Eclipse deck issues

[DaveJ]

I've got an Eclipse 5444 CD deck that I bought last year... everything has worked great up until a few days ago. Now whenever I turn my lights on, within a few minutes none of the buttons on the deck work except for power, and the volume and track seek knobs. I also don't see any status on the LCD when I change volume or track. WTF is going on? Does this sound like a deck issue, or something with my car? It's a 2005 Hyundai Elantra GT with the stock battery/alternator. I've got the deck powering my rears only, my fronts and 8" sub are powered by an Eclipse 4 channel amp.

Dave

 

[NutBucket]

Sounds like the cable connecting the faceplate to the main board is loose or damaged. Does the 5444 have a motorized faceplate?

Oh wait...I misread that. It *could* be a power issue but that's not likely. The illumination lead doesn't draw any current as I recall. Are you having any other issues with the cars electrics?

 

[funboy6942]

It sounds like your alt is dying out not giving enough power when the lights are turned on and then you having all the other electronics working sucking more power too. I would go to pep boys or auto zone and have them test your battery and charging system and have it tested with everything on. If the volts get to low your radio wont work right because of the power drop.

 

[DaveJ]

Originally posted by: NutBucket
Sounds like the cable connecting the faceplate to the main board is loose or damaged. Does the 5444 have a motorized faceplate?

Oh wait...I misread that. It *could* be a power issue but that's not likely. The illumination lead doesn't draw any current as I recall. Are you having any other issues with the cars electrics?

No other electrical problems at all. Also, with the engine and lights off, the deck will power on, but as soon as I turn the lights on (engine still off), the deck freaks out and the backlighting on the right side of the panel starts flickering.

[edit] The deck does have a motorized faceplate but I didn't see any damage to the cable connecting it to the main unit.

Dave

 

[DaveJ]

Originally posted by: funboy42
It sounds like your alt is dying out not giving enough power when the lights are turned on and then you having all the other electronics working sucking more power too. I would go to pep boys or auto zone and have them test your battery and charging system and have it tested with everything on. If the volts get to low your radio wont work right because of the power drop.

Yeah, I wondered if that might be the case. I'll get them to test it out and see what happens... It's really odd because everything was perfect up until a few days ago.

Dave

 

[funboy6942]

Originally posted by: DaveJ

Originally posted by: funboy42
It sounds like your alt is dying out not giving enough power when the lights are turned on and then you having all the other electronics working sucking more power too. I would go to pep boys or auto zone and have them test your battery and charging system and have it tested with everything on. If the volts get to low your radio wont work right because of the power drop.

Yeah, I wondered if that might be the case. I'll get them to test it out and see what happens... It's really odd because everything was perfect up until a few days ago.

Dave

That could be because the alt started going out a few days ago

I mean think of it. Your radio has two power wires going to it. One for constant on and one for switched. If it works fine and had been up to a couple days ago and it is still holding your stations and clock mem everytime you turn the key off then one of the wires coming off or loose is not a issue because if just one comes off the radio will not work. Now what comes to mind is you turn the lights on. Doing that does take quite a bit of power to operate the headlights, dash lights, and marker lights. If the alt or a weak battery not holding a good enough charge to keep it at a certin volts power is going to be robbed. Not to mention also running a amp for the radio as well. Thats a ton on juice for a stock system. Hence the volts will now drop below what the radio can use for normal operation causing it to only screw up when the lights are turned on causing a big draw of power on a system that is failing to keep up and that is why your radio acts up when the lights go on now.

I would say the internal volt regulator is damaged to the point it is still working but not as well as it used to. I would also think about going for a better alt if it need to be replaced and wouldnt hurt to replace the battery with a deeper cycle one as well.

 

[NutBucket]

Yeah, lights to draw A LOT of power. Back to the dealer for some warranty work!

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Hyundai cheaped out on the alternator/battery.