After i hit the brake pedal, my cd player, dash, and climate control turn off

[clever240sx]

Ok i just bought one of my 240s back and it started having this problem last week. Its a 1992 base model coupe. After i hit the brake the dash lights turn off along with the tach and speedo and the cd palyer turns off and resets. Now the wipers go off and on every time i hit the brake. But after the brake pedal is released everything turns back on. Anybody have any suggestions of what this may be?thanks, Jordan

[sx moneypit]

Does it do it sitting still or when you are moving?

[allenms240]

AlternTor is failing on you. It's not generating enough power for the battery/car

[clever240sx]

It does it both driving and when im sitting at a stop light...it may be the alternator but not sure cuz we just replaced it 2 months ago..It feels like something is drawing too much power because when i turn my lights on or the heater on full blast the engine idles lower(drops about 3-400 rpms.) Also i forgot to add, it does the same thing when i turn the the blinkers on(resets the cd player and dash lights flicker along with dome light when on.)

[NISSAN240SX12]

make sure you have good grounding from the battery to the chassis. i had that problem once before.

[clever240sx]

I dont think its a grounding problem but it wouldnt hurt to check. Thanks for the help guys, keep them coming!

[clever240sx]

Well i seems to have gotten worse. Now after i turn my lights on or any big power feed everything turns off and stays off for awhile(along with tail lights and brake lights.Its really weird because it seems to be worse when it gets colder outside.

Ive already replaced the turn signal and wiper unit, stripped the inteior checkin all the harnesses. Checked the ecu and the main engine bay harness, replaced the alternator. Im all out of ideas.. :/

[allenms240]

Is battery/alternator related. Good reduces battery life. Like I said try a new alternater. That or the battery. My guess is still the alternator. Do you ha e the warranry for it?

[rioredstang]

It sounds like a bad ground. The cluster may have a loose ground and is grounding through the brake lights to ground. When you put the brake on it will take away the ground and the dash will go out. Look in the FSM and trace your grounds. If you can supply a ground wire to the cluster and then see if the problem is still there.

[clever240sx]

Ive already replaced the alternator, the battery is good still. But this doesnt only happen when i hit the brake. Its when i hit the brake, or turn the lights on, or turn the heat on full blast or even turn the blinker on. Its killin me..i got pulled over the other night and aboout got a ticket for no tails or brake lights..

[CTS13]

Wait, let me get this straight. Everything goes off when you hit the brakes and then they back on whenever you let go or do they just stay off. When they stay off, do you have to replace a fuse to get everything to work?

[clever240sx]

Thats what was happening when this problem first started, now its gotten worse. Now it happens whenever i turn any power source on inside the cabin. But now everything stays off and never turns on

And no fuses blow..

[Cone Junky]

Bad grounds can make all sorts of crazy s*** happen. If you have a bad ground the systems under power will try to find a ground somehow. Sometimes it will cause voltage to backfeed through other components or cause relays to shut down completely. This is where you should concentrate your time.

Batteries and alternators are easy to test and rule out. So spend five minutes verifying that they are OK and move on to the real problem.

[clever240sx]

Like i said in the previous posts, the battery and alternator are fine. Ive added extra grounds in the engine bay, still nothing. The only other thing i was wondering was the ecu being grounded to the car. It is held on by the two bolts but the holes are stripped. I only say this because in past sr swaps ive done the car wont even start without the ecu bolted down...

Any other grounds i should check or add?

[rioredstang]

The ECU has ground wires in the harness. It does not use case ground for grounding purposes of internal parts. If it will not start with the computer un-bolted then you have some grounds missing for sure. Use the FSM to look up wire harness for grounds.

[ShaunakaRichard]

I agree with the poster above. I've done both SR and KA swaps and I've started all of them without the ecu bolted up. Guaranteed the ECU should be grounded through the supplied wire.

[Klits562]

i would have to like quadruple the motion that its a ground problem.I had a similar problem when i hit the brakes my cluster lights would go on along with my climate control lights and my ashtray light.The cause was my grounds on my tail light assembly(mines a coupe to) they have a problem of melting the plastic of the assembly around and between the grounds and a few were loose. So before u check any grounds check those cause that worked for me in a similar situation. You can use sandpaper to clean up the plastic off the grounds

[adrianfromthecastle]

^+5 on the grounding issue. Possibly check battery terminals? I mean, cuz if you run the car without the battery, these are all the symptoms.

[busteda$$240]

the connector that goes to the stereo also has dash tail and signal lights going through it as well , i dont know about heater but if you have an aftermarket stereo and janky wiring that could be somewhere easy to look and make sure wires arent just hanging out

[prdquik]

the connector that goes to the stereo also has dash tail and signal lights going through it as well , i dont know about heater but if you have an aftermarket stereo and janky wiring that could be somewhere easy to look and make sure wires arent just hanging out

My car literally had this problem the other night up in azusa in the canyons. I got out and looked under the hood and the negative battery cable was just hanging off to the side so it had no ground. And i was literally having the EXACT same issues. Its a ground problem.

[clever240sx]

It was not a ground issue. I had already checked every ground and replaced and added grounds, still didnt fix it. But good news i fixed the problem!After stripping the interior for the second time checking every wiring harness in the interior and about to pull the dash i thought i should double check the engine bay cuz we all know how big of a pain in the a** pullin the dash out is. Anyways i was taking apart the relay box behind the drivers headlight(the ac, acc, etc relay box) and i had noticed the wiring harness going to that relay box was covered in white and blue crap. I took the platic loom off and the wiring harness was all coroded. But the wire that was coroded all the way through was the thicker gauged white wire that goes to the acc relay. Rewired that and everything turned on. For once i can actually say that i loved hearing that "240sx door chime" come on!!

But it makes since because there is no stock air box which leaves a hole and when it rains water gets in and sits where that harness lays and after time it will corode if not covered properly. After all the car does have 203xxx original miles on everything.

But thanks everyone for helpin me out!!

[rsagen]

There is something else that it could of been. In the fuse box in the motor bay look for the 'alt' fuse. its kinda tall with a clear plasic cover on it. It is 75A fuse. Withou this fuse the car will do the same as you said.... i know because it happened to me. If this fuse is blown most of the time you cant see the crack in it just by looking at it. pull it out of the car and take a maginfing glass to it. Nissan charges 50 bones for this fuse....

when you go to scrap yards stockpile your pockets with this special fuses/ relays.