Hey SL members. Now I do apologize if I didnt look around enough for other users already posting this but I did search and found nothing. Ok so the situation is, my headlights are dimming when I am coming to a stop and pressing the clutch, and as of late my DNX8120 is now shutting off and restarting during my drive time commute. Needless to say it sucks when a good song comes on and then your music just cuts right out. Lately I have noticed that just turning on my blinker would restart the system. I'm think that its either the Alternator isnt producing enough juice or some of the wiring isnt right. Thoughts ?

 

Sounds like your alternator might be starting to go bad, easiest thing to do tho is take it to the parts store and have them hook it up to there machine for free and they can tell you if its bad or not

 

Thanks. I have a appointment on saturday to take it to the dealership and have them do the 30,000 mile service. I'll have them check the alternator then.

Well I took the ride into the dealership in bremerton, WA. After having the 30,000 mile service done and having the alternator checked, I was told my alternator wasnt putting out the right amount of voltage. Guess it started going bad. Thankfully it is covered under my extended warranty so i'll be getting it replaced. Hopefully this will fix my issue. Lately however I havent had any issues with my stereo turning off and my lights hardly dim anymore. Only time will tell i suppose.

 

sounds like a wiring problem

are you running any amps or subs?

that maybe draining your batter/alt

if you are only running a headunit then its defiantly a wire problem

alt problems are usually dimming, gauges acting funny, car stalling,etc...not so much just radio turning off.

 

except he said his headlights are dimming when he comes to a stop. Not to mention the dealership said his alternator is not putting out the right amount of voltage. I had the same problem when the alternator on my S10 started going bad, at idle the alternator pulley wouldn't turn fast enough to put out the correct voltage so my lights would dim and radio would shut off till I started driving again. That's the great thing about alternators when they start to go bad it can die real quick or it can come and go for a long time. So no it doesn't sound like it's definitely a wire problem. No offense but i can't understand how some one can say this is definitely your problem or it has to be this while diagnosing a car on line lol.

 

its called 8 years of installing car audio...but anyways.

 

HaHa so explain the dimming headlights and the dealership saying the alternator isn't putting out the right voltage. Then saying it has to be the wiring, I could understand saying it sounds like it may be bad wiring but not giving bad advice saying it was to be bad wiring sending the guy on a wild goose chase to find faulty wiring that's not there lol. Waiting to hear the new alternator fixed the problem.

 

your entire car will work without an alternator

the alt is there to help the battery with all the electrical sutff in the car

im not saying there is no way its not the alt...but for the radio to completly shut off and to be having random problems like the turn signal messing with other components...sounds like a wiring problem

Im sure the OP would be happy if an alternator sawp fixed it; as wiring problems are tough to chase down.

Ive driven a car ~20 miles with the alternator acting funny and the radio stayed on working fine

 

LOL your entire car will work with out an alternator for a very brief moment till the the battery dies, and the alt isn't there to help the battery it's more the other way around the battery helps with starting and storing energy for any sudden big loads. You can actually run a car with out a battery at all. I understand your thinking even though it is slightly incorrect. 8 years installing car audio doesn't mean jack i know real idiots working at install shops that don't know a thing about cars or electrical systems.

 

Hey guys. WOW I didnt realize that there was a argument on what the problem may or may not be. We are all friends here. We all have our experiences in certain fields and should take into account all aspects where the problem might be coming from. I know I value everyones opinion.

That being said I had the alternator replaced this last weekend. Everything was running just how it should. No problems or anything..course i wasnt driving with the lights on. So I swapped my aftermarket headlights out back to the stock ones so that I may bake and reseal them due to condensation problems. I had to recut and resplice the wires for the running lights that were cut and spliced and crimped to the wires for the LEDS on the aftermarket headlights. Keep in mind this was one of my theories on why my headlights were dimming. So after making new clean connections to the running lights for the stock headlights and hooking everything back up the lights worked fine....with the car sitting there at least. One of the running lights was burnt out so I took the bulb out so that I could take it with me into a auto parts store so that I could do a side by side comparison. So I drove the car down from Whidbey Island to SEATAC airport (you can google that to get an idea on how far that is) roughly 2 and half hours. While driving i found i was still having the same issues. Lights were still dimming and the stereo would shut off but not alot. Also turning the turn signals on and off made the lights flicker off then on. This happened very quickly. Also when the car would come to a stop light or sign and when i applied the brake and clutch the lights would dim once the RPMS dropped below 1000.

So I am left with two theories....

1. The running lights wiring ( green and white with a black strip down the middle with a grey quick release) is going bad due to multiple times of cutting and spliced and crimping and needs replaced.

2. The running light that has no bulb in it currently, is an open curcuit and is causing problems.

So with this being said I will be getting the new bulb tomorrow to see if the lights continue, which I'm guessing it will continue to still be a problem and I will be looking for a junked TC or someone parting one out for those uncut cables for the running lights.

 

UPDATE:

Replaced both running light bulbs with better and longer lasting bulbs. However this did not fix or help the issue. Stereo is still turning on and off and i'm having flickering headlights along with dimming. So my last theory is to replace the wiring for the running lights and see if that fixes the issue. If not then its off to the dealership to trace down the issues.

 

UPDATE:

So after work driving home sitting at a stop light, as soon as my fans kicked in, my stereo restarted itself. So now i'm wondering with the funny noises coming from my fans and the stereo resetting when the fans turn on along with my lights dimming and flickering at the same time, I'm starting to think that there is something wrong with my fans. Maybe the ground is bad ? Still going to work on getting those new cables for the running lights and then see if that fixes the problem.

Hey guys here some pictures of what I'm looking at so you can get a better feel for whats going on.

This is the two wires, green and a white one with a black strip down the middle, that gives the voltage required for the running lights and only the running lights. It was my mistake saying that they also provide voltage for the turn signal light. My bad.



This is the grey connecter that connects those wires to the rest of the chassis.



And these are two areas that those wires light up. The blue running light in the main headlight and the side orange running light.

 

Hey SL. Ok so here is some better pics of what I think might be the problem. As you can see in the unfocused up close and personal shot of the wiring, the copper is a bit grey. Not sure what causes this except moisture and corroded the wiring. I figure this may be the cause to my lights dimming and my stereo shorting out. Electricity goes everywhere in a car so maybe this is some how effecting everything.







I'm working on the wiring before work so i am pressed for time but I going to try and give the connectors a good cleaning and fresh wire. Wish me luck and i'll keep you posted. Again any thoughts or advice is welcome. Thanks SL.

 

So toyota is getting me the cables finally. Last dealership told me that they couldnt get them but this other one can without having to order the whole headlight. As for the DNX8120 power failure I will know more about this once I get the new cables installed tomorrow and hopefully this fixes the issue. Otherwise I'm headed to car toys this weekend for them to look into it. Lifetime warranty baby whoo hoo. Maybe a upgrade is in my near future lol.


Oh in cause anyone wanted the part number for the cables here it is..

 

So I jumped a buddies car recently and Afterwords I went inside to bull____ for a few. Came back out and tried to start my car and I had nothing. My car was dead. So I moved the cables from the battery around and tried again. Took it 3 times for the car to hold its idle but I got her running again. So i did some cleaning of the terminals and found that the positive cable connector that goes to the fuze box was freaking BROKEN !!! So I removed the connector thinking it was only causing problems and then when I started my car again I couldnt get it to hold an idle. So thinking that I removed a connection I put the broken connector back on best I could so it was touching the cables I started the car and it held an idle no problem. Any thoughts ?

 

as for not holding idle than holding idle its as simple as your ecu reset when the power disconnected so it was relearning no worries on that one as for the stereo do you have a capacitor? that might help to keep your alternator from going bad!

 

Ah ok. Well ever since I took the cables off my battery and cleaned the terminals and the running light male grey connector, my lights are no longer dimming. However my positive cable to the fuze box is still broken but I'm having no issues.