Jidaran
New member
I had to bug the forum with such a specific question, but I’m really at a loss here. I’m leaving in a few weeks for a long road trip and was hoping to get this squared away ASAP.
I took the 4Runner out on a camping trip this past weekend (Dolly Sods) which involved some extended driving on rough forest roads. After about 10 miles on the FR, the radio began cutting out randomly. It’d turn off, the antenna would go down, then it’d immediately turn back on and antenna would go back up. I figured there was a loose connection somewhere that was getting jostled. I’d never experienced this before - but I hadn’t driven for extended time on rough roads either. On the way home I drove a little more gently on the FR and it only cut out once. I figured I’d have to address the problem sometime in the future, but it wasn’t pressing.
We stopped for lunch in a town about 20 miles east of the Sods. I parked, turned off the truck, then realized I should make an adjustment to my parking job, and went to turn the truck back on. It was completely dead. Didn’t turn. No power locks. No dash lights. No audible ding. Nothing. The only sign of life was that the Security light was blinking and the Scangauge said “scanning”. After a few attempts I popped the hood. The only thing I could think of was that maybe a battery terminal was loose and power had been coming from the alternator. I checked and they weren’t loose at all. I detached the positive terminal, waited 15 seconds, then reattached. After that it started right back up with no problem. Since then the radio hasn’t cut out and it’s not given me any problems.
Any chance the radio issue and power issue are related? Any places I should look for loose connections?
I took the 4Runner out on a camping trip this past weekend (Dolly Sods) which involved some extended driving on rough forest roads. After about 10 miles on the FR, the radio began cutting out randomly. It’d turn off, the antenna would go down, then it’d immediately turn back on and antenna would go back up. I figured there was a loose connection somewhere that was getting jostled. I’d never experienced this before - but I hadn’t driven for extended time on rough roads either. On the way home I drove a little more gently on the FR and it only cut out once. I figured I’d have to address the problem sometime in the future, but it wasn’t pressing.
We stopped for lunch in a town about 20 miles east of the Sods. I parked, turned off the truck, then realized I should make an adjustment to my parking job, and went to turn the truck back on. It was completely dead. Didn’t turn. No power locks. No dash lights. No audible ding. Nothing. The only sign of life was that the Security light was blinking and the Scangauge said “scanning”. After a few attempts I popped the hood. The only thing I could think of was that maybe a battery terminal was loose and power had been coming from the alternator. I checked and they weren’t loose at all. I detached the positive terminal, waited 15 seconds, then reattached. After that it started right back up with no problem. Since then the radio hasn’t cut out and it’s not given me any problems.
Any chance the radio issue and power issue are related? Any places I should look for loose connections?
