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About a month ago when driving home every time i activated the blinker (left or right) OR applied the brakes the radio would cut out. The blinker wouldn't actually work while this happened, but the brake lights would light up. Upon releasing the brakes or cancelling the blinker the radio come back on. Radio is an aftermarket Blaupunkt headunit.
So I figured i had a ground issue. Last weekend i got time to work on it and first I checked the voltage on my battery while the truck was off and running. Checked out good at 12.6 and 14.2. Also did a parasitic draw test and when i do the initial connection it shows 3amps but that goes to 0 after 5 seconds. I assume this is the radio headunit turning on (or something) and then going to sleep. So i dont think this is an issue.
Then i removed the ground wire from the battery to the block, and from the block to the frame. Cleaned the frame and did thread cleanup on the bolt/nuts. Reattached everything and the blinkers worked without cutting the radio out. COOL.
So driving it again today and the blinkers/brakes are cutting the radio out again.
So I can go through and clean those two ground cables again - but are there other grounds from the cab to the engine/frame i can look for? I assume there are but not sure where.
Look forward to any help/insight i can get. Thanks for reading!
Working on rewiring my '66 right now with a new harness. I've had to chase through the old harness extensively to determine what may be missing from the AAW harness sold at DC.
I agree, the power for those systems should not be anywhere near each other. The power to your radio should be coming off the 12v ignition side. There's a ground behind the instrument cluster for most of the dials and controls near the dash. You might check that screw and clean/tighten it as well.
I don't think its a power issue, I think more likely they share a ground - the dash ground(?) and when the extra load tries to go through the ground it causes the issue.
So theres a ground behind the cluster? Any others i the cab? Are there any ground straps for the body to frame?
Here's a post - I can't find the one I'm looking for, but a similar thing happens under just the right circumstances with the trucks, too. The radio can be affected by turn signals and brake lights.
You didn't mention, maybe you know or maybe not, for clarity though there must be a ground strap or cable from the block to firewall, as well as the block to frame, and the battery to block cable. If the cables themselves are original (or even just kinda old) they should be replaced, every single one. Loose, missing, or corroded grounds & cables cause no end to electrical dafukelties.
Here's some pics of the ground cables under hood. As you can see I have the negative cable from the Battery to a stud on the block. Another cable goes from this stud to the frame. Those are the two cables I removed, cleaned, and reinstalled. Perhaps these cables need to be upgraded/replaced.
What i don't see is any other under hood grounds from the firewall to the block OR Firewall to frame. And from time spend under the truck i don't recall any ground straps under there.
Looking under dash it's hard to tell where the grounds are affixed to the firewall/dash. I could only see one small (maybe 14ga) wire grounded under the steering column.
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