evancise

Mine seemed to align with changing our fogs as well. I hope a new radio fixes it or I don't know what I'll do to kill the electrical gremlin.

evancise

Sent you a PM. Thanks.

evancise

Since both of us had this start when we went to LED fogs, I disconnected the wire harnesses to both my fogs this morning, disconnected the battery ground for a couple minutes to reset the radio/computer, and reconnected the battery. I've left the lights disconnected.

So far (just half a day) with the dogs disconnected the radio's worked just fine in the same high heat that's been here the last couple weeks.

Maybe you could try the fog disconnect and see if that helps? Would be a good experiment.

Rednroll

It sound like you need a more powerful battery to me. The connecting of all the lights is causing the voltage on the battery to sag, it sags to a certain level and the radio will start to shut down.

In regards to the fan not spinning, I think your test is probably not adequate enough. The fan has a heat activated switch. If you took the radio out and it wasn't connected to any speakers and playing music at a pretty loud level, then the radio is not going to get hot enough to turn on the fan.

Go get yourself a Sears Die-hard platinum. Your lights will thank you as well.

evancise

Interesting - this happens to me regardless of whether the lights are turned on or off though. I'm surprised two little LEDs would draw that much power.


You're likely right - good point. I was thinking it would be constant on.

I'll put this on the troubleshooting list. I don't know if this'll do it though since the problem happens even with all accessories turned off.

Rednroll

Well, consider I'm diagnosing over the internet, and that would be my best guess after reading your symptoms without seeing the wiring and diagnosing in person. There's a potential the problem could be related to the relays even if the lights are off. I mean, there seems to be a reason you are using relays and that reason is usually because the lights draw a significant amount of power. If the lights don't draw a lot of power, then I would suggest bi-passing the relays, since relays can contribute to potential problems like this.

Does the problem happen when you're siting still or only when you're moving down the road?

evancise

Thanks for the thoughts and suggestions. It's an avenue I hadn't considered!

Sometimes it's blank from the start - but only later in the day after being parked in the sun (back to thermal). Otherwise it's only while rolling.
I've tried like crazy to map it to something - timing, temp, accessories on/off, connected/disconnected but no joy. So frustrating!

Rednroll

It sounds frustrating.

It could be thermal like you described, However I'm still leaning more towards a low voltage battery. That would make it more random like you're experiencing.

This statement you originally posted further points toward low voltage and away from thermal. If it was thermal, then why would the clock go blank from the time you shut it down to the next time you turned it on?

Your JK is a 2011. Are you still running the factory battery? 3-4 years of life on the factory battery is pretty typical. It may have reached that point where it's not fully charging and not holding a charge very well, thus giving you this random behavior. It could also be a plate inside the battery has shaken loose if you've done any off roading. That's the reason why most of us suggest AGM type batteries like the Diehard platinum when replacing the battery. It's a gel type of battery that doesn't have plates inside of it like standard batteries. On standard batteries the plates tend to get jarred around when off-roading and leads to battery failure. So if you have a loose plate shaking around inside the battery that can lead to intermittent voltage drops. A standard battery is typically made of 6 separate cells, where each cell provides 2.1 volts. So if one of the cells short out due to a loose plate, you get a 2.1 volt drop. You go from 12.6 volts, down to 10.5 volts. Typically a radio will start to shut down in the 8 -9 volt area. 10.5 volts, then throw in some extra lights and wiring that puts you hoovering right around that magical area threshold of where the radio will start to shut-down, but your lights will still work. You may already know all this, but figured I mention it anyways to give you some more ideas to consider and explore.

If you still have the factory battery, you're due for a new battery anyway, so it won't be unnecessary money spent if you find out that doesn't fix the problem.

evancise

Finally got a chance to get to AutoZone and have the battery tested. 12.6V, 100% charged. Ran the test twice. It's a new battery too - replaced in January. I'd really been hoping it was a bad cell!

These past few weeks I've been running with my LED fogs unplugged and the radio's been fine. Even in Houston summer. I think that rules out a radio thermal problem.

Other ideas? Could one or two LED bulbs be causing all this??

evancise

At the risk of jinxing it... I plugged the fog lights in before taking it to AutoZone for the battery check. For whatever reason on one of the fogs I went against the memory bend of the harness and plugged the connector in "upside down." Surprisingly it connected five and lights work fine. I this realized the LED plug can isn't keyed like the factory bulbs.

Only 2 pins, hot and return, but since I made that connector flip I've had no problems. Could that really have been the issue? I'd had the connector mated backwards and LEDs don't like that?