Random 4 way flasher and radio problems
Thread Starter
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Amateur
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
From: Calgary, Alberta
Random 4 way flasher and radio problems
So I've searched back as far as 2011 in the threads and can't find anything relating to the first problem I have. The second one may be as simple as getting a new radio, but I want to get the groups collective wisdom before I go that route in case the fault is further up the line than that. My 2011 Ram 1500 SLT 4x4 quad cab has 2 issues currently:
- my 4 way flashers recently started to randomly come on. So far it appears to happen when I am at idle with no signal lights on. Once I accelerate away from a light it seems to go away until I get to the next red light. When I get home and turn it off, sometimes it will keep flashing every 10 seconds or so, sometimes for hours! Other times they won't flash, so it appears to have no particular trigger to begin the cycle. I haven't done any recent mods to the truck, but I do have a light bar and LED fogs (wired on a separate switch and relay, recently went through end-to end and they work perfectly so no ground faults in that circuit). My headlights aren't flashing when I drive or idle like they would if there was an impending alternator problem either, so I'm thinking something electrical but have no idea where to start. Could it be something as simple as the blinker control unit (unlikely since the other signal lights and 4 way flasher function all work normally) ? Or the switch for the 4 way flashers on the dash under the radio (possibly shorting the radio problem below and giving me a 2-for-1 problem)?
- my radio will be playing, then suddenly the volume dies. It looks like it's still on, but no sound from either radio or CD playing. Occasionally it will happen while I've got AC/DC pounding away, then randomly come back on a half hour later and scare the **** out of me. My father is a retired F18 electrician, and when he was visiting his fix was to pound his fist as hard as he could on top of the dash surrounding the radio, and that usually served to bring the volume back to life, but it's not a permanent fix.
Has anyone come across these electrical faults, and shed some light on where I should start to troubleshoot?
- my 4 way flashers recently started to randomly come on. So far it appears to happen when I am at idle with no signal lights on. Once I accelerate away from a light it seems to go away until I get to the next red light. When I get home and turn it off, sometimes it will keep flashing every 10 seconds or so, sometimes for hours! Other times they won't flash, so it appears to have no particular trigger to begin the cycle. I haven't done any recent mods to the truck, but I do have a light bar and LED fogs (wired on a separate switch and relay, recently went through end-to end and they work perfectly so no ground faults in that circuit). My headlights aren't flashing when I drive or idle like they would if there was an impending alternator problem either, so I'm thinking something electrical but have no idea where to start. Could it be something as simple as the blinker control unit (unlikely since the other signal lights and 4 way flasher function all work normally) ? Or the switch for the 4 way flashers on the dash under the radio (possibly shorting the radio problem below and giving me a 2-for-1 problem)?
- my radio will be playing, then suddenly the volume dies. It looks like it's still on, but no sound from either radio or CD playing. Occasionally it will happen while I've got AC/DC pounding away, then randomly come back on a half hour later and scare the **** out of me. My father is a retired F18 electrician, and when he was visiting his fix was to pound his fist as hard as he could on top of the dash surrounding the radio, and that usually served to bring the volume back to life, but it's not a permanent fix.
Has anyone come across these electrical faults, and shed some light on where I should start to troubleshoot?
Captain
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 597
Likes: 33
Are any of your light bar or fog lights connected in any way to the factory lighting harness? If so I would start with that.
Next I would check your 4 way flasher switch. It may very well be a circuit board switch. Might be an idea to remove it from the equation by disconnecting it and see if the symptoms still exist?
Is your radio a factory unit with original wiring or is it aftermarket? If aftermarket did someone tap into any of the 4 way flasher wiring for the radio?
Next I would check your 4 way flasher switch. It may very well be a circuit board switch. Might be an idea to remove it from the equation by disconnecting it and see if the symptoms still exist?
Is your radio a factory unit with original wiring or is it aftermarket? If aftermarket did someone tap into any of the 4 way flasher wiring for the radio?
Record Breaker
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 1,130
Likes: 55
From: Iowa
For the 4-way flashers, is the switch easy enough to get to that you could unplug it for a week or two to see if the issue still happens? If the issue goes away when the switch is unplugged, that would suggest the switch itself is the issue rather than the TIPM or the wiring.
As for the radio, before investing in a new radio I'd recommend pulling the stock radio and making sure all the connections are secure. If they seem to be, disconnect and inspect the terminals to see if maybe a contact is corroded/damaged/recessed, then reconnect after making any necessary adjustments and see if it's better. That would also be a good time to inspect the wiring to see if maybe someone had previously spliced in to the radio wiring and maybe one of the connections at a splice is intermittent.
-Rod
As for the radio, before investing in a new radio I'd recommend pulling the stock radio and making sure all the connections are secure. If they seem to be, disconnect and inspect the terminals to see if maybe a contact is corroded/damaged/recessed, then reconnect after making any necessary adjustments and see if it's better. That would also be a good time to inspect the wiring to see if maybe someone had previously spliced in to the radio wiring and maybe one of the connections at a splice is intermittent.
-Rod