Radio Power Cycles on it's own - may be tied to turning steering wheel?

DougNuts

Mazda Fan
:
'10 Mazda5 GT, 2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R
My (Pioneer) radio has been restarting on it's own the last two days and I can't really find a reason why.

Last fall I installed the radio, along with a module that allows use of the steering wheel controls. A few weeks later the radio reset (power cycled) on me twice while cruising down a smooth road. Fast forward 3.5 months and now it has reset 30 times in the last two days. Sometimes it will do it a bunch in a row and then it won't do it at all for the rest of the trip. It doesn't lose the radio presets, it just goes black, like I turned the car off and then turns back on, like it does when I start the car.

The closest I have got to recreating the issue that one time, while sitting in a parking lot, it would power cycle every time I turned the steering wheel. A little Google detective work tonight found another guy who had the same issue, but nobody had answered his question.

Has anyone else seen this issue and know of a fix? My theory at this point is that it's somehow caused by the electronic connection in the steering wheel. I assume it has a dead spot on a floating disk and when that spot works around to the connection point, it causes this.

Notes:
  • My Scan Gauge II reads a full 14.1-14.2 volts at idle, even while turning the wheel.
  • It does not appear to be caused by bumps in the road.
  • Twice I have recreated it a few times in a row while stopped, by turning the steering wheel.
  • The upper dash does not power cycle.
  • The power steering system works fine and does not cut out. I put this note in here because of an issue I read about on a Mazda3 forum.
  • There is nothing else to note - nothing else blinks, I don't think I have a loose wire, everything was soldered and shrink wrapped, no static in the speakers, nothing.
 
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Hate to state the obvious, but disconnect the steering wheel control adapter and see if it happens again. Seems odd though that it would cause a power cycle since there isnt a power button on the wheel. Maybe the ground on the steering wheel adapter connection? either way, there's no avoiding pulling the HU to troubleshooot.
 
Hate to state the obvious, but disconnect the steering wheel control adapter and see if it happens again. Seems odd though that it would cause a power cycle since there isnt a power button on the wheel.

I agree on both statements. I want to drive it for a few more days to make sure that it doesn't go away on it's own (like it did before) and then I will do that.
 
Have you checked the simple stuff, like are the aftermarket connections secure? Harnesses, splices, crimps, grounds, etc?

I would look long and hard at the aftermarket stuff before chasing a possible failure in the spiral cable (slip ring, or whatever you prefer to call it)
 
I have everything out right now and I'm going to by-pass the PAC adapter and see if the issue goes away.

This appeared to do the job. All that I changed was unplugging the adapter and cutting/soldering the power wire to go around the connector for the adapter. I lost my steering wheel (audio) controls, but I'm not having any more power cycling issues.
 
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