Head Unit Turns On and Off

[slp2002fh]

I just installed my old head unit and EQ (Pioneer DEH-M980 and Yamaha YGE-420) with a couple amps into an '85 S10 Blazer. While I was wiring everything, I tested that head unit and EQ with powered up fine. after running wiring for the amps, I powered it back up and touched the speaker wires to the speakers to make sure rights and lefts were correct. Everything was working fine. I hooked everything up and tried one last test before putting all the trim back on the dash and noticed the head unit was going on and off on it's own. I checked battery voltage which was right at 12.1 volts. I then tried a test light on the battery and ignition wires while the problem was there and both maintained voltage. I figured I might have messed something up while powering individual speakers and just went out and grabbed a new head unit (Pioneer DEH-3300UM) and it is doing the exact same thing. I just went back and hooked the old head unit's battery, ignition, and ground wires directly to the battery and it works fine. The obvious thing seems to be to run a new power wire from the battery which I will try next, but does anyone know what might be causing this?

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[Bassin Buick]

i had a 88 s15 jimmy and it was plagued with wiring problems. my suggestion would be wire it straight to the battery and don't forget to power it down before you leave the vehicle.

 

[gmctrucks 10+ year member]

I was having that problem on a Burb I had it was a bad ground or that's why it was cutting out.

 

[Bettr n' Revrse 5,000+ posts]

You sure the antenna wire is plugged in and tight?

 

[slp2002fh]

The antenna is tight. I messed with it for a few hours yesterday and quit out of frustration. I think I have it down to a bad ground. I realized late yesterday that I had spliced in some wires for he ground, battery, and clock I think. The originals were really short. I'm sure the wires were getting pulled when I was hooking up everything. Though I did put a meter on the power wires and ground and they all seemed stable when I pulled on them.

 

[slp2002fh]

The bad ground is confirmed. It was the main instrument panel ground that is connected at the lower corner of the dash. I moved it to a spot on the kick panel. It works great now. Thanks for the help!