XJRChad

I just took a 2000 Cherokee Sport in on trade, and I'm having some radio issues.

It had the stock Chrysler cassette radio in it. Whenever I'd turn the volume up past maybe 25%-30%, the radio would completely shut off and turn back on. It would continue to do this until I turned the volume back down. I figured the radio had a short in it, so I picked up a brand new JVC radio and installed it. I'm still having the same problem, although I can play the new radio at a much louder volume before this happens. Also, when I put a CD in the new radio, it powers on and off and never loads the CD.

Not being very experienced with electrical issues, I'm pretty baffled at this. I've installed over a dozen stereos in vehicles I've owned over the years, but have never come across an issue like this.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

XJRChad

Okay, so I found that one of the factory plugs was not fully plugged in to the stereo adapter harness. Securing that solved the CD player issue. However, the radio still shuts off at high volumes.

Firestorm500

Something is wrong with the stock B+ and/or memory lead.

You might also consider an auxiliary ground instead of, or in addition to, going through the stock ground.

XJRChad

Thanks. I'll start by running a ground from the new stereo to the body ground, and see what happens.

XJRChad

Sure enough, the ground was the issue. I ran a wire from the ground wire on the stereo to a bolt on the body. Problem solved. The radio no longer shuts itself off.

Firestorm500

Dang I'm good.

XJRChad

Thanks again. While I may be able to fumble around with a wrench well enough to fix a lot of issues with my cars (usually aided by lots of beer and even more swearing), I've never been all that great with wiring issues.

I've owned 60 plus vehicles (most of them being beaters) in the past 20 years, and this was the first time I've ever had a ground issue that affected the radio. I've had dozens of electrical issues with the 98 Pontiac Trans Sport that I used to own, but that's another story. Literally. I could write a book just on the electrical problems that POS had... lol