I bought a new HU (Alpine CDA-9886) to replace the Eclipse that had been giving me problems, and the new one cuts out frequently when driving, especially when going over bumps cracks in the road. It just turns off for a moment and then turns back on and continues playing, but sometimes only for a few seconds before it goes off again.

I'm using the factory wiring harness only for power, ground, and dimmer, and the pre-amp outs for signal. I've taped off every single wire back there that isn't in use, so I don't think it's a short, unless it's shorting somewhere else. I've also wiggled all the wires/harnesses around while the deck was on, and I wasn't able to reliably reproduce the problem.

I was starting to think it was maybe a bad/loose ground, but I would think that losing ground would cause the HU to wipe all of its settings when it cut out, but the HU keeps all of the audio settings, time/date, etc when it comes back on.

Anyone have any suggestions on what the problem may be? This is driving me nuts...

 

I'm having the same issue with my Pioneer I just installed, the radio keeps playing but will loose control functions and display.

 

Try running a new ground and power cable. You could run them temporarily through the top corner of the door/front fender just to troubleshoot your problem.
Some units need to lose power for quite a while before they lose their memory.

 

So run them to the battery? The HU has switched and constant power wires, I'm guessing just run a new constant power and keep the switched power in the harness?

 

For troubleshooting purposes, start by running the constant power directly from the battery's positive terminal. Then, take the car for a drive.
If the problem still exists, reconnect the constant power at the dash and move the ground to the battery's negative terminal. Take the car for another drive.
If the problem still exists, try moving the switched power directly to the battery positive. Drive again.

If you still haven't isolated the problem by this point, I'd try connecting both the switched and constant power to the battery's positive terminal and the ground to the battery's negative terminal. This will isolate the power from whatever is going on with the wiring in your dash. If after this method there are still problems, there could be something wrong with one of the wiring harnesses or the device itself.

Good luck!

 

Well, it looks like I found the problem. I actually ran the ground first, because I have had a gut feeling it was a ground problem. I ran it to the same chassis ground the battery uses because I couldn't reconnect the negative battery terminal with my wire's ring terminal over the bolt.

Anyway, I drove around this way for about 15 minutes with no problems. So, any suggestions on where in the cabin I could ground the HU? I was thinking of grounding it to one of the bolts that looks like it holds the accelerator pedal bracket (there are three directly above and behind the accelerator). Would that work, or is there somewhere better?

Thanks for the help by the way.

 

anywhere under the drivers dash thats metal

 

Find any spot under the dash that works as a ground, and hook it up! I haven't had my Camaro for over 4 years, so I don't recall where the good grounds are located.
Glad I could help!

 

Bringing this one back from the dead, but it turns out that the ground was not the problem. The thing is that when I would change one of the wires, the stereo would be fine for 2 or 3 days of driving, and then start cutting out again, which made it difficult to determine if my changes were helping anything.

Anyway, a month of testing later, I think I finally have it narrowed down to the ignition wire as the problem. Currently, I have that running straight to the battery, and have been driving the car this way for about two weeks without any problems. So, now I just need to know how to run a fresh ignition/switched power wire for my head unit. Trouble is, I can't seem to find this info anywhere. Can anyone help?

 

I would run a fused 10/15 amp primary from your ignition harness over. With a meter you should be able to find 12v and acc without a problem.

Pretty sure the heavy gauge red is 12v and orange is acc. DOUBLE CHECK AND TEST YOUR WIRES.

 

make sure the wires are tight