So ive had this issue for awhile now. my headunit is Alpine CDE-164BT

id say around 4 months ago, i first noticed this issue

my headunit would randomly shut off for one second, then power back on. when it would turn on, its as if i just turned my car on, it displays the alpine logo and then starts to work again.

the good thing is, its always turned back on right away. but the weird thing is, its extremely random? like when it has this issue, it will normally turn off around 4 or 5 times within 10 minutes. but, these random instances only happen maybe once every 2 or 3 weeks.

from what ive been told and heard, it seems i would need to check several things in order to solve this issue. but at the same time, it would be very difficult to tell if the issue has been solved, since this doesnt happen very often. like if i change something, and then ill have to wait a whole month before i can be sure that the issue was resolved or not.

So as of now, im just worried about it causing a greater issue if i leave it alone for now? My question is, is it probably safe to ignore the issue till it either gets worse or just stays the same? is it possible this issue will cause damage to my headunit or other parts in my system? or more than likely its a minor issue and it may be fine if i just leave it alone for now?

i know it sounds lazy, but its not a huge issue, yet it is quite annoying when it happens. its just my fear for my lack of skills with this versus the importance of fixing the issue seems to lean towards much more effort involved.

but if its a huge risk, then i will attempt to fix it.

thank you!

 

 My first guess would be a lose power wire behind the head unit.  More specifically the red wire.  Would clear all your presets if it was a ground or yellow wire. Possibly a loose shitty connection.  Could be a  poorly installed crimp connector,  or a poor connection on one of the plugs themselves.   The poor connection would be likely to poor wire routing,  pulling or pushing on a plug.  Not necessarily the plug itself. I would hope it's that simple for you, because it could turn into an electrical gremlin after that. Lol 

1 hour ago, j-roadtatts said:

 My first guess would be a lose power wire behind the head unit.  More specifically the red wire.  Would clear all your presets if it was a ground or yellow wire. Possibly a loose shitty connection.  Could be a  poorly installed crimp connector,  or a poor connection on one of the plugs themselves.   The poor connection would be likely to poor wire routing,  pulling or pushing on a plug.  Not necessarily the plug itself. I would hope it's that simple for you, because it could turn into an electrical gremlin after that. Lol 

thanks. i almost always play music from my aux cord to my phone.

but im trying to remember if i may have once had a cd in and if the songs started from where it shut off when using a cd. i think it may have

but yea, it definitely saves the presets. never had it reset them.

ehhh electrical gremlim, lets hope not lol. ok thanks. ill take a look into checking behind the headunit.

to be honest, i didnt install the headunit. in order to take the headunit out to check, would i also have to pry off the plastic parts surrounding the headunit? id assume theres several parts i would have to remove in order to take the headunit out?

where would the crimp connector be installed? behind the headunit? not exactly sure what a crimp connector is?

like this? if so ive seen these on my tweeter connecting to the crossover, i thought they were pre installed on my tweeter?

And of course i would disconnect the negative terminal at my car battery!

Edited August 10, 20169 yr by Florida_Audio

Look on YouTube for a vid on how to remove and install the stereo head unit, in you specific car. Tug on the wires. if one comes lose, you found the problem.

Google "but connector", and you will see what they most likely look like. I personally hate the things, so solder and heat shrink most connections. "But connectors" honestly are a great invention, but must be crimped properly. I don't like them personally bc they cause a weak breaking point in the wire, bc they don't transfer stress to the wire jacket. Heat shrink solves this.

Come to think of it my last alpine shut off randomly about 3-4 times a year. Never enough to worry about. i think mine was internal though, as it always turned back on with the birthday screen. Lol

1 hour ago, j-roadtatts said:

Look on YouTube for a vid on how to remove and install the stereo head unit, in you specific car. Tug on the wires. if one comes lose, you found the problem.

Google "but connector", and you will see what they most likely look like. I personally hate the things, so solder and heat shrink most connections. "But connectors" honestly are a great invention, but must be crimped properly. I don't like them personally bc they cause a weak breaking point in the wire, bc they don't transfer stress to the wire jacket. Heat shrink solves this.

Come to think of it my last alpine shut off randomly about 3-4 times a year. Never enough to worry about. i think mine was internal though, as it always turned back on with the birthday screen. Lol

ok thanks, ill check it out.

yea mine shuts off like 3 or 4 times, but all within a short time. then i may go like 2 weeks before it happens again. super weird. so its almost not often enough for me to worry, but its at that borderline amount where i do worry a bit lol

I wouldnt let it keep you up at night, if I were you. if it shuts off altogether someday and it's not the fuse, you will know where to look. 

ok i think ill have to actually pull the headunit out and check the wires. its shutting off every day now, sometimes it shuts off constantly. but it ALWAYS turns on again, if only for 1 second and then off.... sometimes when it turns on it seems to be on for several minutes. im not sure, but it seems to shut off more often when i touch my finger to the dial for the volume, even when i dont turn the knob, but just as i touch the headunit knob, it shuts off.... like if its going into a frenzy and shutting off alot, when i touch it, seems to aggravate it, even an extremely light touch.... seems so weird.

 

also, just wondering, is there any chance its my amplifier? like if the amplifier is overheating or having some issue where it shuts off, would this ever cause the headunit to shutoff? i dont think so, but just wondering....

Thanks!

 I still suspect something behind the head unit.  There's about a dozen different ways They could've hooked it up.  Wire nuts, but connectors, twisted and electric taped,  push connectors.  Either way I would still suspect the Red wire however it is connected behind the head unit.  The other scenario I described above is the connector on the hu is forced into something behind the stereo when fully installed. 

 The amp would not have that effect.  The fact it happens when you touch the head unit pretty much points to the connection directly behind the head unit.  Hopefully not the head unit itself, gulp.

On 8/24/2016 at 0:05 PM, j-roadtatts said:

 I still suspect something behind the head unit.  There's about a dozen different ways They could've hooked it up.  Wire nuts, but connectors, twisted and electric taped,  push connectors.  Either way I would still suspect the Red wire however it is connected behind the head unit.  The other scenario I described above is the connector on the hu is forced into something behind the stereo when fully installed. 

 The amp would not have that effect.  The fact it happens when you touch the head unit pretty much points to the connection directly behind the head unit.  Hopefully not the head unit itself, gulp.

ok so i think im going to pry out the clips behind the headunit and then unscrew 4 screws and check behind the headunit.

i should just need 1 screwdriver, and 1 tool to help remove the panel around it. and ill disconnect the negative terminal on the battery. anything else did i miss?

what exactly am i looking for?

 

ill just check for loose wires, and somewhat just want the experience of taking it apart and then putting it back on. good to know how to do lol. and i will take pictures for u guys. cause ive seen some videos online, and honestly i still do not know what the wires go for and or what they do or how they are supposed to look. thanks!

 

also, i dont want to ask too much of you guys. but ill now try to take it apart, and then post pics, and not put it back together, and wait a bit for a response, if i have time, then ill go fix whatever u guys say i should do. i got around 1 hour 30 minutes of free time now, so i hope to try and fix it within this time. all good if not, but ill at least get started, thanks again!

Edited August 26, 20169 yr by Florida_Audio

ok so ive taken off the trim panels around the headunit.... holy shit those were hard to take off... i had to use my flathead screwdriver. my plastic trim removal tools were too thick and didnt work well at all for it.

im about to unscrew 4 more screws for the headunit. so far ive taken off 6 screws for the plastic bracket around the headunit.

it goes, two trim panels, one each side. then the 6 screws around plastic bracket for headunit. and then 4 more screws for the headunit casing thing.

so fking hot out. gotta shower after just doing this for like 30 minutes.... drank 2 bottles of water alrdy.... and im under a tiny tree for some shade

Good that your actually doing things your self and trying to learn

1 hour ago, frogcase2002 said:

Good that your actually doing things your self and trying to learn

thanks yea, so i looked behind the headunit, ill post pics in a second, please let me know, if any1 in online before i reconnect everything! if not, post replies whenever, i do appreciate any and all help!

 

not sure how useful some of these pics are, but here they are in case they show something special. i noticed several cords are not actually connected to anything. and that one cord that looks different from the rest is also not hooked up to anything.

everything seems to be snug in place? but they dont seem to be heat shrunk or crimped? or maybe that slight pinch is the crimp? i dont know what im looking at to be honest :[

heres the album to view all the photos on imgur, and ill try and post the images here as well

http://imgur.com/a/qKL6t

Edited August 26, 20169 yr by Florida_Audio

 

 

 

Edited August 26, 20169 yr by Florida_Audio

Now that the head unit is out, can you lay it on your lap or a towel and gently wiggle each individual wire on the harness plug and at the red crimp connections to try to get it to simulate what's making it turn off? Basically process of elimination from point A to point B,C,D,ect......

2 hours ago, Jay-C76 said:

Now that the head unit is out, can you lay it on your lap or a towel and gently wiggle each individual wire on the harness plug and at the red crimp connections to try to get it to simulate what's making it turn off? Basically process of elimination from point A to point B,C,D,ect......

i wiggled a few of them, and specifically wiggled the red wire as suggested, but they seemed fine. i didnt actually do every single wire. but i visually inspected them... ugh lol yea i should have tried every wire. but it was a bit difficult because i could not pull the headunit out all the way, only a bit, because of how the cords were tied together

i had to ask a friend to hold up the headunit while i used two hands to inspect a few cables.

Is it detachable face? I had an issue a few years back where I didn't for some reason get a good connection when I snapped the face in and it felt locked in but the radio would shut off and back on randomly too.

3 hours ago, Jay-C76 said:

Is it detachable face? I had an issue a few years back where I didn't for some reason get a good connection when I snapped the face in and it felt locked in but the radio would shut off and back on randomly too.

yes it is..... but the absolute piece of sh** shop that did my install, never gave me back the keys for the stereo face plate. i have an alpine cde-164bt headunit. will any bracket keys that i can find online work? i can try and ask the shop, but it was like back in march, so around 5 months ago.

i even called the same shop up, and said hey, i got my whole system installed by your shop, how much to checkout my headunit for issues. they said yea we charge you like $60 to check it, and then whatever issue is found it goes towards fixing the issue... i said okay, bye.... cause they fking installed it in the first place. and they wont even check their own installment that is having these issues now. although i didnt expect them to when i called, because they never cared before.

so maybe it is the face plate? mine is slightly wobbly when i press it.... maybe its not in snug enough?

so basically wondering what type of tool i should get to remove the faceplate? thanks!

Does this happen when the car is parked or driving or both ?

1 hour ago, StreetLegal said:

Does this happen when the car is parked or driving or both ?

both

Usually dont need a key to take off a faceplate .  They keys are to take the cd player out of the "cage" .

 

 

I truly feel bad for your troubles with your local shop. There are only about 5% in the entire country that actually involve themselves in customer service. It's never their fault......complete bullshit in my opinion. I personally have helped out my fair share of people around me that have fallen victim of these local idiots. 

I'm not in any way saying it's one thing or the other. I'm just trying to help you self diagnose this issue by running through what I would check if I were there in person.

I do give you respect for taking the initiative to dive in hands on and try to check things that myself and fellow forum members suggest. Most people who I come across treat anything like this as if they were asked to diffuse a bomb.

3 hours ago, frogcase2002 said:

Usually dont need a key to take off a faceplate .  They keys are to take the cd player out of the "cage" .

 

 

oh ok thanks.... ugh and i thought i needed those two thin metal pieces to slide out the faceplate...

3 hours ago, Jay-C76 said:

I truly feel bad for your troubles with your local shop. There are only about 5% in the entire country that actually involve themselves in customer service. It's never their fault......complete bullshit in my opinion. I personally have helped out my fair share of people around me that have fallen victim of these local idiots. 

I'm not in any way saying it's one thing or the other. I'm just trying to help you self diagnose this issue by running through what I would check if I were there in person.

I do give you respect for taking the initiative to dive in hands on and try to check things that myself and fellow forum members suggest. Most people who I come across treat anything like this as if they were asked to diffuse a bomb.

thanks yea. i do like to learn about this. but dont like to be forced to have to do it.

like a part of the trim panel for my middle area, by the gear shifter, its not completely snapped in, and slightly up. not very noticeable, but i notice it now.... i cant put it back on correctly. i think i somewhat broke it. i took it off a few times trying to replace it, but it didnt get better. its not too big of a deal, just that, at first i wasnt exactly sure how to take off the trim panel in order to get to the headunit. but now i see how the clips are positioned.

i do hope its just the faceplate being loose, ill try to push it in place again tomorrow and see if i can remove it, then re attach it without the keys.

i do hope its as simple as the faceplate! but also, it might make sense, because i sort of noticed the issue with it shutting off much more often when i would touch any button on the headunit, and especially the volume knob. even very very gently, but still any touching seemed to make it worse when it started to have issues.