2008 impala radio

[cw021]

About 3 years ago i put a Double DIN Pioneer radio in my impala with a full rockford setup and 2 12 P3's, a bit ago the radio had started cutting out and just powering off totally, so i figured maybe the radio was failing because everything else had power, cut to a few days ago the dash lights and gauges all cut to 0 and the radio powered off and the car stayed on and wouldn't turn on while sitting until unplugging the negative, this is in a 2008 impala btw, so i went and got a new radio replaced it, it banged for about 15 mins, but when put to a quarter of the volume tuned off, out of dash all i had to do was wiggle the adapter to get everything to power back on, could my adapter connecting to the harness be failing?, i also replaced the ignition switch, so it's a new switch+radio and all, only thing i didn't touch was the adapter but when it is wiggled it reconnects and everything powers on and the dash lights and gauges go back.

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[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Sounds like you need take the car to a mechanic and have them run a diagnostics test on it

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Ive heard ECUs go bad

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

About 3 years ago i put a Double DIN Pioneer radio in my impala with a full rockford setup and 2 12 P3's, a bit ago the radio had started cutting out and just powering off totally, so i figured maybe the radio was failing because everything else had power, cut to a few days ago the dash lights and gauges all cut to 0 and the radio powered off and the car stayed on and wouldn't turn on while sitting until unplugging the negative, this is in a 2008 impala btw, so i went and got a new radio replaced it, it banged for about 15 mins, but when put to a quarter of the volume tuned off, out of dash all i had to do was wiggle the adapter to get everything to power back on, could my adapter connecting to the harness be failing?, i also replaced the ignition switch, so it's a new switch+radio and all, only thing i didn't touch was the adapter but when it is wiggled it reconnects and everything powers on and the dash lights and gauges go back.

Looks like you solved it. Remember that the radio is also connected to the dimmer, so any short on the radio wiring will affect the cluster.

 

[cw021]

Looks like you solved it. Remember that the radio is also connected to the dimmer, so any short on the radio wiring will affect the cluster.

i was hoping it would just be a new radio swap but it looks like i may need a new adapter for it (car runs mechanically fine and all unless the radio adapter is hooked up then that's when it really messes up and the radio will cut out and all the lights will flick) i haven't ever cut into the original harness because i was afraid of this happening

tl:dr is the better option getting a new adapter that works online or taking it to a radio shop and having them do it?, i wasn't sure on having it diagnosed because it has no issues unless the adapter is in and all you have to do is wiggle it for it to work.

i'm sure i could replace the adapter and all myself again (i've done it 6 times actually this week because of the old radio/new radio swaps and figure i'll just keep the new radio just incase i shorted the old one with the adapter, examples are: old radio only stays powered on the adapter for a few seconds even without volume, new radio will stay on until adapter flips type of thing) is there anything i should check besides the adapter incase?

i've gone 1 by 1 to try and make sure any faults behind the wiring are simplified but it all seems to point to the adapter i bought 4 or so years ago (i guess it could fault running 2 12's continously+ 4 6x9's but i was hoping it wasnt lol)

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

i've gone 1 by 1 to try and make sure any faults behind the wiring are simplified but it all seems to point to the adapter i bought 4 or so years ago (i guess it could fault running 2 12's continously+ 4 6x9's but i was hoping it wasnt lol)

The thing that gives hope for an easy fix is that you should be able to wiggle the wiring all day with zero issues. So the fact that power is affected is a possibility of that being the culprit.

 

[cw021]

The thing that gives hope for an easy fix is that you should be able to wiggle the wiring all day with zero issues. So the fact that power is affected is a possibility of that being the culprit.

since i can't get an adapter for around 2 days or so shipping or until i go to a car audio shop, could there be a possiblity of it being worse than the adapter if everything runs perfectly fine unless the said adapter is plugged in? if i didn't, actually like listening to music and all i could just perfectly run the car without it no issues, but i'm not that type of person.

but i do however still have the stock radio somewhere that i could test, (without the subwoofers) and see if anything is wrong without the adapter, ill try that..

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

but i do however still have the stock radio somewhere that i could test, (without the subwoofers) and see if anything is wrong without the adapter, ill try that.

Good call.

 

[sounds_explicit]

did you ever figure it out? i had a 2015 impala limited same body style as 2008 i have the full harness that retains everything if you need it. weird thing i also had weird electrical issues with my car also at 75k miles. headlights and running lights wouldnt work but would flash, weird electrical issues in the tail lights. dash flickering. stabilitrak sensors going crazy.

 

[cw021]

did you ever figure it out? i had a 2015 impala limited same body style as 2008 i have the full harness that retains everything if you need it. weird thing i also had weird electrical issues with my car also at 75k miles. headlights and running lights wouldnt work but would flash, weird electrical issues in the tail lights. dash flickering. stabilitrak sensors going crazy.

ie just used a new adapter because adapters ignition wiring wouldn't keep constant, works fine now and stopped sending sensors off, never had the light problems tho, but stabilitrak and all that sensors were going crazy when bass was hitting on the old adapter. (sensors would only go off when power was cut off to the adapter or (wiring interface).