t move the terminal around, but the cablee moves a lot follow it’s path and see if it’s got a loose engine ground.

[oilythumb]

you said that you wiggled the negative battery terminal wire , did you check the other end of that negative wire, check were it terminates look for corrosion

[nick]

The battery has absolutely no corrosion on it. There is a small amount of side to side wiggle room but the terminal connector is as tight as it will go. Ill try following the wire as soon as possible and check if any ground wires are loose.

[twiggy]

I would get a DVM and troubleshoot starting from the battery. Check battery voltage while you are having an issue and work your way downstream from there.

[EricTheCarGuy]

It sounds like it might be loosing power and resetting. This is probably due to a loose connection somewhere. It could even be inside the radio itself. Since it’s intermittent it may be hard to find but for now you could check the fuse, the wiring, and the connections going to the radio to see if you find anything loose.

[nick]

Thanks for all your input gentleman. The problem ended up being corrosion on the other end of the negative cable. I followed the cable back to where it attaches to the block and the sub frame and sure enough, both were covered in corrosion. A little baking soda and a tooth brush took care of the issue.
Now my second question would be, what can I do, if anything to prevent corrosion buildup? The car has 10k miles on it and already was badly corroded!

[EricTheCarGuy]

As they say ‘rust never sleeps’. Once it starts it’s only a matter of time. You can patch, you can prime, you can jump through hoops but the truth is that once rust sets in, it’s in. All you really do is buy some time.

[John B Kobberstad]

Cover the connection with dielectric grease it will help to keep the corrosion to a minimum. You can put it on the battery terminal clamps also. I would get that negative terminal clamp tighter so it doesn’t wiggle.

[Josh]

A cheap way I learned to help prevent corrosion is to use vasaline.

[Author]

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