Electrical Gremlins

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 01/28/2015 at 08:54 • Filed to: None

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My wife is driving our 2003 Odyssey to work this morning, and she just called me to say that there's some weird electrical thing going on. She's listening to the radio, and then the radio cuts out and the "Maint Req'd" light comes on. Then after about two seconds, the radio comes back on and the light turns off. I was having problems over the Christmas break with the door locks not working properly, and at one point, I think the radio reset itself. Please tell me this is a common problem and will be fixed very easily by tightening a loose wire somewhere.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 01/28/2015 at 08:55

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Bad chassis ground somewhere?

ttyymmnn > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 01/28/2015 at 08:56

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Is that a common problem that is easily fixed by tightening a loose wire somewhere?

Ready for an adventure! > ttyymmnn 01/28/2015 at 08:58

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I had that on a couple vehicles. Ended up being a dirty battery terminal on one and the entire battery on the other.

Rock Bottom > ttyymmnn 01/28/2015 at 08:59

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There's a solution to your problem...

ttyymmnn > Ready for an adventure! 01/28/2015 at 08:59

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That's a good thought. I'll take a look at the batt terminals.

ttyymmnn > Rock Bottom 01/28/2015 at 09:00

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Yes, but that seems a bit drastic.

Tekamul > ttyymmnn 01/28/2015 at 09:01

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I had a similar issue with a 99 odyssey. Unfortunately, it turned out to be alternator for me. But the symptom just points to poor voltage. Make sure your connections are clean.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 01/28/2015 at 09:02

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...maybe. The thing with bad grounds is that they affect the ability of your electronics to function properly because they impair voltage and current levels intermittently - electronics don't like either of those. Could be a battery connection, along those lines, could be a ground strap to dash/ECM or harness connection - though that's less likely with a unibody, it's possible.

Tinfoil Hat in a thunderstorm, now with added diecast > ttyymmnn 01/28/2015 at 09:03

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Honda electrics are crap. The wife has had a 2007 CRV from new and it is constantly have issues with electrical stuff. Good luck. One proven way to kill the gremlins is to get a very bright torch and shine it in their eyes, they hate that shit.

Rock Bottom > ttyymmnn 01/28/2015 at 09:08

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I offered a solution, damnit! I'M JUST TRYING TO HELP!!!

Nisman > ttyymmnn 01/28/2015 at 09:13

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Sell Sell Sell!!!!

jariten1781 > ttyymmnn 01/28/2015 at 09:44

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I had a Cavalier that had fun times electrical issues. Most amusing was that any time I would tap the brake the radio would jump to the next preset. The shop pretty much told me that it was going to take infinity time to diagnose and since the car was worth only about 500$s I took it on myself. Soaked all the connections I could find (pretty much any plug or harness that was visible) in electrical contact cleaner cleaned any grounds including replacing a couple bolts that had corroded and cleaned a mountain of gunk off the battery terminals. Not sure which fixed it, but it was fixed.

ttyymmnn > jariten1781 01/28/2015 at 09:46

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Considering that the battery is the most accessible part of the elec system, I'm going to start there. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Hey, y'all, watch this! > Tinfoil Hat in a thunderstorm, now with added diecast 01/28/2015 at 10:39

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Electrical gremlins are a bitch. This is why you don't feed them after midnight, people!