my moms car is a bone stock 1989 civic lx sedan. its automatic. the car has been perfect and normal for the past 4 years. just recently she said when she starts the car in the morning at about 6am to warm it up before work, the radio/head unit turns off. (has never done this before) with the heater off, the radio works. if the heater level is turned on (3 or 4) the radio turns off.

any idea what can cause it? ive checked the fuses and they all seems to be fine. i dont even know where to start with a situation like this and im hoping someone can help me. thanks!

 

Sounds like it's pulling too much power for the alternator to handle. Have the alternator tested. Might be a bad ground.

 

hmm. the last like 2 days the car has to be charged with the battery pack..

 

what do you mean it has to be charged?

 

Double check battery ground trans to chassis

 

wanye, just recently, when she goes out to go start the car to warm up, the car is dead. she had to use the battery jumper to jump the car to start.

ill check the grounds tomorrow and report back.

 

Pull off battery and alt and get them tested

 

one more idea is to check the blower motor relay. they fail somewhat commonly.

 

where is that located?

 

Sounds more like a parasitic draw that's killing the battery, but go into autozone, we can test the battery, alternator, and starter even if it's still on the car, no need to pull it off. I agree though, check the blower relay, or just unplug it behind the glove box, and see if the radio still dies when you turn on the blower with the resistor unplugged.

 

"we can test" you work there now? haha. mom barely got home. its freakin' dark so hopefully try tomorrow or..when ever the car is available to me.

 

When was the last time the battery was changed out?
They last about 3 years so if it's been longer then I think you have your culprit.
the recent radio problem appearing at the same time as the battery being dead in the morning ...
From what you wrote it seems like the problem goes away after the car is driven for a while.
Is that right? If so, then the battery is taking a charge, but not holding it.
Parasitic draw would be second check after 100% ensuing the battery is good.

 

battery and alternator was changed last summer? t he problem doesnt go away. its still the same today the next even after driving a few hours, its still happens

(situation: radio dies when heater is turned on, radio works with heater off.)

 

Sometimes they can go bad that quick. I got 2 alternators in a row from Autozone that were bad straight from the box. But I would check for parasitic draw as well.

 

Yup iv heard all sorts of storys of autozone napa kragen alts taking a **** in less than a year

 

Doubt it's anything with the alt since car is running after jump start.

Since it's happening always (not just at warm up) it's looking more like theblower fan resitor pack as Clisped was hinting at.

 

ok, so the blower resister is to the right after removing the glove box, which was the only plug i saw there. turned the car, turned heater 3-4 and it still shuts the radio off. car barely started this morning on its own. under dash fuses are fine as well as under the hood. grounds look all intact.

@4dref- ^is that the blower fan resistor pack? or the blower resistor i just disconnect?

its hard to remove the alternator and battery when its her only car to go work (other cars are stick) and she comes home at night. removing those would be my last resort though. battery and alternator was replaced ~last summer so i dont know how it was go bad. battery is the red top duralast and the alternator came from a local auto shop new and from autozone or kragens.

 

after spending some time inside the car, i just notice the heater doesnt turn on (or dont hear the blower at all) where do i go from here?

mom just told me that the heater turns on and radio turns off before. NOW the heater doesnt on as well as the radio when the switch is moved to 3-4 speed.

i also notice that the radio DOESNT turn off with the heater switch on 3-4 when the key 1st click before crank?