Weird Electrical Issue

[amrg]

Something is wrong with my truck. I cant figure out whats wrong and its bugging me. Ill start by saying I got this car used, and the person I bought it off had an after market pioneer system, touch screen dvd etc, and changed the key remote to an after market one because the original broke.
Now the issue, while driving, slowing down or even accelerating, my audio system suddenly restarts, sometimes, or just goes quiet for an extremely short instant, more like a blip. In extreme cases, my car unlocks all doors suddenly and reboots the audio system, and I believe Ive noticed that the truck idled badly at that instant, as if it wanted to turn off, but again its for an extremely short instant, and the idling thing Ive noticed twice in over a month of driving.

Im trying to figure out what could be wrong, I popped the dash panel to see how the audio is wired and it seems that the person who installed it just put this unit inplace of the stock unit and didnt do any additional wiring. As to the key, I dont really know what exactly did he do to get the after market key programmed for my truck.

Could I just be having a bad battery or could something else be doing this?

Any thoughts?

 

[ArtHummer]

I would bet on the lose ground somewhere. If it effects the engine I would start with cleaning the battery terminals. Make sure it is tight and no corrosion. If not that check all of the aftermarket ground connections.
Was the ignition switch changed or just the key?

 

[amrg]

It doesnt seem the ignition switch was changed, just the remote. I tried looking under the steering wheel, couldnt see anything weird, although its not like Im a wiring genius

 

[alrock]

I would start by making sure the terminals on the battery are both very tight and cannot be moved by hand. The OEM terminals are not high quality and could easily cause these issues.

You talked about a change in the remote - did he put in a new alarm system and/or remote start, or did he just change the remote? The remote shouldn't be an issue but if he added an alarm it could very easily be the issue and as stated earlier, it is likely a bad ground. I would recommend removing the knee bolster and seeing if there is an aftermarket alarm on there. Or just look for an aftermarket LED installed somewhere on the dash as those are commonly installed.

 

[ArtHummer]

The OEM terminals are not high quality and could easily cause these issues.

Yea, those battery terminals are crap... I would cut it of and get some stronger ones. Something like this

Or go all out and get yourself a golden plated ones. Gold got very good corrosion resistance

 

[amrg]

Its just a replacement remote, no remote start, and the alarm is actually disabled, Just lock/unlock. I didnt notice an LEDs on the dash, but I will try removing the knee bolster to take a better look, perhaps Id see something I didnt notice earlier.
As for the battery terminal, Ill try tightening that first and see how it goes.

 

[alrock]

The alarm is disabled? That too points to someone messing with wires that they didn't need to touch. Heck, I'm not sure where the alarm functions are located.

 

[amrg]

What I meant to say was, only two buttons on the remote work, lock and unlock. I dont know if the car is supposed to Honk when you unlock it, my 06 H3 didnt. I checked the battery terminals, there was some corrosion on the terminals, cleaned em and brushed the rust off with a steel brush, Ill drive the car around and see.
If else, how can I remove the knee bolster?

 

[alrock]

The honk feature is a programmable feature - check out the owner's manual to see how to set it.

Removing the knee bolster: open driver's door. Pry off dash side panel. Unscrew hood release lever. Disconnect parking brake lever by pinching clip. But if you don't have an aftermarket alarm then this is likely a moot point. Also, aftermarket alarms tend to have a siren mounted in the engine compartment, though that's not always the case.

If it continues to be an issue, I would remove/disconnect the aftermarket stereo and see if that fixes it.

 

[amrg]

I checked the battery option first. Turns out the connectors had alot of corrosion on em, brushed em with a steel brush and cleaned em with a rag. Cleaned the battery terminals too. So far no issues, everything seems great and 48 hours later and one dune bashing trip and everything is fine!

 

[alrock]

Fingers crossed! Hope the problem is solved.