Help!! Avic Z2 won't turn on!!

[Arief]

Hi Guys,

I'm in Australia and have the avic HD3 (equiv to Avic Z2 in USA), had it for 3 months now,..yesterday it played up. It was 38celcius outside, when i switched the car on the avic didn't light up (nothing happened) . I then took the bezel off and had a look behind, unplugged it from the factory harness, plugged it back in, then it fired up as usual. Today same thing happened again (however the outside temp was not hot- 24 celcius). Did the same thing again- unplugged and then plugged in again- works.

What could be the matter? I use the PAC C2R CHY interface. not using steering wheel interface . Could it be the PAC thing packing up?

[Arief]

Man...Happened again today. Had to opened up the dash and unplugged + plugged the darn thing again. Why is this happening?

[4herb2tas0tik]

weird.....maybe your ground or your power wire is comming loose in the harness...either its going to work or not... so when you say you pull the radio out and put it back in it works again that makes me think something is loose and loosing connection...just a thought?

[Arief]

Thanks , I'll check out the power and ground. unplugging and then plugging back in the canbus connectors makes it power up again. One time in the past the guys that installed it said to check out my battery because it seems the voltage dropped too much. (I had a cheap e-bay unit at that stage).

Lately I have checked the battery voltage. When the car is not started, battery measures bout 12.1-12.3 V , when car is running (engine on) battery goes to 14.4V. Could a bad battery cause the avic to hang and not power up??

[Fetdog]

Arief, A battery at rest (a couple hours after its been charged) that measures 12.1-12.3 is between 50% & 70% charged. 12.1V equates to 50% state of charge (approx). The voltage while your engine is running is the alternator voltage which should be between 14 & 14.6 or so depending upon whether its charging or just supplying bus voltage.

Since you guys are in the middle of summer down there (or at least in the warmer months) I would say your battery is all but shot. Batteries go bad in the hot months but don't show themselves until it gets cold outside and you need all they've got. My Z2 hasn't ever done this to me but I have had problems with an old Cadillac STS that I had when the battery started to go bad.

Also, remember that there is what is called a "surface charge" on the battery after it has been charged by the alternator. This will make the battery voltage look higher than it really is. If you took the 12.1-12.3V measurements right after you shut the engine off then you are likely looking at an "at rest voltage" of near 11.7-11.9V which is a "DEAD" battery.

Pick up a new battery and I'll bet the problem goes away.


Sorry if I rambled, I've been in this business with heavy trucks and off highway vehicles for many years and just put my work hat on for a few minutes here.

PM me if you need further help, I'm traveling this week but I'll respond when I can.

Cheers!

[Arief]

Fetdog,
Thanks for the info. I'll Check it after overnight rest. It's strange to get dead battery, even before my first ever service.