I have a 97 z28 with an aftermartket sony head unit. It has been in my car for 4 years and just recently, for some reason, the unit turns off and then back on every once and a while. some days it does this often and some days it doesn't do it at all. I have no clue why this is happening. Also, I have power locks and I've noticed that when I lock and unlock the doors when the radio has turned itself off that it will come back on for a short time. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks for your help.

 

Odd that I found this thread.
My problem started when I would come out to my car and start her up and all my radio presets are erased, like if someone cut out the power. My bass & trebel would be a zero. My radio would turn on and off occasionally while I was driving so I checked all my wires. I took everything apart and even re did all the wiring and checked all the fuses, still didnt find the problem. Last week it blinked out for good and doesnt work at all. I guess my deck burnt out? Weird?! Kinda pisses me off. I miss hearing my Kickers pound like mad!!

 

This kind of stuff is often caused by a bad ground.

 

Im running the ground off the stock stereo wire loom. I already thought of that, first thing actually. And yes the ground is perfectly grounded on mine cuz I'm running two guages off that ground wire and they are working fine. I tried playing the stereo with the guages not wired to the stereo ground and the deck still didnt turn on. I tested the same scenerio with the power. I tested all wires and fuses and re-wired the whole loom to the stereo. I'm pretty stumped of whats going on because I have my cobalt guages running off my deck power and ground. But again, if Im starving my deck of power and ground, I already tested this. Any ideas? What are we experiencing if everything is alright? I was guessing a bad wire at the connector that plugs to the deck?

 

Check the harness that plugs into the back of the head unit.