Electrical Issue

[capainjoe]

This problem is actually on my wifes Hyundai Santa Fe but to me seems like a general issue that someone here may have an answer to.
With the engine on, at idle; the radio on; and headlights on; when we go to put on the Air Conditioner or just plain air, the radio will go out (as if lost power) and come right back on. We had it checked and we were told the battery is fine, the alternator is fine, the starter is fine, and no other issues found in the electrical system. Yet the problem persists. I have to tend to believe that because if the car was running soley on the battery, it would be dead by now.
Any idea what would cause the radio to turn off and then back on when turning the air on?
Also I noticed that the 3rd brake light flickers along with the odometer display backlight (which is digital).
Any thoughts are welcome.
Thanks in advance!
Joe

 

[jlsparky7]

My girlfriends 2001 escort zx2 (132,000 miles) is having the EXACT same problem. Ive been researching it for awhile now (few months) and have been unable to find a solution. Her battery and alternator are both under a year old and the vehicle has done this since she has owned it. Ive narrowed it down to 1 or both of 2 things. An intermittent alternator or a bad ground. I will be working to solve this problem soon. Im leaning towards a bad ground because it did it before the new alternator was put in. I plan on finding all of the grounds I can and disconnecting them and cleaning them up with a wire brush and some CLR. Ill update everyone with what I find/fix if anything. Dont mean to mooch your thread just offering some advice.

 

[budwich]

well since your problem is "quite reproducible"...reproduce it and get a meter on the power leads going into the radio to confirm that you either have voltage all the time or your don't... then you can trace it from there.